INTERVIEW: Svetlana Bliznakova (SEVI)

QUICKIE OF THE WEEK: A short interview with Svetlana Bliznakova (SEVI)

written by Marko Jakob | 13 May 2024 |

Pix666: Hey Svetlana, our last interview was a few years ago – back then you had just released your solo debut. A lot has happened in the world since then, one might even say the world is going crazy. How are you doing today?

Svetlana: Hey, I am really honored to give an interview for you again. You are absolutely right. A lot has happened and the way I feel it – it all gone crazy somehow. Sometimes a feel lost and I speak a lot about all these feelings and changes in the lyrics of our new album „Genesis“ which has been created during all this strange period. Besides this I am doing great, I am getting ready for the upcoming summer touring season.

Pix666: In the meantime, you’ve released a fantastic new album with Sevi. ‘Genesis’ is now almost exactly half a year old. How were and are the reactions of the fans and the press to your new songs?

Svetlana: I can honestly say that this album is one of the best accepted from fans. We receieve lots of reactions and messages saying how much everybody like the new sound and the songs as well. That makes me really happy because we put a lot of effort and hard work and on my opinion this album represents SEVI the way I always wanted. The album received some really good reviews also in the media so we feel satisfied with the work done.

Pix666: Let’s get straight to your new video – wow a real masterpiece. ‘World That Doesn’t Fit’ already has well over 200,000 views on YouTube. Are you as overwhelmed by this number as I am?

Svetlana: OMG, yes! This song somehow touched the right strings and flew high into the sky for no time. I think mostly because it speaks about the things you mentioned in your first question. It’s everything that we all care and think about now.

Pix666: In addition to the great song, the quality of the video clip is also impressive. Where did you shoot this clip and how long did it take in total?

Svetlana: Thank you. We always give our maximum to the videos, too so that we can recreate our ideas the best way we can and help people see what we see while we are writing music. I want to thank the whole team – Nikola Koparov, Georgi Spirov, Martin Kiriakov, Alice Shopova, Petar Dimoff and more. We shot on two locations – an art shop in the heart of the city and an empty field near Sofia. The challange came with the wind on the open air location. It was so strong that it hurt. I didn’t believe that we would be able to film. We worked 12 hours on this empty windy field and I was sure that we will be all sick on the next morning. Thank God, everybody was OK and the wind broughgt amazing clouds that made the video even more dramatic.

Pix666: What was the deciding factor for you to write this strong, emotional song?

Svetlana: It just came out of me one night while I was thinking about life and reality and how it made me feel. I was alone with the piano and the words started to pop up.. When I sang the chorus for the first time I almost cried. In that moment I knew that this song was going to touch many people and that this was going to be the 11th track for the new album.

Pix666: How does this whole digital world actually suit you and Sevi? Would you have preferred to be a musician in the old millennium or are you comfortable with Spotify, Deezer and so on?

Svetlana: Well, sometimes I prefer to live in the old times where facebook was at the club where we were all together, sharing the emotions through real feelings not through emoji icons.The old times when music was made to make a change, to fight for the truth or for love, not to gain more likes.. On the other hand this new digital world helped the unsigned bands like us to reach people on the other side oft he globe with our music so everything has it’s good sides and bad sides.We just have to find how to keep the ballance.

Pix666: New bands are springing up like mushrooms. How difficult is it to assert yourself in the field of countless bands and, above all, to attract attention?

Svetlana: Well, you just have to work hundreds of times more and the best thing is that there are no guarantees.Nobody knows the formula anymore, because the varacity of styles and artists confuses the fans also so nobody knows what the next fashion would be…

Pix666: You recently had a line-up change – where did you meet your new band mates and have there been any live performances together in the new formation?

Svetlana: Yep, it was a real genesis for us this year. We had a show together with the new guys for our band birthday and the premiere of the new video. They are both awesome and I love their enthusiasm. We met the guitarist Stone Angel thanks to our ex guitarist Alex. He is really talented and a real tornado on stage. The drummer Peter wrote us for a casting right after we announced the ceparation with Pavlin. It turned out that he was huge fan of the band and he wanted to play with us for years.So here we are! Let’s see what the fiture brings.

Pix666: What are the live plans for the rest of the year?

Svetlana: We are heading on a Genesis tour from June until November. We will be part of many festivals this year including Winter Storm in Scotland, Planet Rockstock in England and Hills of Rock in Bulgaria. Detailed tourlist in our website soon. www.seviband.com

Pix666: What else can fans expect from Sevi this year?

Svetlana: Well, we just turned 14 so nobody knows what puberty will bring, ha ha. Besides this, we are working on a new duet song with Johnny Gioeli.

Pix666: Then thank you very much for the nice interview and I hope that Sevi will be on stage in Austria sometime soon – we have really great clubs and festivals here.

Svetlana: Thank you. Hope to see you soon. I love Austria.