Raina Yotova talked with Ovanes Melik-Pashaev, President of Joker Media

The name of Ovanes Melik-Pashaev is legendary. Once, six brothers settled in Nagorno Karabakh. Their surname was Melik-Pashayantz – “melik” meaning prince and “pasha” – military commander. The father of Ovanes was a professor, doctor of physics, and his mother was a Russian language and literature teacher. The founder of Joker Media graduated a musical school and after that studied physics in the Moscow University. Music has always been part of his life. His grandfather was conductor of Bolshoy Theatre. Mr. Melik Pashaev has been producer of many Russian bands, among which “Time Machine”, “Voskresenie”, “Rock Atelier” and “Black Coffee”.

Are your personal biases to music the reason for the establishment of Joker Media?
In principle, the idea was of my daughter Liyana, who is president of Joker Media. She made me return to the past, to the times when I was actively involved in the show business in Russia. She attended all concerts I organised, and they are about 5 000. She and I like the same kind of music, despite being from different generations.

More joy or more disappointment have the contacts with the people of art brought to you?
I think that almost everything was a victory as most musicians achieved good success. But from a human point of view not everything was so successful, there were very hard moments.

What is your highest achievement?
This is difficult to say. Today something may look as a peak and tomorrow as a downfall.

Do you return to the land of your ancestors, to your roots?
I haven’t been there for a long time but I follow the news. Less than a year ago, in connection with the visit of the President of Armenia to Bulgaria, Joker Media organised a concert dedicated to Hachaturyan and on this occasion I met with several businessmen and government members and I had the chance to talk to the Armenian President about the situation in the country. Everyone hopes that the situation will improve, as everywhere. Many, many years ago the Armenian kings used to be crowned in Rome. The Armenian kingdom occupied the lands from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean, to the Persian Gulf. This was the time when Tegral the Great was not in war with Rome. Afterwards Armenia was torn to pieces. The last mite was the mite of Lenin, who gave the bigger part of Armenia to Turkey and Azerbaijan.

What is the common feature of the Bulgarian performers and bands you are producing?
We chose artists who have certain originality, who can sing live. For me even Bolshoy Theatre is a commercial phenomenon but is also great art. This is why the commercial element should always be there. If people love a band it should be popular and successful.

Would you take a risk with less famous young people?
I don’t think that Grafa and Kaffe are old. In fact, Kaffe was also an unknown band, but they are very good musicians. Their success was predestined.

For two centuries now the Kuban Kazaks manage to preserve their authenticity, thus winning recognition on all continents. Who are they?
They have been warriors and were in the Russian army that liberated Bulgaria in the Russian-Turkish Was. They come from a flat region, where the crop is always good. The show itself has a positive effect and is unique. This is a wonderful show with incredible vocal performance. Words cannot explain it.

If we imagine that the time machine is real, where and in what time would you go?
For me it would be more interesting to go back in the past rather than in the future. Maybe two or three thousand years back… If a man lives without a computer, for example, he would have greater peace of mind and could do more things in his life.

Do you have spare time to communicate with art people outside your work?
Sometimes I do. And I try to do it, it is a necessity. Artists are sad because if we draw a comparison between today’s cultural life in Bulgaria and what it was 20 years ago, it would not be in favour of contemporary culture. I like the old Bulgarian cinema and now these movies are gone. I remember the Bulgarian singers and actors, who came to Moscow and visited other towns. Their audience filled whole stadiums.

What is your opinion on the future development and dissemination of the Russian musical culture around the world?
The Russian musical culture is quite versatile. Starting with the classical music, opera, ballet, going through the ethno style and folklore to modern music… Pop-music will continuously change and nobody can tell what it will be like tomorrow. But the real, valuable music will survive.

Photos by Graphic Design Studio of Joker Media