Name: Lucidvox
Members: Alina (vocals, flute), Nadezhda/Nadja (drums), Galla (guitar), Anna (bass guitar)
Nationality: Russian
Current Release: The sophomore Lucidvox album That’s What Remained is out November 17th 2023 via Glitterbeat.
Recommendations: Galla: When the war started, I was reading Mikhail Sholokhov's novel epic The Quiet Don about World War I, and then about the civil war and the events in Ukraine and southern Russia. After that I have not come across a more accurate and insightful book about the contemporary situation.
The funny and sad movie Don't Look Up. I recently rewatched Sofia Coppola's movie Lost in Translation, and as a person in exile, constantly in a foreign and incomprehensible environment, I understand this misunderstanding and loneliness very well.

If you enjoyed this Lucidvox interview and would like to stay up to date on the band and their music, visit them on Instagram, and Facebook.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

Galla: The impulse to create occurs to me almost constantly. Everything I see around me, from news, personal reactions and feelings in response to contemporary events, to books, myths and cultural codes.

In one way or another, I always want to turn it all into my art, to reflect and recreate what I understand.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

Galla: Every time I think that the album should be about this or that, that it should be integral, structured, logical … but in the end, there are four of us in the band and everything never turns out as planned. Maybe this is better, because it turns out to be more vital, humane and honest, even when the project is discussed in advance and, as it were, completed.

I think this is part of the beauty of music, that in general you can be quite free in form, without giving your work such clarity and specificity as in a movie or book. It is not at all necessary to be consistent or narrative.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

Nadya: I most often write texts while on the move. Plane, bus, train, and even a city bus. It was in the city bus when I wrote lyrics of the song “My Little Star”.

I just looked at people and thought that, especially in difficult moments, many people are guided by some legends, about what people say, but they cannot find confirmation of this by themselves, it remains only to believe. And I asked myself, what do I believe?

From your experience, are there things you're doing differently than most or many other artists when it comes to writing music?

Nadya: We compose music together. All our songs are a joint creation, except for the lyrics. Some songs were started with drum patterns, some with a guitar, but we always adjusted to each other and composed everything else for the first piece.

This is a very difficult but also entertaining process that made our music what it is.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

Nadya: I would compare it to meditation or writing thoughts in a diary.
I am finding for sure some spiritualism, because I am looking trough myself and my own experience.

But the process of writing texts usually happens quickly. You can scroll some thoughts for a long time, it can be for years, and then you sat down on a bench in one moment and it’s seemed to vomit out the lines.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

Galla: I don't feel empty after releasing an album, probably because the writing process is constant, and when the album is ready, a lot of time has actually passed since writing the material, and it's like you've already moved on.

In general, what inspires me most is the process of composing, when the form has not yet been determined, and you seem to be on the eve of a big journey. So as soon as you recorded songs, it seems to have died, frozen, and I immediately want to move on.

Music is a language, but like any language, it can lead to misunderstandings. In which way has your own work – or perhaps the work of artists you like or admire - been misunderstood? How do you deal with this?

Galla: What an interesting question. I think in art, as in life, there is nothing unambiguous at all. Certain events, and even more art, within the framework of a particular political system, can be highlighted in completely different ways for the sake of propaganda. And change its meaning depending on the context and time.

Now many authors and artists are being canceled, and, for example, communist symbols and authors are being used for the sake of centralization of power, exposing fascists and white emigrants like Shmelev and Ilyin next to them and perceive them as leaders and defenders of the motherland.

So I think we have no power to influence anything here: you write something, and what will happen next is not clear.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Nadya: Almost all my lyric are turned inward. I express inner pain, unlived traumas, I tell my hardest secrets. It’s a therapy for me.

After all, it was music that helped me in the most difficult time, alone, in the most terrible thoughts, I was looking for answers in the songs.