Forbes Life editor Sofia Brontvein recalls how Svirgunov founded Cream Soda and why he has been one of the most influential musicians and producers in Russia in recent years.
Dmitry Svirgunov and Ilya Gadaev met in 2007 on the electronic music website Promodj.com. Both were in love with experimenting with sound and the style of drum’n’bass. Hearing each other’s tracks on the site, Dmitry and Ilya met to start writing compositions together. Thus, almost by accident, began the history of one of the most successful musical groups in Russia, which had a huge impact on the modern scene.
For two years, Dmitry and Ilya communicated on the Internet, exchanged tracks, created dubstep music and were extremely far from the pop industry. They first founded the duo Dima Nova & Nu Mind, then changed their name to The Neft, but remained exclusively in the underground narrow crowd and did not hit the top charts at all. Dmitry was older than Ilya, so he often influenced Gadaev and made bolder decisions. Svirgunov always liked to take risks, provoke, shock and tease.
At the same time, Svirgunov studied at the Yaroslavl State University named after P. G. Demidov at the Faculty of History, where he met Grigory Shatokhin and Vadim Seleznev, the future scriptwriters of the Evening Urgant show and producers of Alexander Gudkov’s Chicken Curry production studio. A few years later, it is this friendship that will allow Dmitry to turn Cream Soda into a real cultural phenomenon.
In 2012, Svirgunov and Gadaev decided to completely reformat their work and created the Cream Soda group, which for two years was primarily known for its DJ sets. Dmitry and Ilya traveled to 50 cities in Russia without releasing a single track, but gaining popularity. Cream Soda presented their first release in 2014 – but on vinyl, demonstrating that they do not play by the rules of the modern market.
For the first time in Moscow, the Cream Soda group was talked about at the Powerhouse club on Goncharnaya Street, where they regularly performed with sets. Many journalists, musical artists, artists went to Powerhouse – it was a large creative community, but still underground, which did not bother Svirgunov and Gadaev in any way. In the future, Powerhouse will become the second home for Cream Soda – they will hold private album premieres there, where the best specialists in the music industry will meet.
In March 2016, on the Electronica label of DJ Alexander Khizhnyakov, Dmitry and Ilya created their first full-length album, Fire, for which their friend Anna Romanovskaya recorded vocals. Unexpectedly for Cream Soda, they began to write about the disc in the media, the release hit the windows of iTunes and other music services. At the same time, Svirgunov and Gadaev did not earn any money on Cream Soda at all and still supported themselves thanks to DJ sets.
In 2017, after the release of the single Volga, which became the first truly successful release of Cream Soda, Anna Romanovskaya officially became part of the group. And in the same year, the project team began to get out of the underground clubs into the top charts, relying on cool pop music. Dmitry and Ilya, who are in love with drum’n’bass, were not at all shy about releasing trendy dance tracks.
The desire to experiment and the complete absence of bias towards any musical style are perhaps the main reasons why Cream Soda has become a phenomenon. The project team combined their deep knowledge in high-quality electronic music, DJing experience, Anna’s non-standard vocals and bold lyrics with the listeners’ request for simple, light, dance hits. In 2018, the group recorded a new album “Beautiful” on Ivan Dorn’s Masterskaya label, with which they went on a tour of Russia. At these concerts, Cream Soda earned big money for the first time – 2 million rubles.
Then the group released the already iconic video “Go away, but stay” together with Alexander Gudkov, which was produced by Chicken Curry. This video marked a completely different approach to the visual range of Cream Soda in his work. Svirgunov and Gadaev did not want to be just DJs, just musicians, just artists. In many interviews, Dmitry and Ilya said that they want to make a pop revolution.
Then there was a collaboration with Chicken Curry as part of various studio shows, a contract with Warner Music, the hit No More Parties, and the single Crying for Techno, which went platinum five times. Cream Soda is one of the most popular and discussed pop groups in Russia. The project team is the heroes of television shows, magazine covers and memes, chart leaders on radio and YouTube, the most sought-after artists and DJs. But even in this role, Dmitry and Ilya are bored, you need to move on.
In 2020, Cream Soda releases the Intergalaxy album, reminiscent of an audiobook read to dynamic house. “We want people in Russia to know: don’t be afraid to experiment. A variety of music finds its listener and literally blows up his brain. He finds something of his own in the songs, discovers himself differently, energizes, finds some new horizons, ”Dmitry said then from the stage. The presentation of the record, by the way, took place at the Powerhouse, where Svirgunov and Gadaev regularly continued to DJ.
The next new horizon for Cream Soda was Feduk’s YAI album. On this disc, Dmitry and Ilya were responsible for the sound and production, indicating that their work is much wider than the Cream Soda group alone. “YAY” has become the most diverse and powerful Feduk album in terms of sound, lyrics and genres. Cream Soda helped Feduk forget about the rules of the industry, the traditions of pop rap and the top charts that had hampered his work for several years. Together with Dmitry and Ilya, he rediscovered the underground and trap, for which the fans once loved Feduk so much.
In 2021, Cream Soda was included in the Forbes “30 under 30” ranking. At that time, it was no longer just a group known for “Cry for Techno” and “No More Parties”. Dmitry and Ilya had their own label “STOL”, a very successful side project Locked Club, which was played on radio stations abroad, and popular parties in Moscow in partnership with “Rainbow”, for which all fans of high-quality electronics stood in line – especially house , techno and drum’n’bass.
Dmitry and Ilya never forgot their roots. They always continued to DJ and work in their favorite genres. No matter how popular Cream Soda was, Svirgunov and Gadaev did not leave the underground. Pop music brought money, electronics – pleasure. If you listen to one track of Cream Soda, and then turn on the track Locked Club, it will be extremely difficult to believe that these are the same artists. Being able to work in such different genres is a real talent.
The Cream Soda team has always very subtly and correctly read the mood and request of the audience, because Dmitry and Ilya spent their whole lives not in a recording studio, surrounded by producers, but on the dance floor. They saw their fans every weekend, personally played tracks for them, instantly felt the reaction to their music. Cream Soda has never made music for money or the charts. They created tracks to make the audience go crazy at the parties. And so it turned out so bright, lively and sincere.
Cream Soda composed most of the tracks and albums in the village of Dievo-Gorodishche in the Yaroslavl region on the banks of the Volga, where Svirgunov’s family home is located. There Dmitry always felt calm and happy. It was the best place for creativity, where he constantly came. Dmitry was there on March 20, 2023, along with his younger brother Roman and three friends – ex-hockey player Georgy Kiselev, Valeria Derman and Aristarkh Ukhtomsky. They went for a walk along the Volga and fell through the ice. All but Derman died. This is one of the biggest and hardest losses for the Russian music industry. Dmitry was not only talented, but also a very responsive, conscientious and courageous person who helped build a career for many of his friends. Now all the fans and relatives of Svirgunov are really crying at techno with a heavy heart.