Pavlo Varenytsia, the frontman of the Ukrainian rock band Epolets, has spoken candidly about his participation in the talent show 'X-Factor'. In a new episode of the 'SuchTsukrMuz' podcast, the musician admitted that this experience, which began as an attempt to survive a crisis, turned into deep disappointment and serious internal conflicts.
Audience Pressure and Loss of Self
According to Varenytsia, participating in the sixth season of the show forced the artists to do things they genuinely disliked. The paradox of the situation was that by following the format's requirements, the band attracted a huge audience that, in turn, demanded a continuation of the same 'game'.
"And you do as much as possible what you don't like, and then a huge audience comes that demands you do the same thing. And you don't want to do it — and they just run away," Varenytsia described the mechanism of dependency. This led to the musicians becoming disillusioned with their own creativity, believing that the problem lay within themselves.
Economic Crisis as the Reason
The decision to go on the show in 2014 was dictated not by creative ambitions, but by harsh reality. During that period, the band had no money and no concerts, despite the release of what the musicians considered their strongest album.
"It was 2014, people had little money, our affairs with concerts worsened very much... We released our, as they say now, like, strongest album, but we had no concerts, no money, no understanding of prospects," Varenytsia recalls. He admits that now, analyzing the past, he considers the decision to participate a mistake, believing that the band could have achieved the same scale organically.
Destruction of the Collective
Immersing themselves in the atmosphere of the show was so deep that it changed the participants' perception of the world and sowed discord in the collective. According to the leader, each musician realized that they could achieve success on their own and began to consider themselves more important than the band itself.
"We had very big conflicts with the guys after this... Everyone understood that he could do something alone. And he, as a separate unit, is much more important than the band itself. In short, a satanic prank," Varenytsia summarized the consequences of this experience.
The Only Positive Example
Despite the negative experience with 'X-Factor', Varenytsia singled out one project that evokes his respect and interest — the National Selection for 'Eurovision'. He called it a "cool story" capable of motivating musicians.
"If such competitions were held more often and someone sponsored them, it would be very cool... The only thing is that the rule should be that you can participate only once," the musician proposed, seeing in such a format healthy competition without a destructive influence on creativity.