Vlad Ulasevych (Jinjer)
Ari Gold chats with Vlad Ulasevych of Jinjer
Transcript of INTERVIEW WITH Vlad Ulasevych on Hot Sticks Drum Show below.
Plus, see more about Vlad on the “Adventures of Power” Official Site.
Vlad Ulasevych
I take care of a lot. But I have a lot of drums. I have a really a lot of drums. How many? How many? Kick drum kick drum three toms 1216 18 Two snares. 10 and 13. And a lot of symbols 4 crashes. A Ride three high hats. Yeah.
Ari Gold
whole flat. It's like a you know, it's like you're serving up a feast? Yeah, the apples. There's the you know? Yeah. There's the pasta, you know, table. There's, there's something inviting about and I can imagine in the band, it's easier to make eye contact. The other bandmates? Because you know, drummers who have have their drums all around them, there's going to be moments when the bassist or whatever is here and they're they're blocked. But um keep an eye eye contact with you. Yeah, all the time.
Vlad Ulasevych
And that's yeah, for me for me is important too. But I play like this just because of my comfort.
Ari Gold
Well, probably good for your your posture too because you're just you know, like you're cooking but, but I think a nice side effect because the band has a really you know, for something that's classified as metal there's a real groove you know, there's an actual kind of like you know, funk is not the right word but there's there's a there's a groovinous to the feel that in my mind and maybe I'm imagining it but maybe has to do with the fact that you guys can communicate really well and maybe your ability to see each other all time all the time. Who knows theory but but you also you know, your snare is or your main snare you know, you tune it in a really unique high talk about that because I think one of the things that that gives gives your ghost notes and gives you back beats such a cool groove is is the way you tune your snare.
Vlad Ulasevych
Yeah, I don't I don't have very high and I have thick drum pad it's a Evans heavyweight it's still sick flies with dot and I tune it very high, and I damped it. ABS it's absolutely damped like and it's it. Now now our tones and in my snare. And in terms to all my all my old My drums It sounds very dry.
Ari Gold
Yeah. But what do you what was the drum but what what do you use to damp the snare?
Vlad Ulasevych
It's a one my friend in Ukraine he makes sand practice pad with sand inside.
Vlad Ulasevych
And it was like regular circle practice pad and I start to use it like a damper on my snare. And
Ari Gold
you put on this snare.
Vlad Ulasevych
Yeah, I just put it on a snare and it's absolutely damped. Every overtones. Right? And after it. I use a 13 snare. And this damper was huge. And sometimes I hit my drum stick on this pad not on the center of the drum kit. Yeah. And and we make a new one and it's like this
Ari Gold
see all the overtones right? Yeah,
Vlad Ulasevych
yeah. I and I use it now as damper. And it works wherever you go. And
Ari Gold
you have that snares.
Vlad Ulasevych
Not only on my main snare. Yeah, yeah. And on the toms. I use Evans hydraulic. It's with oil between the blinds. And I use it on the top and on the bottom too. And my toms have no overtones to its only attack. And that's it. I don't know. I like the sound my sound engineer like the sound and my musicians live
Ari Gold
at the time that you've been in. Sorry, sorry. Have you worked with the same engineer? The whole time? In the band? Yeah,
Vlad Ulasevych
yeah. Yeah. It's our friend. Sasha his name. And yeah, everything. What? All our live sound? It's him. And yeah, every every time we upgrade something like trying new microphones, new drum heads. New sound thing and yeah, the way always sound like we sound now. It's Sasha's I don't know how it called.
Vlad Ulasevych
work about it with me.
Ari Gold
Yeah, yeah. Well, it's nice. It's nice to give credit to the people you know, the people who helped create your your sound so
Vlad Ulasevych
yeah, sure. It's actually our our album sounds. We work with one guy the whole time. Like, on every on every jinjer albums. It's one sound engineer. Mark Smortan thats his name. So yeah. Where are we recorded? In Kyiv? Yeah, everything. Everything where I play starts from EP Micro. We record were recorded in Kyiv.
Ari Gold
Okay. Okay. Cool. So you're going on tour soon, right?
Vlad Ulasevych
Yeah, we're Yeah, in Latin America.
Ari Gold
When does that start?
Vlad Ulasevych
In one and a half week in two weeks.
Ari Gold
Okay. Are you go all through South America and Central America or?
