Can you imagine living in the coldest city in the World?
Yakutsk is the capital of Sakha-Yakutia, the most extensive Russian federal subject—this massive region spans three time zones!
Located 450 km south of the Arctic Circle, it has an average annual temperature of −8.0 °C, winter high temperatures are consistently well below −20 °C, and the record low is −64.4 °C.
It is one of the most remote and impervious places on earth.
But also houses a substantial music scene that goes from punk to electronic music. Especially weird, glossy and hauntology-style electronic.
Cosmic Cycler (https://cosmiccycler.bandcamp.com/music) is a Vaporwave artist from Yakutsk who has done some incredible work in the last six years.
He has released over 33 records and created 3 music labels:
Gorgeous Lights: Russian Vaporwave label;
Night Coverage: Signalwave/Late Night Lo-Fi label founded/run by Astro Television System (alias of Cosmic Cycler). Renamed to Based Coverage due to the founder's distaste towards the Signalwave genre and ceased operations in March of 2022;
Dreamtone Bangers: now-defunct parody Dreamtone label.
From hypnagogic pop to smooth jazz, from lo-fi barber sound to the weirdest vaporware. I wanted to chat with such a singular producer - and I was so happy when he accepted.
Who are you?
I am a musical artist making «music» for about eight years under various names. I primarily make vaporwave, but I also like to make music in other genres like ambient, dream punk, and barber beats.
Who's producing the tracks/records?
I produce the tracks and records using my laptop and sometimes with my MIDI keyboard when I write original music.
Who's behind the label?
My friend SkyTwoHigh (https://skytwohigh.bandcamp.com/) and I. He is also a great musical artist passionate about his music. He, just like me, produces similar music like ambient, techno, dream punk, vaporwave etc.
Where are you based?
I live in Yakutsk, Russia.
Are you associated with the Vaporwave scene?
No, I'm not associated with any scene.
What are your inspirations for the project and your music?
I take inspiration from many things, and it depends on a project or an album I'm working on. For example, when I started my Cosmic Cycler project, I used to be into retro 80s anime and city pop, so I mostly used to sample songs from my favourite anime or city pop songs to make kind of 80s Japan-themed albums. But it was a very short phase, and then I started making more late-night-themed albums. Later I began making albums that sound like music taken from old VHS tapes.
For example, my 'Samantha' LP (find the Bandcamp link above) is made like an album with music from some low-budget 80s action movie from VHS tape. I always try to make my music/albums able to tell a story and create a particular atmosphere for a listener. Summarizing things that inspire my music, I'd say it primarily movies, other people's music and sometimes some personal experiences/memories from real life.
What is the project’s goal?
There is no goal except to keep doing what I like, sharing it with people, and trying to have fun.
Are you or someone from your team also playing live or DJ sets?
I used to play DJ sets at local gigs/parties when I was younger, but I'm not into doing it and prefer to keep my music in the internet area.
Are you using social media platforms?
Yeah. Mostly to post links to my music or some dumb shit on my Twitter (https://twitter.com/ccycler) 😁