by Iliya Apocalypse a.k.a. One Hour of Full Life
Hello, my name is Iliya Apocalypse. I have been making music for over 17 years. I play various musical instruments, and I am interested in DIY recording in various styles, from punk rock to chiptune, post-rock to ska, and alternative to bitpop. It just so happens that I’m bored of making my music in one style, which is probably why I have a tiny audience of listeners, or maybe because my recordings sound too raw and unprofessional in contrast to my colleagues, but I like it that way.
I live in Moscow. There are hundreds of thousands of musicians, hundreds of rehearsal centers, recording studios, musical groups, and many concerts and events. Still, I am somehow aloof from all this. Quietly and calmly, I write my tracks and then show them to my friends. I used to love making homemade CDs, designing them manually, and distributing them to anyone, but now, in the digital era, I spam through instant messengers.
Fun fact: I once submitted my recordings to a non-format music label, and they said my music was not in their format.
By the way, I sometimes collaborate with the independent label “OUTSIDERVILLE” (St. Petersburg, Russia). Now, I’m negotiating with them about releasing my music compilation for 2023, where I’m mainly experimenting with chiptune sound.
Music has always been a part of me. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I wouldn’t say I like it, and I may not practice instruments or listen to music for weeks. But I always come back to it, to recordings, to writing songs or instrumental compositions, because I can’t live without it.
Although I could do this more than now, this is my favorite hobby, my outlet, but which musician is not critical of himself? I definitely don’t work hard enough to achieve great success, so I probably would never be able to collaborate under a contract with a big label.
And on top of that, I don’t perform often.
I have my own pace of creative development, but no one pressures me. Maybe this is what freedom is?