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A Truly Independent Musician

Russian guitarist Oleg Serkov conquers Saint-Petersburg with his music.

Calling a city with a population of 323,000 people a small town can probably only come from someone who experienced what it means to live in a really big city, namely Saint-Petersburg. The small town Oleg Serkov refers to is Kurgan in southwest Russia, his hometown where he grew up, dreaming of being able to play the piano.

If you listen to the songs of his two albums “Epoch Symbol” and “Love Deviant” you will however soon realize that something must have gone wrong with this idea. Instead of piano sounds you are faced with New Age Instrumental Rock, lead by distorted sounds, melodic riffs and inspiring soli. And those sounds do not come from a piano but from Oleg’s electric guitar. The story behind this change of mind is as simple as it seems spiritual: “One summer morning I unexpectedly realized that I should play exactly a guitar.” That happened when he was thirteen years old. With influences such as guitar virtuosi Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, he picked two guitarists to look up to, practicing many hours a day to be able to play their songs.

Now, almost ten years later, living in Saint-Petersburg, it seems as if he and the guitar were really meant to come together. Not only could he probably play any song of Satriani and Vai that he chose to play but he has found what really expresses his feelings: To write and record his very own songs. “Music covers all of my life and each song is a reflection of one of my emotional states” he says, adding that for him it has always been clear that he would finally record the songs. “It is a way to show my music to many people.”

Once, he even considered bringing a singer in but he figured that everything he wants to express is already in the music itself. Why then hire a singer? However, he admits that in Saint-Petersburg it is difficult to play in clubs for musicians who only play instrumental music. “The clubs only care about their profit” and obviously do not believe that they could make much money off his music. Whenever Oleg Serkov is able to play concerts he proves these organizers wrong. He usually plays for about 600 people, a number most bands with a singer do not simply achieve.

To the day he is a one-man project, a decision that is not always easy. When he records his songs he has to do all the sound tracks by himself. He gets help from his computer with which he creates the basis of every song. He then adds the guitar parts to complete the songs. He most certainly did not choose the easiest way for his career as a musician by playing instrumental music on his own but by doing that he experiences what it means to be a truly independent musician, a fact that he is most proud of. Oleg Serkov knows that if people really want to make and record music, they can do it.

He certainly proved that on his first album “Epoch Symbol” and his recent album “Love Deviant” which is semi exclusively released on CultureLoad. And he assures that everybody will find something on the albums that they like.