Caste: we are like the four elements. Each has its own power, color, function

“Kasta” almost 20 years in the top of Russian rap, and its members are close to the fifth ten. That doesn’t stop them from staying on the wave and rocking fans of all ages.

Before the next show in Moscow, at Encore Fest, we met with Hamil and discussed the old Rostov and the new school, found out why meditation before a concert is better than “harmful methods”, and also learned what “shamaika” is.

Rostov-Moscow

– I remember my first visit to Rostov. Bald, battered recently seated guys with burning eyes lead me to the courtyard where the band “Kasta” used to hang out in my childhood. Do you feel like an authority there?

– I’m often in Rostov. I feel that we moved many topics here. They recognize us, they give us high fives, they ask: “What’s up, how’s the studio, how’s the album, the recording”. Rostov is a very transparent city. Everyone sees each other there. Maybe you got to the Left Bank of the Don?

– Of course. They say you used to be able to get a good bang for your buck there.

– Yeah, but you could also hang out, get away from everyone. But now everything’s changed, it’s a promenade zone, everyone socializes with each other.

– Do you have a place in Moscow where you hide from everyone?

– Serebryany Bor, there’s a wakeboard center there too. I found myself there and realized that it’s a very similar place in terms of mood. Such a community on the river.

– Are you comfortable in the capital at all?

– I got used to it very quickly and got used to it. I only tried to figure out what was wrong with Moscow from the people who came here. After six months of living there, my comrades would say: “I can’t, it’s not my city”. The sky was overhanging, the people were rude – a cruel world, in short.

– How did you react to this?

– People would leave, and I would ask myself: “What the hell is wrong with it?”. Personally, I saw a different charge in Moscow. It’s not faster or more powerful – it’s just the people are different. It’s cool and interesting.

– Do you relate this to the fact that people don’t succeed? All they have to do is turn around and say: “You’re idiots yourselves”.

– I guess that’s what happens most of the time. Some people put up with it and get their way, while others, on the contrary, get away. Hence such emotions.

– You talked about changes in Rostov. Can you elaborate?

– The city is becoming lighter. It used to be impossible to walk through it without clashing with someone. Any passing glance, and immediately: “What are you looking at, what do you want?”. Now people feel more at ease there, they’re getting acquainted, there are topics for conversation. Some even discuss city problems.

– Do you agree that the changes are largely due to the World Cup?

– The World Cup is great for Rostov. Moreover, it has always been the capital of sports. If we talk about the traditions of Rostov, it is a mandatory discipline that comes from the mother’s milk. Wrestling, boxing, martial arts – it’s all here.

– What did you do yourself?

– Karate, but not seriously. I played a lot of basketball, and lately I’ve taken up fencing. Not really, knife fighting.

– Why fencing?

– First of all, it involves all muscle groups. Secondly, it’s very closely connected with breathing. And three, it’s like meditation. You know, it’s a special spirit, a release of energy. Like at a concert.
I do it myself in Rostov, the school is called “Tolpar”. By the way, I suggested replacing the word “knife” in the name with “short blade”. The knife scares the Russian man away. Well, you know the stories.

– You ever seen anything like that yourself?

– On knives? A lot of things. There was a time in Rostov when I was actually surrounded by four Dagestanis with knives.

– Wow. When was that?

– About three years ago. They wanted to take my favorite laptop. For Rostov, that’s nonsense! It got to the point where several people surrounded me in the central street of the city at three in the morning and started threatening me.

– How did you react?

– I had a dialog and started to find out who was in charge. In Rostov it is very important who you know. They directly said: “The senior is so-and-so, but we came for a gop-stop. Work for a week and then leave.” We started communicating through the elders, and more or less peacefully managed to separate. But I realize that in another situation the man would have been stripped, robbed, and I don’t know what else they did to him.

New school

– Do you carry a knife with you now?

– It’s pointless: you can’t take it on an airplane or anywhere else. But if you know fencing, you can handle a pen. I always have it with me – I write down some ideas in a notebook the old-fashioned way. I wrote almost the whole album with a pen.

– You wrote it with a pen, you criticized Bigg Boss. It’s a little old school.

– Ha-ha, I can be old school, but I really like the new wave of artists. Hip-hop, rap has changed so much! We used to draw the boundaries of rap and make architectural sculptures with our efforts, and the new school took it all and colored it with awesome colors! Some of it bold, some of it crazy. In our time people were not ready for such sincerity, but now everything has changed. We weren’t ready for stupidity in lyrics either, and now it’s acceptable.

– Weren’t there weird lyrics before?

– Yeah, there was something in pop. Like, “I’ll pour you a cup of coffee to wake you up.” And now it’s in rap, and it’s cool. It’s cool to bring out so that the snot bubbles from anger, otherwise you can’t get emotions from people. And there’s nothing scarier than an indifferent person.

– You’re talking about how you had boundaries. I have a feeling there’s a lot more boundaries now.

– You’re talking about taboo subjects, aren’t you? It’s part of an era that makes its own contribution, I don’t know whether it’s good or bad. I understand that you can be critical of it, but I take everything as a musician.

