Neuromonakh Feofan

Neuromonakh Feofan (Russian: Нейромонáх Феофáн, romanized: Nejromonah Feofan, lit. 'Neuromonk Theophanes') is a musical project from St. Petersburg, Russia, combining drum 'n' bass and Russian folk music.

Neuromonakh Feofan
Нейромонах Феофан
Neuromonakh Feofan performing at ANABUK Festival, 2016
Background information
OriginSt Petersburg, Russia
Genres
Years active2009—present
Websitehttp://neurofeofan.ru

Neuromonakh Feofan's performances are styled after traditional Russian festivals. The group members perform in bast shoes, kosovorotkas and sarafans.[1] One member performs dressed as a bear.[2] The group's lyrics incorporate Church Slavonic and obsolete Russian words, and they play balalaika over the drum 'n' bass beats.

Members

The project's main members are songwriter and performer Neuromonakh Feofan, DJ Nikodim, and the Bear. The group members remain anonymous, and Neuromonakh Feofan appears on stage with his face covered by an Eastern Orthodox-style hood.[3]

History

In an interview with Afisha magazine, Nikodim stated that he professionally studied music before meeting Feofan. Neuromonakh Feofan had started recording songs in 2009. Feofan and Nikodim came up with the idea to start a new musical project during their forest walks.[4]

The group's debut album, Drum in the Soul, Bright Rus' in the Heart (Russian: «В душе драм, в сердце светлая Русь»), was released in early 2015. The group toured cities in Russia and Belarus to promote the album. The album was warmly received by listeners and critics and entered the top 10 of Russian iTunes.[5][6][7]

Neuromonakh Feofan has performed at Russian music festivals such as Kubana,[4] Nashestvie (Russian: Нашествие),[8] Dikaya Myata (Russian: Дикая Мята, lit. 'Wild Mint'),[9] and VK Fest.[10]

Neuromonakh Feofan was listed as the Russian Independent Performer of the Year on the Yandex Music's 2015 year-end list, based on the streaming service's listening statistics.[11]

Critical reception

Musical critics have noted the novelty of the fusion of Russian folk motifs with electronic dance music in Neuromonakh's music, comparing the project with some legendary Russian performers like MC Vspyshkin and Ivan Kupala.

In an interview, Sergey Shnurov said that Neuromonakh Feofan is “a combination of the incompatible, they are Orthodox atheists, they are believing communists”.[12][1] Shnurov also approved Neuromonakh Feofan's activities in social networks.

The lyrics of Neuromonakh's songs abound with references to the life of Ancient Rus and are devoted to Russian nature and physical labor, but they contain a bit of irony. The main distinguishing feature of the project is their image and visual component. In her article at Zvuki.ru, Victoria Bazoeva pointed to a good level of stylization, and noted that the use of modern words along with historicism can somewhat disappoint some true connoisseurs of reliable historical reconstruction. After the first album release many people were unconcerned about Feofan, but the touring success and the performance at "Cubana" Festival forced many critics to reconsider their opinion.

The creativity of the project is sometimes called conceptual, postmodernist, while contrasting, however, with representatives of contemporary Russian art like Vladimir Sorokin.

According to The Calvert Journal, Neuromonakh Feofan were part of a 2010s trend in Russian music of combining western electronic sounds with Russian Orthodox and folk musical traditions.[2]

Discography[13]

Studio Albums
  • 2015 — Drum in the Soul, Bright Rus' in the Heart (Russian: «В душе драм, в сердце светлая Русь»)
  • 2016 — Great Forces of Goodness (Russian: «Велики силы добра»)
  • 2017 — To Dance. To Sing (Russian: «Плясать. Петь.»)

EPs

Singles
  • 2015 — "To Trample Down"
  • 2015 — "Now I Want to Dance!"
  • 2016 — "The Hut is Walking with Staggering"
  • 2016 — "Old Russian Drum"
  • 2017 — "And Now the Bear is Singing"
  • 2017 — "Old Russian Soul" (feat. Slot)
  • 2018 — "Viski" (feat. Bi-2)

Videos
Year Title Director Album
2015 "To Trample Down" on YouTube BazavaProduction[14] Single
2016 "The Hut is Walking with Staggering" on YouTube Vitaliy Kapitonov Single

References
  1. Markov, Arsenii (2018-08-14). "How a mysterious monk fused Russian folk with drum'n'bass". Russia Beyond. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  2. Raspopina, Sasha (2017-08-29). "Blessed beats: are religious and folklore influences really moving Russian music forward?". The Calvert Journal. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  3. "Нейромонах Феофан". Neuromonakh Feofan (in Russian).
  4. Golman, Nailya (2015-11-26). "Афиша Воздух: Нейромонах Феофан: Творите мифы". Afisha Daily (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-06-30.
  5. Mazhaev, Aleksey (2015-03-07). "Нейромонах Феофан - "В душе драм, в сердце светлая Русь" ****" (in Russian). InterMedia. Archived from the original on 2016-02-26. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  6. "Дичь! Нейромонах Феофан с альбомом "В душе драм, в сердце светлая Русь"". The Flow (in Russian). 2015-01-21. Archived from the original on 2016-02-26. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  7. "Новый альбом Бьорк попал в российские чарты iTunes" (in Russian). Lenta.ru. 2015-01-26. Archived from the original on 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2016-02-29. На десятое место попала необычная пластинка от Нейромонаха Феофана «В душе драм, в сердце светлая Pусь!». По словам исполнителя, его новая работа — попытка совместить широту русской души, русскую песню, балалайку и стиль Drum 'n' Bass.
  8. "НАШЕСТВИЕ 2018: Нейромонах Феофан". Nashe Radio (in Russian). 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
  9. "Neuromonk Feofan | Wild Mint Festival 2019". Wild Mint. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  10. Sukhodoeva, Anna (2017-07-14). "VK Fest 2017 в Санкт-Петербурге: программа мероприятий". Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-06-30.
  11. ""Яндекс.Музыка" подвёл статистику года". InterMedia (in Russian). 2015-12-21. Archived from the original on 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  12. Benyumov, Konstantin; Zhegulev, Ilya; Shnurov, Sergey (2015-08-11). ""Обаяние — вот, что нужно русской культуре": Интервью музыканта Сергея Шнурова". Meduza (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2016-02-13. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  13. "Нейромонах Феофан". Neurofeofan.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  14. Бэкстейдж со съёмок клипа "Нейромонах Феофан - Притоптать" on YouTube
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