Group Neuromonakh Feofan

5.8

Foundation date: 2009

The country: Russia

Town: Saint Petersburg

Compound:
Neuromonk Feofan (vocals)

Links:

Biography of the Neuromonakh Feofan group

Neuromonakh Feofan is a Russian project, a unique phenomenon that combines electronic music with stylized melodies and balalaika. They perform music in a style that did not exist before “NF”, which the creators of the group themselves defined as “Old Russian drum and bass”, chants to a heavy and fast rhythm, telling about the life of Ancient Russia and the simple joys of peasant life.

Group “Neuromonakh Feofan”


History of creation

The legend invented by the creators of the project says that Feofan, tired of the worldly bustle, lived in the forests, where he wandered, playing the balalaika and singing songs, and the bear followed him everywhere, dancing to the beat. But one day they met a man named Nicodemus and joined Theophanes and his furry friend. And they went out to the people, praising the great power of good and Russian traditions, and the bear with them. And then people forgot their sorrows and sorrows, they began to sing and dance, rejoicing in life.

All project participants hide the real identity


The Neuromonk Feofan project was launched in 2009. The daring idea to combine electronic music and Slavic motifs belongs to a young man from St. Petersburg, who prefers not to give his name and hide his face. In general, after Neuromonakh’s interview with Yuri Dudyu, the secret of his identity was revealed by users – read more about this in the artist’s biography.

The Network has figured out the real name of Neuromonakh Feofan


At the end of 2009, the author of the project sent a recording of his song to the Record radio station. The song was put on the air, listeners and presenters liked it, which strengthened the desire of the young author to create a bright musical project, unlike anything existing in Russia. Soon the image of the performer was invented – a man in a hoodie resembling a monastic robe, with a hood covering his face, in bast shoes and with a balalaika in his hands.

The name “Neuromonakh Feofan” came from the fusion of the words “neurofunk” and “monk”, which, according to the author himself, reflected the style of his music, as well as the idea of ​​detachment from problems, embodied in the lyrics.

The second participant, a dancing man in a bear costume, was supposed to emphasize the national flavor.

The main stages of creativity.

In 2010, the page of the Neuromonakh Feofan project was created on the VKontakte social network, on which the young author began to publish his songs. The music, which is a fervent mixture of drum and bass and Slavic chants, evoked associations with folk festivals and people immediately liked it. The popularity of the project grew, but for a long time it could not get out of the network space. This was partly due to poor sound quality and a small number of songs.

Neuromonk Feofan – Trample

In 2013, DJ Nikodim was invited to the project. The new member, also hiding his real name, began to perform the functions of a composer and arranger. With the advent of Nikodim, new songs appeared, the lyrics to them were also written by Feofan, but their framing became even more eccentric, and the sound became professional.

DJ Nicodemus


2015 was marked by the release of the group’s first album. The main part of the songs included in the collection was already known to fans, but this did not affect the interest in the disc in any way, and did not prevent it from getting into the top ten sales leaders in the Russian sector of iTunes.

Critics, recognizing that the solo on the balalaika to the frenzied drums and the powerful voice of the performer with texts stylized as Old Slavonic chants, has a stunning effect, they did not take the band seriously. The question was not even raised “how long Feofan will last”, but how disposable the “vigorousness” promoted by him will turn out to be. Some critics explained the popularity of Feofan by the post of Sergei Shnurov, who announced on his Instagram the rise of a new star that could outshine everything and everyone with its light.

Neuromonk Feofan – Sage

However, the group’s next album, Great Forces of Good, was already in the top three downloads on iTunes, and everyone who called the first disc a “cracker” started talking about the good that the band’s work carries in itself, and that Neuromonakh Feofan is new, finally the spoken word, which we all lacked so much.

Neuromonk Feofan in “Evening Urgant”

In 2017, the band toured the country and released a new album, which, as expected, was already breaking sales records. No one else was surprised either by the boldness of the idea or the talent for its implementation. Neuromonk Feofan did not change either the image or the theme of the texts, but did not become less popular because of this, although the monotony of creativity was not to the liking of a number of music critics.

In the fall of 2017, Feofan became a guest of Yuri Dudya. The mysterious idol, although he did not take off his hood, nevertheless opened the veil of secrecy. The musician declassified his “worldly” name; to the surprise of the fans, he did not sigh, did not call Yuri brother and did not use his favorite words “very” and “vigorously”.

In December 2017, the group was invited to the Evening Urgant show.

Scandals

Apart from the “sensation” with the exposure of the Varum-Agutin couple (Neuromonk believes that her husband Agutin sings for Varum, “chasing” his voice through a computer program), Feofan was not noticed in the scandals, because the scandals essentially contradicted the image of goodness and love radiated by performer. But the clergy from the Tula diocese did not agree with this. In 2015, a missionary report was published on the website of this religious department, which reported that the artist’s concert was canceled due to a pseudonym that evokes associations with the word “hieromonk”. The report also clarified that Theophan’s attire and behavior were absolute blasphemy.

Neuromonk Feofan – The hut is shaking

Later, in 2017, Archpriest Igor Fomin called the group members “blasphemers” and compared their performances with the action of the disgraced Pussy Riot. The musicians did not react in any way to the statements of the churchmen, and the imminent scandal subsided.

Discography

  • “In the soul of drama, in the heart of bright Russia” (2015)
  • “Great are the forces of good” (2016)
  • “Dance. Sing” (2017)
  • “Shine” (2018, EP)

Neuromonakh Feofan group now

In June 2018, Neuromonakh Feofan performed at the Kinoproby festival, where, together with the Bi-2 group, he performed the song Whiskey. In August of the same year, Neuromonakh Feofan performed his hits and new songs at the Invasion, becoming one of its brightest participants. On their website, the band presented a new mini-album “Shine” of 6 songs, a large-scale tour of the cities of Russia was planned for the beginning of 2019.

Neuromonakh Feofan – listen online