– You can’t tell from the latest Casta album that you’re indifferent.

– I work with the image, and sometimes what I think in everyday life I intensify or cool down in order to achieve a creative result. Our group really cares about our emotions, our opinions – not to hold them back, but to apply them in the right dose. We are like the four elements, and each element has its own color, its own power, its own function. Because of that, we’ve learned how to spliced one song together.

– And which one of you is the most radical?

– Haha, I think Serpent.

– Was there any reaction to the last album from the top?

– No. It’s a shame, we’ve been preparing so much. Comrades and relatives said: “Something’s going to start”. Everyone around us was preparing, but everything passed by.

– When I heard the album for the first time, I thought, “Shit, take it easy.”

– This is the opportunity to create a degree of tension. The level of assumption is due to the fact that there is compensation in the image, in the diction. That’s how I can explain it to myself. And that’s cool, that’s the job. It’s important to do it carefully, calmly, so that you can move on, to show the shades of what is really there. But definitely not like in Davidych’s last interview.

– It didn’t work?

– Not at all. What is there to talk about? It was clear in three minutes. I’d rather watch Gnoy: how he talks, cuts, breaks. I recognize him as my man. I also love bloggers who travel, talk about the place, the price, the flights. Nowadays it’s very important to be not just stylish, but sincere and concise. I like that kind of format.

Fitness and unhealthy practices

– When a footballer finishes his career, it’s usually very difficult for him to realize this thought. What’s it like for musicians?

– Same thing – it happens every year. Six months go by and there’s a creative regression. It can last a month. It’s normal, it’s important to let it go. Let some things go.

– Can you call it depression?

– Yes, it’s normal for musicians. It has to be. It’s very hard for me, it’s horrible. But after a certain period passes, I find a fresh idea and… everything is great!

– I know you’ve taken to tea. Does it calm your nerves?

– Tea is for airplanes. All the pressure swings, jet lag, it’s what makes it soothing.

– What kind of tea?

– Kudin and nihong, red and green tea. Kudin is very bitter and nihong is perfect. You can have two flights of 6 hours each and if the jitters start, the tea is good for calming you down. Three cups will be enough.

– Any other secrets?

– Meditation, which I’m inseparable from. Shavasana, the dead man’s pose. When you need to regain strength before a performance, you take this pose and go into a trance for half an hour. In 30 minutes I get ready so that I can go to a concert and give an hour and a half to everyone “over the head”. I’ve been into yoga since I was 6 years old when I was brought to karate.

– So alcohol is not your thing?

– Very rarely. Either wine for a conversation or vodka to make a radical switch.

– How does it go with yoga?

– Everything is good in moderation. You can drink five liters of water and you’ll feel sick. Some people say you shouldn’t drink before a performance. For us at first it was obligatory. If you don’t drink, you’re not a rapper.

– You once said that during a song you started to think about the meaning of a phrase and forgot the words.

– Yeah, yeah, there’s no point in getting stoned before a concert, because we have four people. You have to be in a square, in four points all the time. Weed is a brutal thing in that respect. You can fall apart completely.

– It must have gotten harder to perform without grass as you’ve gotten older?

– Ha-ha, that’s why I took up fencing. Concerts are different for everyone, but I don’t stand still for a minute and a half, because it’s directly related to my breathing. If I stand still, I won’t be able to read the whole program. It’s better to reinforce the reading with movement. I throw this wave into the crowd, and the crowd gives it back to me. That’s how it works.

Ambition

– I often hear: Rostov is Kasta, Basta and raki. Would you add something to the list?

– Shamaika!

– What is it?

– It’s a fish, I think they recently put it in the Red Book. It’s cooler than crayfish because it’s very unusual. It has its own special flavor, that’s why they used to export it a lot. It’s like bream, but it has very juicy meat. Once you eat it, you’ll always remember it.

– How do you feel about Basta?

– We communicate at common performances. As it happens, we all have our own field, our own sandbox. In the first years in Moscow we always kept in touch with him. “Gazgolder” (Basta’s label – Note: “Championship”) was already developing then, but I used to come to Vassa’s place to have a cup of tea and chat. It was an outlet for me, because there was always a Rostov mood there.

– Did you feel any competition?

– It was a long time ago, we were still hanging out together in Rostov. Vasya was the mastermind. With one joke he could blow up the crowd so much that we were laughing and couldn’t calm down. At the same time, he was an intellectual, and in some ways an introvert. On the other hand, this interaction helped each of us develop our own style. I was into hardcore rap, Vasya was closer to R’n’B. That’s how it started to develop later on.

– Last fall Basta did a stadium concert. Do you have such ambitions?

– We do, but we do everything step by step. There is a plan of action, which includes many points, so I think we still have everything ahead of us.

– Still ahead? Despite everything that’s already happened?

– Life, after all, is never enough. Especially in terms of creativity. “Casta is unique in that we’re always searching. We can serve even hookah rap in the picture of some illusory present. We take every chance to convey a graceful thought to the listener. Hopefully, we’re good at it.