Meet CULTTASTIC

Today we’d like to introduce you to CULTTASTIC.

Thanks for sharing your story with us. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born in Kiev, Ukraine and grew up in Houston, Texas. I figure skated and competed in rhythmic gymnastics growing up since my mom is a figure skating coach. I also played piano as a kid and started trying to produce music in my early teens. My dad, a professional musician in the USSR, got me an early version of the digital audio workstation Cubasis. I remember making a song on it, sampling the intro drum loop from Enigma “Sadness.”

I later studied music business management at Berklee College of Music in Boston. After graduating, I moved to L.A. and interned at Universal Music. Eventually, I decided to focus on creating my dream album.

I met Forrest (Mr.Kitty) when we performed at the SXSW CVRRENTS showcase together in Austin a few years back, and he introduced me to his record label Negative Gain Productions, which is based in Los Angeles and Chicago.

I had this wild idea to release each of my songs as a single, since my songs are so stylistically varied, and I wanted to create a separate reality with each song. I signed to Negative Gain, who have helped me materialize my vision and have given me total creative freedom.

Anyone can preorder my album by subscribing to CULTTASTIC on Bandcamp. Subscribers receive a new song and artwork every two weeks, and then they will also receive the physical album CD when it comes out on October 4th: https://culttasticngp.bandcamp.com/subscribe

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Creating my album has been so challenging because I’ve just been so precious about every little aspect of it, so it felt like the process dragged on forever. At one point, I was afraid to touch my own creations because I was afraid to ruin them.

I felt like I was stuck in the past while finishing these songs, but I just forced myself to keep going, one step at a time, until I felt like I finally brought the quality of the music to a level where all the time spent felt justified.

On a personal note, as soon as I made a conscious decision to prioritize my music and to do as much work as possible autonomously, I found myself surrounded by genuine people who appreciate me, and I’m very grateful for that.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a music producer and recording artist known as CULTTASTIC. I create what I describe as icy synthpop from an alternate reality. I think I’m most proud of orchestrating this project myself: I write the lyrics, compose the music and instrumental arrangements, produce and record the music, conceptualize and edit my music videos and album art. Whether I’m creating a witch house sound or a J-pop sound or a Y2K trance sound or something experimental, it’s all coming from the same place aesthetically and emotionally.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Externally, music is the way I communicate with the world, so success comes in the form of anyone who interacts with my music or extracts value from it. Internally, producing a song that I feel is technically and emotionally close to perfect or purely beautiful is a success.

In my mind, my song “Quantum Girl” is a success just because I felt like I wrote the perfect song. For a long time, I felt that way about “Holographic” until I wrote “Quantum Girl,” so growing as an artist is another form of success.

Having people I admire agree with me and say that I wrote a great song is an extension of that success. People watching my music videos, coming to my shows, wearing my merch, buying and listening to my music is a further extension of that success, but the quality of the music and art itself is the essence of success.

Pricing:

• CULTTASTIC album preorder via Bandcamp Subscription- in the U.S. $15 (shipping included)
• CULTTASTIC album preorder via Bandcamp Subscription- in Canada. $25 (shipping included)
• CULTTASTIC album preorder via Bandcamp Subscription- Worldwide $30 (shipping included)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://culttasticngp.bandcamp.com/
• Email: culttastic@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/culttastic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CULTTASTIC/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/culttastic
• Other: https://youtu.be/mYbBy3v4L6s

Image Credit:
Photograph by CULTTASTIC, CULTTASTIC album cover art by CULTTASTIC, Take Me Off The Planet cover art by CULTTASTIC, Quantum Girl cover art by CULTTASTIC, Accel World cover art by CULTTASTIC, Holographic cover art by CULTTASTIC, Ugly Is Beautiful cover art by DJ NoiseJam

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