Vlad Ulasevych
Yeah, we start in Costa Rica. And then Mexico. I don't remember. It's like seven shows, I think in Latin America, and in November, December, we will play
Ari Gold
states. Yeah, you'll be you'll be near me. already. You can see but there's the book. There's a palm tree for the podcast. Ah, no one will see it but it's perfect. A perfect palm tree. It's getting bleached, but the ocean I think you're coming to California at the end of October, maybe something like that,
Vlad Ulasevych
where we would have, I think the last show of the tour in Los Angeles. It's, it's in December.
Ari Gold
Okay. Well, I hope to see you there. So, well is there is there anything that you have not talked about in any interview ever?
Vlad Ulasevych
Do No. No, like I in our band, me and Roman, our guitarists our English sucks as you can. As you can see, so, so all interview did Eugene, our bass player or Tatiana?
Ari Gold
Yeah, they,
Vlad Ulasevych
they actually English teachers. Yeah. So okay. They have no problem with this and I your English Yeah, me and me and Roman. Me and Roman and, like, don't make interviews. Like with you it's actually the first the first live speaking in in my life.
Ari Gold
Okay, well, I everyone put a lot of loves. Put a lot of love because I want him to know that he's great in English. And, you know, the, there's actually something I like about talking with people who are not fluent in English, because I think you're very careful with your words. And so there's an elegance, actually. Okay, that's, that's quite lovely. So, I hope you continue this drummers need to speak, you know. But, you know, you have this training as a as a musician, and obviously, you know, those who are fans of yours know that you, you know, can play. Can you play and speaking of piano, my fantasy piano, I don't play the I mean, I played really bad improvised junk. And you play
Vlad Ulasevych
I, I can play piano, but my girlfriend, she have electro piano. I start I stopped play piano. Like, at the last day I was in music college.
Ari Gold
And you You never know. Yeah, I think.
Vlad Ulasevych
Yeah. And this this video, this video when I played Rachmaninoff. I start I start playing like and one week. I just remember how to play the piano. I made this video. And after it, I stopped playing again. So
Ari Gold
how did it feel then if you to reconnect with your childhood instrument?
Vlad Ulasevych
It's terrible. Really. It's very, it's very hard. It's very hard to play piano. I know that how it must be. And when you start playing, you understand that you can't play anything like it's it's very hard for me for me. Yeah, so you know that that time it was I think COVID times when everybody's sitting home and i not i can't often go to my drum kit so I think it's a good idea to remember how how to play the piano and yeah, I did something
Ari Gold
Yeah. Wrote no piano piece on it any jinjer album. Does me maybe you know the next one. Maybe it's time to you. I want the the the little boy little boy Vlad to meet the man Vlad and bring those
Vlad Ulasevych
actually, actually, we have a lot of new songs for the new album already. And there is no space for piano man for sure. It will be very very heavy.
Ari Gold
maybe a little bro. So you know, Harding? And
Vlad Ulasevych
maybe, maybe Eugene, maybe Eugene will try to play some
Ari Gold
Well, anyway, I would love to hear some piano somewhere in one of your next two records. And I think there are some people in the chat will also hear that.
Vlad Ulasevych
So maybe maybe once. Think about it. Yeah.
Ari Gold
So I look forward to seeing you on tour. And if you're bored some time, please check out my movie Adventures of power, which is all about him. Oh, I need to I need to ask you the one question I have to ask everybody. Yeah, yeah. Were you ever an air drummer?
Vlad Ulasevych
No. Like, when I when I listened? My favorite band who play on the stage? I can play the drum parts of it. Yeah.
Ari Gold
Okay, so my movie of power is all about air drummers. That's the movie with Neil period in it. So if you can't I don't know if it's available. Actually, I think I have Ukrainian subtitles. Well, anyway, if you can't see it, let me know. And I'll send you a link. Okay. Those of you who can't, it's on Amazon and a lot of countries adventures with power. Bi but I think you will enjoy it. So I can send it to you. And anyone who pays to see it, the money goes to support MusiCares which the organization that helps musicians in need. So anyway, there's that. But it's been really great talking with you. I I look forward to seeing you on tour in for in Ukraine. I'm Yeah, first. I'll see you there. And if you're in California, for instance, you'll see me here. Okay. Okay. So, have a beautiful evening, and I and I very nice to meet you.
Vlad Ulasevych
Very nice to meet you too, man. Thank you for the speaking it. It was a big pleasure for me.
Ari Gold
Yes. And you can tell the rest of your band that you can now be their spokesman because you're good at this.
Vlad Ulasevych
Okay. Okay, thank you very much.