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Meet Kalman Szili of Datura Kilos

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kalman Szili.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born in Hungary and brought up in Russia. I always wanted to be an artist, so I ended up being a musical theatre actor in one of the most popular Moscow theaters. At the same time, in 2018, under my solo project, Datura Kilos, I released my first EP “Goodbye, Faith”. Funny thing is that it was released a day before I made a decision to move to America due to political tensions rising across Russia. It was (and still is) quite a journey that inspired me to write “Sadder than Lana Rey” – first single I recorded in Los Angeles.

The way the industry works here in America is quite different, so it takes time to get into it. Being a complete stranger, it’s even harder. I was so lucky to be invited to take a part in Four Walls Theater production of “Bars” by Pravin Wilkins – the story of a woman that puts herself at risk to help save a fellow immigrant arrested for speaking out. You can still find it streaming on YouTube till the 31st of October. I feel beyond grateful for this opportunity to work with such a great crew and especially our amazing director, Heather Harvey. As for now, I’m continuing working on music, poetry and, of course, acting.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I hear it all the time that you should have guts to leave your whole life behind and start it from the scratch in a foreign country, completely alone. Well, it’s true. But… I was never interested in anything that’s easy.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Well, my main thing was always acting. I also really love working on music, creating melodies… I write lyrics to all my songs and I recently realized I have this old-new passion, poetry. I mean I always enjoyed writing but now it became something… bigger… much much bigger. It feels like my poetry is my superpower. Haha.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Life is a constant change, you can’t control it – that’s why I don’t like planning things… I also don’t like spontaneous events. Guess it’s pretty complicated to be me. Haha!

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