Danil Gurianov

Born in Perm. The legendary figure of city club life; ideologist, author of the concept and founder of the Kvadrat club, as well as the Dom Kultury bar. Creative producer of the Mesto sily (Power Place) festival.

Quotes

• To choose what you want to do, you need to peer into your childhood, understand what you like and what you can, what you truly and deeply love.
• There are six things for which the sky is no limit — you can contemplate, develop, produce them forever: nature, the human body, communication with other people, scientific cognition, creativity (when you become like the Creator) and love.
• I am inspired by people who felt the world as subtly and sharply, but they still had the sense not to join the club 27 and create for a longer time.
• I do not like the word «equilibrium,» but I love the word «balance»: the tension between the two polarities makes my motor spin so amock!

My story

I am from Perm. My upbringing was strict, but fair: love, but without monkeyshines. Mum was engaged in medicine, father — in business. Since childhood, I have loved to build alternate worlds and play them according to my own scenarios. I remember how in the sixth grade, under the leadership of Natalia Shostina, we staged the Prikamskoe Chudo (Permian Miracle) city performance, where my fairy tale became the basis of the script. I was even an actor in this production. At first, I was a stone, and the next year I was already a spirit. Even then, I felt this miracle: at first there was nothing, and then it turned into something.

After school № 9, I went to the Lyceum at the Higher School of Economics, and these were my formative years: the «green light» to my desire to reveal myself in what I like and want to do was turned on there. After some reflection, I realized that my «I like it and it turns out» are in the sphere of organizing events and communicating with people. I told my parents: I shall enter the university on a budget, you will give me half the money for a paid education, I will buy myself bad wheels, lousy hardware and start holding parties. Then I will become the art director of a club, and then all the doors would be open, even in politics, even in business. Parents agreed to the adventure. After 10 years, I can say that I have exceeded their expectations.

In 2010, we opened Kvadrat. It revealed and formed the energy of a whole (supposedly lost) generation. We were able to do the wave. Then it was not necessary to think about the meaning of life, all the energy of the cosmos was with us. And I finally realized that I would not be able to do anything else and wouldn't want: because I felt that my business was connected with something real, involved in the next round of spiral development of civilization.

After the closing of Kvadrat, we said that there would be Dom Kultury — three years before its opening. We started making promo-parties in Perm and other cities, searching for facilities and money for the project. Both the public and investors believed in us, but then we were still too arrogant and infantile. When the club finally opened, the first happy guests and the first questions of the real severe world appeared, but something went wrong, and our house began sinking. At first, we didn't understand why, because we thought that we were doing everything correctly: we have 5,000 loyal audiences, and we are hardcore party-makers. But in fact, having come out of the «underground to the light,» we didn't change anything, we didn't learn how to do business and fell short of creating a product to meet the demand of even loyal visitors qualitatively. Everything happened in «stirred but not shaken» style: this evening is jazz, the next day the same people came to you and found punks who puke the stage and beat the bottles. As a result, we firmly harmed our credibility among all audiences and acquired a debt of one million rubles.

As a result, we honestly discussed how we «want,» and what pretends to be «right,» sifted through all our ideas and concepts, and left only two of the seven products that DK produced. And now we are trying to reduce everything to one: parties. The rest should move to another project (bar «Natasha,» the opening of which is planned for the end of April 2019). Although now we have a good kitchen and any dish ready in 5-7 minutes, but people come to us, not for this: they go dancing, drinking, relaxing — letting demons out in a decent manner, celebrating life on weekends so that in the morning it is not a shame. Why should they go to DK for dinner on Wednesday night, for example, if on Saturday night they come to us anyway? Of course, they are interested in acquiring a new consumer experience (and thank God for that), so on weekdays, they go to another bar. Our next project will be this «other bar.»

The essence of what a concept is can be conveyed through the pyramid metaphor, the volume in which (so, the meaning) can be built on three points: a visual component, a textual one, and an ideological message. When they unite, magic happens. But when you need to replicate monotonous parties, and you are used to inventing new worlds, then you pour vodka and tears, and one day you come to the conclusion that the music format (it has changed 180 degrees from the beginning of the club's work) and the form should be in fact simple. That is, to achieve success in business, you must first give the consumer what he wants, without making him feel stupid, and after that invest content in the product, based on your own tasks. An ideal example is Vanya Urgant, which is pleasant to both grannies and thugs. Humor, irony, kindness, sincerity, behind which is a tremendous amount of work, concept, and experience.

The basis of the philosophy of the staff and guests of Dom Kultury is that I come here to be free, but so that my freedom doesn't cramp the freedom of the people around me. Therefore, our club is the only institution in Perm with such strict face control. We ask everyone for passports, even gray-bearded men. Basically, to check their reaction. In this way, we guarantee physical comfort and safety, as well as the fact that people inside will meet other people who have come to smile.

The name «Dom Kultury» («House of Culture») appeared because we wanted to create a multifunctional platform. Initially, this was the case: we united as best we could, created various collaborations, but in current realities such a cluster story should have a patron. And so far we don't have them: prominent businessmen live in other countries and don't dismiss their ennobling mycelium here. For development, you need either a politician or a businessman who will perceive culture not only as a task but also as a personal mission. We feel the strength to perform in this role. Last year we produced the festival in honor of Perm Youth Day «Mesto sily» (Power Place) — we collected 10,000 people, tried what it was to remain entrepreneurs with a particular social function without getting into politics. We demonstrated by example that without us politicians won't be able to solve their city-forming tasks so effectively.

I do not like the word «equilibrium,» but I love the word «balance»: maximum amplitude fluctuations from socially approved, altruistic, bright, creative to self-destructive, lyrical, dramatic, rock'n'roll; from masculine to feminine, from extraversion to introversion and back. In my case, I will never be able to choose one of the parts and will always live two lives. It is this voltage between the two polarities that makes my motor spin so amock!

When I once realized that everything was going to happen the way I wanted, the meaning of life was temporarily lost. It's kind of a feeling when parents promise you a bike for A grades in the first half of the year, and then after two weeks, you see it poorly hidden in the garage. But life is not the result of your plans, but a process here and now. You need to strive for great ambitions, but be focused on the moment.

I initially wanted to find my mission, an unexpendable one, so that there was something to devote to life and not to think about its meaning ever. And I found it. My mission is the city of Perm. I sincerely believe that Perm can become the next cultural Mecca of Russia. We are similar to the English Bristol or Manchester, here is the correct distance from the capitals and the unreleased Gumilyov passionarity. I looked for a refutation of this but found only confirmation, and therefore I am ready to devote my life to Perm. I feel my inseparable connection with this city, I am ready to throw myself onto a pill box if they tell me that you die, but the city will be what you want it to be. But great results are the result of little good deeds that you work hard on every day. It is fortunate that there are people in Perm who like me see it eye to eye.