Vika Goes Wild at Wacken: Classical Pianist Meets Metal at the World’s Biggest Festival

0:04 Hi you land you u w wow crazy you. This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four C Y Radio, And I'm here. With Vick goes Wild. Nice and you go wild for vaking? Right, absolutely, Oh my god, it's the holy ground. Like, what does it feel like to be here at vaking. It's a fucking dream. It's my first time at vacking and it's the best it can get because I'm playing. So it's just it's a fucking dream.

0:46 I mean, it blows your mind. Right, totally blows my mind. Yes, So have you ever been to voking before at all? My first time? Me too. I'm a virgin too, I'm a vacking virgin. I was waking virgin few days ago. Yeah. And it isn't what you imagine either. Like, we know it's the w Way Ground. We know it's the biggest festival in the world, but until you get there, you can't really visualize it, am I Right? Absolutely? I mean I get lost all the time when I get out of this little zone. It's just impossible to find my way back. I need to use some app its. It's so fucking awesome and enormous.

1:26 It's Oh, you're not kidding, like I do. Media covered chat festical and festivals all over the US, UK, Europe. I do hell Fest every year, and I remember flying over here and I'm like, you know, it can't be that much bigger than hell Fest. Come on. And I get here, I'm like, oh shit, I haven't even I don't even think I've seen everything yet. No. I mean, they really need to make an app with a map. You need to be able to navigate yourself. Somehow I don't know how to do that as advice. I know, right, And so how did it happen you got invited to play at Varking?

2:09 Well, I'm playing metal, but I'm a pianist, so it's a little bit like a special interest, as some of my friends call it. I guess it's not. A very normal thing to listen to for metal people, you know, for metal fans. I'm a classical tennist, so I always knew about Wakan Festival, of course, but I never really tried to get here because it just felt like. It's different, you know. But somehow last year friends of mine were playing here and they told Hoper about me, and I got a call. I was invited first to play on the boat, which sutainly fits because pianist on the boat, it's just it's normal.

2:55 I mean, on a metal boat, metal. Pianist, Yes, exactly. I went to. Majorca for holiday and it was so amazing, and this year they reminded me to play here and it's just I mean, it's a fucking. Jimp and true for sure. And you know what, you do fit in here because I did walk around and there's like all these cool bands and music. I saw earlier. There was this band playing back in the village. It was kind of like a I don't know, a mellow Celtic band that was playing Evan Essence. And there was a circle pit, but not like a circle pit that you would see out for like Arch Enemy or somebody like that. It was like they were just like smiling circling around, and you know, it was like just a fun circle pit.

3:44 Yeah. I mean, now that I'm here, I can see. That there are certain locations where everything I mean just you can express yourself as long as you're into this music and every fucking way you can express yourself. And there are people who are into that exactly. And you know what metal heads like more than just metal, you know I'm a metal head. Is it my favorite? Yes? Is it my go to? Yes? Is it the only thing I listened to now? And I think that's true of all metal heads, yeah, you know, because we all have a foundation too, like even with classical as you know, metal is a derivative of classical music, that's for sure. And always, I mean since I played like music from every like year, hundreds or whatever, I always felt like we have the same kind of feelings we want to express, we only just had different kind of tools for that.

4:39 So basically people in nineteen eighteenth century they had the same rage and emotions and it just placed it in a different. Way, you know, yes, exactly. So that's what connects all these generous for me. So what was it that started you in music? Like when you were young? What was it your parent? So was it just in you from like day one? I was four years old, So I don't think I had any choice. Somebody just found out that they have perfect pitch, and I started his lessons and then they found out that they have talent. So I went to special.

5:20 School for talented musicians, and so I had a normal well it's not normal, but I mean it's a normal classical piano education in Ukraine, like many many hours of studying, never going out, never having really friends or whatever. And then conservatory and few post grades and I studied this famous pianists like this Lazar Berman in Italy. So until I was like twenty nine thirty years old, I. Was in that in that. Right. Yeah, I was classical pianist, full gone, but I always just felt like outsider somehow, this too shy, always to awkward.

6:00 I love dancing to metal and that was my way to really express myself and I was just like that was my world. And then I just made me use. The YouTube channel and wanted to keep it to the private so nobody knows it and I could just like really express myself there. So I made some covers. I made Metallica cover and suddenly people started listening to it. So which one which met It was two. Thousand and eight, so the new album came out and it was this first sing Becleuse that came out in two thousand eight. I don't ever remember one, never the day that never which album?

6:41 Do you know now that I'm talking to you everything out of my head? I know it's me too, because I went to the Metallica's first show ever, and like I'm drawing a blank right now exactly. But The Day That is it off. The Black album. Two thousand and eight, So that would be shit. I mean, let's look it up. Let's look it up. Look it up. It has the words Day, the Day That and two thousand and eight album. Let's say it's none of those. No, it's not. It's not one of the like very.

