Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexey Seliverstov.
Alexey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born in Moscow, one of the last generations to be born in the USSR. I grew up right after the Soviet collapse. My family learned to live in a new world. It was exciting in some ways, but also incredibly dark. Russia had the highest homicide rate in the world, I remember daily news reports about violent crimes across Moscow.
My music journey started when I was seven, with a toy synthesizer. I experimented, recorded, and composed early on — but I never attended music school.
After finishing school, I studied law for two years, then left university and became a programmer, building interactive interfaces, games, and infographics. Later, I composed a few film scores and soundtracks.
Everything changed when I created my first software for generative bird songs. I recorded artificial birds onto tape, placed them in real spaces, filmed, and uploaded the video to Instagram. My career took off quickly. My audience grew fast, and within a year, Pete Townshend invited me to compose a soundscape for his art installation, The Age of Anxiety.
Soon after, my country invaded Ukraine, and I moved to Los Angeles.
LA became my home, and it’s deeply rooted in my heart. It’s a giant source of creative energy for me. I feel its spirit while driving across the city — I love how the urban landscape collides with wilderness and desolated areas. That contrast gives me the power to grow, to extend, to keep experimenting.
Over the past year, everything has been incredibly intense. I remixed Glass Animals, performed at the Getty’s Central Garden, and was invited by the LA Phil to create a sound installation for the Noon to Midnight festival. I built a 12-hour interactive soundscape, where anyone could become an artist — making their own sound collages from a collection of 60 cassettes with generative bird songs and field recordings, along with atmospheres recorded on vinyl. It was a really special event, and the biggest presentation of my bird project so far.
Interestingly, the first bird I ever recorded, the one that made my work popular, was recorded near the Hollywood Hills four years before I even moved to LA. Hearing that bird, along with other generative creatures, as part of my soundscapes inside Walt Disney Concert Hall felt completely surreal.
Recently, I had another amazing experience, working with Harper Simon — recording some generative ambient pieces for his upcoming album. It was my first time working at the legendary EastWest Studios, where some of my all-time favorite songs were recorded. I remember how Dave Way, Harper’s mixing engineer, set up a vintage AKG C24 microphone, and I performed with my birds, listening through the studio’s echo chamber. It’s hard to imagine anything more sound-satisfying to me. I kept thinking — these chambers must still remember Elvis, The Mamas and the Papas, and all the legends who recorded there.
Right now, I’m developing a residency project for Harvard University, where I’ll be presenting a series of lectures, a masterclass, and a multi-channel sound installation on campus. The people I’m collaborating with are incredibly open-minded and supportive, encouraging even my most ambitious ideas. It feels like an important chapter in my journey, and I’m truly excited about what’s ahead.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It wasn’t an easy road. In 2022, my wife and I traveled to Portugal, where I was recording nature. And then the war happened.
I remember waking up, opening the news, and reading that my country had bombed Ukrainian cities. I started shaking. It felt like my whole reality collapsed in a moment, everything just shattered. That was the day I saw my homeland turn in a direction I couldn’t accept.
I started speaking out publicly. I had a large audience on Instagram. I gave an interview to one of Portugal’s biggest newspapers, Expresso, condemning the war. I appeared on TV Rain, Russia’s last independent TV channel. I urged people to protest. I donated to Ukraine. I donated to Alexei Navalny’s organization.
Each of those actions, separately, became criminal offenses under the new Russian laws. Every single one would mean years of imprisonment if I ever went back. And I couldn’t, and didn’t want to, return to a country supporting such crimes.
At the same time, we were physically trapped. No access to our bank accounts. Flights were canceled. We found ourselves stuck in a small fishing village in southern Portugal — Zambujeira do Mar.
Every day I saw the Atlantic Ocean, these giant waves — and at the same time, I was reading about the war crimes happening in Bucha and beyond. It was a painful, disorienting experience.
Eventually, we managed to fly to Georgia (country) to meet our family and friends, and then finally reached California.
Through everything, I never stopped creating soundscapes. Art became my way to survive, my way to move forward. It’s a simple rule I live by: art first. Even in the worst times, you have to follow your heart and keep creating.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My generative bird project
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I’ve never actively looked for a mentor. I always believed I had to find my own way, to create something that had never existed before. And when you are inventing, you can’t really search for mentorship. You have to trust your own path.
Eventually, if you stay true to your work, the right people will find you.
That’s exactly what happened to me twice. First, when Pete Townshend discovered my work on Instagram and reached out. During our first Zoom call, he told me I was a real inventor — that the technique I created, using flying mics, was groundbreaking and would have a huge influence on other musicians and artists. It was hard to believe one of the most legendary artists of the twentieth century was saying that to me.
The second time was when my all-time favorite composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto, followed me on Instagram. I couldn’t believe it — he only followed about 300 people, and somehow, I was one of them. I wrote to thank him, telling him how much his music had meant to me throughout my life. And he replied ”your attempt to make music with the sounds of nature is a very challenging yet beautiful work!!” It’s a message I’ll carry with me forever. It happened about ten months before he passed away.
I believe you are your own mentor. Only you know how to move, how to create, how to exist as an artist. And when you focus on building your own universe, the right people, the right collaborations, and the right paths will eventually find you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alexeyseliverstov.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grayskiesforever/
Image Credits
All Photos by Tata Vislevskaya
