Interview - ROJINSKI
Dark music for people in the dark! Alexei Rojinski is an “excellent” independent composer and musician from this universe but maybe not from this planet (haha!). His brilliant works and music/sound-style orbits around these genres: dark ambient, drone, cinematic, atmospheric, soundscape, soundtracks, atmospheric music but also EBM, synthpop, darkpop, industrial, dark techno. We have recently managed to catch Alexei to interrogate him about his intelligent ROJINSKI. Check it out!
Interview by Jiwa
[01] Hello Alexei. We are from Hidden Sounds, an online blog / experimental music fanzine based in Malaysia. We are fascinated by the dark music of Rojinski and that is why we are interviewing you. Introduce yourself and where do you actually originate from?
Alexei: Hello there ! So, my name is Alexei Rojinski and I’m from planet Earth. I’m just a citizen of this world, an human being. I compose music since the last 42 years. I’ve played in bands as singer / guitarist / keyboardist.
[02] When did you become interested in this kind of music and start your passions through Rojinski? Briefly tell the history of Rojinski's existence?
Alexei: I’ve always been interested by instrumental music like drone, ambient and experimental. Some bands I was listening to, in my student room at university : Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulz, Kraftwerk, etc. But with my bands in the mid-80s, I was mainly playing New-Wave and synthpop. I’ve been signed by few labels here and there.
Then, in the early 90s, I quit that « commercial » sector. The business annoys me. There is not a lot of space for art and « soul » (no religious connotation here). Then, I’ve composed music for short movies, theaters, friends who made stand-up show, etc. In the early 2000s, I’ve started to make ambient music, chillout tracks and also EBM (Electronic Body music), new synthpop, dark techno… I was guested on some compilations in the US, in Germany… It’s behind me now.
In october 2019, just before the Covid pandemic, I had a heart attack. If the ambulance with the doctor arrived 10 minutes later, I’d be dead… So, yes, I face it. But it was not scary… I’ve said « goodbye » to my son and my wife and that was it. I went to the hospital and they saved my life.
My adventure in the dark / deep ambient music began after that. I had things to tell and the words were not enough to explain, to illustrate what I wanted to share : emotions, philosophy, messages and values. I’ve started to listen to Alphaxone, Atrium Carceri and the brilliant catalog of the label Cryo Chamber.
[03] Do you believe that Rojinski is a form of expression or is it more than that?
Alexei: It’s a bit more than that. It’s a philosophy, a way to live and think. A global therapy. A way to refuse the commercial music, without criticizing it. I‘m out of the system. I’m out of the human civilization. I’m not pretending anymore. My life has changed, the world has changed… I try to share emotions using sounds, textures and variations… In the past, I was only dealing with harmonies, chords and bpm…
[04] We found the scope of Rojinski's music to be wide and varied, not tied to just one or two specific genres. Explain further what exactly do you want to explore and what do you want to leave to each listener of your music?
Alexei: There are three branches to the tree of my music but an infinity of roots… But since the mid 2000s, I’ve just made 10 % « dark electro » (up-tempo), 10 % « soundtracks » (short movies, animations movies,…) and « ambient » music (dark, soundscapes, cinematic, and subgenres), 80 %. The link, the tree, the keywords are « dark ». « emotions », « philosophy »… I hope the listener will travel without moving. I hope I can be a part of the soundtrack of his introspections or maybe initiate them. Every album has a meaning. It’s like the message in a bottle to a minority. Yes, I know it’s music for a monority… Dark music for people in the dark… My son told me once it was not just dark ambient but « dark angelic ambient music ». So be it.
[05] Do you also emphasize certain messages in each song you compose?
Alexei: The messages in my music are about upcoming or ongoing disasters. Global warming, greed, violence, hypocrisy, lies, selfishness, war ordered by people who don't wage it... All these missed opportunities that could have led to an advance in civilization... But I also address themes like life elsewhere, exophilosophy, questions about the human species, science... In short, I try to lead, at my very humble level, a cultural fight against idiocracy.
[06] Which of Rojinski's albums do you like the most, and why did you choose them?
Alexei: It’s impossible to say… Every album means something for me. But, for some personal reasons, I would suggest « Black Square », « To the Black Square People » and « Abduction ». But, well, I’ve composed every album because I needed to tell stories without words. They are all honnest and sincere.
[07] What are some of the artists / albums you've been listening to lately? Are there any of them that will give you ideas, influence or inspiration for your new works to come?
Alexei: I’m listening to different catalogs of friendly labels like « Sombre Soniks », « Distorted Void » and also « Cryo Chamber ». People like Alphaxone, Gregory M. Slater and many others make me « travaling without moving » and that’s the best effect inducted by this kind of music.
But my inspiration doesn’t come from other artist (or maybe unconsciously?). It comes from the global situation, the big questions, books, events, states of mind, etc.
[08] Rojinksi stands for non-profit music makers (where your works are available for free download, unless there are listeners who want to donate). Please tell us more about your principles and philosophy in producing and spreading your art of music?
Alexei: After my heart attack, the CoViD pandemics and the war against Ukraine, I thought people should focus on their life. They are a lot of people impacted by the global situation. I’ve received a lot of messages from them. They have to pay for essential things like food, water, energy, education for the kids and health care. So, there’s nothing left for culture, for entertainment… So I receive donations from people who can do it for people who can’t. I buy Bandcamp codes and downloads credits. Without donors, I can’t do it.
As I become old and my health is not so good, I wanted to put a small stone in the wall of the global solidarity. I have no ennemies except i ndividuals who kill other people to exist, to be rich and powerful. No nation, no state, no religion, no culture, no ethnicities… Just bad persons. I curse them, whatever their origin, their colour, their country… I curse the liars and the hypocrits. I curse leaders who have no respect for life. Freedom stops where the freedom of someone else starts.
People of this planet need peace, sciences, culture, solidaity… They don’t need wars where they have to die for the glory of one man. Nationalism is stupid. Extremism is stupid. Greed is criminal. Lying is criminal.
Making my music free is the less I can do to support, with humility, people who are suffering. I also try to show to my son that having values is not just about talking and writing. It’s mainly acting.
[09] What do you think about the current movement in the experimental / electronic music scene? We are sure you will talk a lot about positive matters, but we also want you to criticize some of the negative things in this scene?
Alexei: Music is like every human sector of activites. There are good persons and bad persons. I’m a lone grey wolf. Sometimes, I can collaborate with people I like on a humanist level, like Gregory M. Slater, Alphaxone, Neil Görz (director of the web serie « The Sorrow », etc. I like to participate, for free, to compilations of friendly labels that try to promote our style of music for a minority. It’s hard for them to survive. I’d like to mention « Sombre Soniks »and « Distorted Void ». But other labels like « Musique Moléculaire » and « Cryo Chamber » are very good too.
But If I like to collaborate punctually and episodically with people and labels, to support them if they ask me, I’m a lone grey wolf as I said. I do all the things by myself… So my music can be free for all.
The negative things in this scene ? Same things than in the other sectors : greed, enormous ego, self-centrism, selfishness, jealousy, mud-sligging, gossiping… You can be talented musically and be an asshole. I think people should not idealize artists… Really not.
[10] Thank you very much Alexei for your response & commitment to this interview. Say whatever you want to end our conversation.
Alexei: Stay safe. Stay free. Wherever you are and whoever you are. And thanks a lot for the interview invitation and the good questions. It’s always an honor.
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