7:24 Two thousand and eight Death Magnetic, I think so Death Magnetic for a single was the Day That Never Comes? Yes, that was I should have known that. Me too, normally because it was the first cover that got me actually like no, nice, that's thought, Oh my god, that's so fun that people listen to it, because before that, I always, like, you know, I have saw shits of different piano arrangements, and I always felt like I don't show the song in the wait can be played, oh flit like because as a pianist, I know it Yanda can really express everything. But it felt like it's missing somehow in like rock and metal world, because piano is only like limited to just like.

8:11 You know, I cannot find the right voice. But anyway, I thought I want to make arrangement that Shaw the song in the full power. Yes, so I just wanted to do that and I was doing that and it was expressing myself in this way. And because piana is the only instrument I know how to play, it was from me the only way to do that. Of course. Like and so I also want to know how come so much good music comes out of Ukraine. I've interviewed a band now I can't remember the name right now because my head is spinning, like yesterday from Ukraine. And then of course I love Ginger.

8:53 Oh yeah, of course, you know. So it just seems like there's such great music that comes up Ukraine. So yeah, what do you think that? How do you have an idea of what contributes to that? Well, I mean we do have very serious attitude when it comes to studying music. There's no oh, you know, child is just playing. No. I mean it's very tough. So it's not fun for a child. But we learn it like. We learned to vote. So if you learn in music, yeah, you really take it. Seriously absolutely, and.

9:33 And it just that's how you express yourself. And so. That's your language, yes exactly, And that's what music is. It's and it's the best therapy there is. It's therapy for you the artists, and therapy for me, the listener. And that could be in two different forms because you write the music and it's therapy for you for one reason. And to me, the best music the artist doesn't make it to where that has to be what it means that everybody, everybody can put their own meaning too it if it's a good song. Oh yeah. And I mean, I'm so lucky because I can use it both ways. I can express myself and I can also use other people of music to get my feelings out in a way I need.

10:24 I mean, this is just amazing gift. So how did you get invited to Vacuum? Friend of mine school playing? Because I have lots of friends in music world and they just played here and they I think they told Holker about and then Holger just said, okay, invites her to the pot. And then I got invited to MAJORCA. And now I got invited here, and I'm just so lucky because myself, I mean, I really just need to express myself to play, but I don't have some qualities of like communication or like.

11:07 You know, I get it expressing yourself through your music instead of verbally and talking, because you can almost hide behind the music when you're expressing yourself. Right, tell me, I need to talk to public, but I cannot. I wrote my headphones, so I play here these headphones and then live. Right. But that's not so abnormal though. Most artists are introverts. Yeah, I mean I was just talking to this beautiful, like single girl, and she told me she had to learn how to do that because naturally you're. Not this way, yes, exactly.

11:50 And you know, everybody likes to think that artists all they're super extroverts. Now, the reason they're an artist is they are an introvert and that's the only way they can express themselves. You know. It's almost like the song. It's almost like a code. You're not really saying it, you know. And it's also it's. A really cool way to like kind of really get sort of naked. With your feelings. And at the same time it's like transport translated. So yeah, you're protected exactly. It's it's just such an awesome Yeah. I don't know what I would do if I wouldn't be able to play music. I don't know. I mean, music saves lives, absolutely, and so what passions do you have outside of music in your life?

12:37 So dancing okay? And I also like juglar a little bit. I could see that. Did you see all the jewelry in the village back there? Oh my god, there was so much. Oh that's cool. I went to the skies there, and so it makes this amazing these molds from while skulls they find and it's so beautiful. That is an awesome piece of jewelry right there. They still have something. Yeah, But I like when people like you were like, they wear different jewelry, not like what everybody else is gonna wear, Like, not everybody else is gonna have that. Yeah, and just wait, so that you made you said it's myself. Wow, you are super talented, look at that. But that's true of any artists. I think it's not just the music, it's art.

13:33 And if you're creative, like you need constantly to express yourself. Yes, especially when you're introvert and you cannot do it with words properly. You just like like burst in all kinds of like butever you see you use it to express or something. Absolutely, absolutely, I totally get it. Like an artist is an artist. It doesn't matter what form of art, and you have to get whatever is in side you out of you. Andy, most of. Us like makes you sick. It's like boiling inside. It makes you crazy totally. So tell everybody how they can reach out to you on socials, check out your music, check everything out.

14:16 So my name is Vika, so I to be anonymous. I made it like foul kay vak goes wild. Okay. Now that's how you can find me everywhere on Instagram, on YouTube, mostly all my arrangements on Instagram, on Facebook. Amazing. Yeah, well, I love that you're heard walking. I love that we got connected to be able to talk about this. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Oh my pleasure. And thank you for being on the Adventures of pipe Man. Thank you, thank you for listening to the Adventures of pipe Man. I'm w for SU Radio.