«The more darkness, the more flashlights are needed». Uladzimir Pugach — about hope, Maksim Znak and the first bus to Minsk

Photos provided by the interviewee to "Salidarnastsi"

— How, in your opinion, do all the horrors and misunderstandings of recent years combine with positive emotions and love? Someone might even think: can one sing about love when there is so much pain around?

— In my opinion, not only can, but should. Because it saves.

The more darkness, the more flashlights are needed. The more darkness — the further away they are seen, like lighthouses.

For me, love and bright warm feelings are exactly such flashlights in the dark. Of course, they are needed. And to argue that one should only be tense and sad — well, that's just not human nature.

A person needs both light and warmth, regardless of the weather outside the windows. We are all built this way. And to deny this is hypocritical.

«It was a survivor's fallacy»

— Our tradition of playing a concert on Valentine's Day is already, perhaps, 15 years old. It gradually developed when we realized that very many songs, the greater part of our creative work, are dedicated precisely to internal experiences: feelings, emotions, love.

Since then, every year, almost without interruption, we have been doing such concerts.

— It sounds strange now, but you held such a concert on February 14, 2021, in Minsk, in Prime Hall.

— Yes (smiles). It was a rather magical situation. Because when the concert was already over, the people who worked there told us that it was not allowed.

Everything happened automatically, because we worked with them every year. And then they had problems. Because in 2021, we started a tour in Belarus with this concert, went further and didn't even make it to the end. Because that was it. We were banned.

But they overlooked that concert, because a lot was happening in the country. And it's very difficult to ban everything and everyone at the same time.

— Probably someone even then said that it was not the time to sing about love...

Павялічыць

— I think, I repeat, that this is hypocritical. Because courtyard concerts for those same people warmed them very much. Which we also did and played. Because if we start dividing concerts into right and wrong — then it will be quite something else.

— And personally, weren't you afraid? Because then, it seems, it was already «no more than three gathering together». And hundreds, if not thousands, of Belarusians with flashlights came to you.

— It's a survivor's fallacy now to assume that it was generally impossible then and to be surprised by it. Now we make a mistake when we extrapolate our current state and fears to the past. Back then we didn't know about the repressions and terror of 2022, when musicians began to be mass detained.

In 2021, there was still an inertia of protests, an emotional uplift. And I will remind you that before this concert on February 14, 2021, we played on the balcony in the Square of Changes, where GUBOPiK was chasing us.

We played a whole series of courtyard concerts, where it was much more dangerous than in Prime Hall. We treated it like this: "Let's try. If they ban us, they ban us."

After that, we went to Mogilev. We sold tickets there, but a day before the event, we were denied the venue. Because "something with the electricity." But we found another hall a day later and played.

And when we reached Grodno and Lida — there we were finally denied. We managed to play three concerts on that tour. Also in Vitebsk. There I already saw KGB officers who came to our concert in Minsk's Piasochnitsa in 2020. Since then, everything was forbidden for us.

«You see that there are many Belarusians, that they live all over the world, that they are different, bright, interesting»

— In April it will be four years since I left. I already know more about how to live here. But life in emigration doesn't get easier because of this. Mine specifically. Because I try to do what I've been doing all my life. And there are, of course, fewer listeners here.

It's quite difficult, but I continue because I like it and I have faith in what I do. This gives me strength.

What hasn't changed for me from the first day I arrived in Warsaw until today — I will be on the first bus to Belarus. If the situation changes there, I will return instantly. Because it's not like I've gotten used to it and will live here now.

For me, this is a working relocation with many positive aspects. The geography of our concerts has expanded.

When we lived in Belarus and played for Belarusians (exactly what we had planned and wanted all our lives), we didn't think about Belarusian communities in other countries. We only went to Switzerland.

But now we have toured all over Europe, and three times in the United States. We met many interesting Belarusians in different countries. This is a big plus.

You see that there are many Belarusians, that they live all over the world, that they are different, bright, interesting. And this gives a lot of strength, hope for the future, and inspiration.

«Maryna Zolatava and Aliaksandr Fiaduta also came to that "Zekameron"»

— How was the meeting with Maksim Znak when he came to your play «Zekameron»?

— We often discussed among ourselves, dreamt that someday we would play, and Maksim would see it.

For some reason, it seemed to us that it would be in Belarus, on the stage of the Kupalaŭka Theater. But it so happened that three days after Maksim arrived in Warsaw, we had a play scheduled. We invited him, and at times it was quite difficult for me on stage. I was a bit overwhelmed, especially at the end of the play, when it was very difficult to hold back tears.

I liked that when Maksim came out on stage after the play, he was so composed, concentrated, cheerful, strong, with sparkling eyes. And this is very encouraging: that there are people whom you cannot break.

Before that day, I personally didn't know Maksim. He came with his sister about an hour before the play, we met. I hugged him as if he were someone I had known for a long time. Because through his creative work, the stories from "Zekameron," it seems as if you have always known the person.

We've seen each other many times since then. A couple of days ago we met in a company, sang, played guitars, discussed life.

— Siarhei Chub said that you invited Maksim Znak on tour.

— Yes, I hope he will go with us to Wrocław and Kraków. Literally the day after the J:Mors concert on February 14.

Павялічыць

By the way, Maryna Zolatava and Aliaksandr Fiaduta also came to that "Zekameron." And, as I was told, Kalesnikava and Babaryka also wanted to come, but they left for Germany that day.

«It happened more than once that a man came on stage at a concert and proposed to his beloved»

— What songs will be at the concert in Warsaw on February 14?

— We have enough material, as there are 10 albums, and each time something new. We plan to recall romantic songs about love to transport ourselves into an atmosphere that distracts more from today's reality. When you are in love, even if this feeling permeates your whole life, it's easier to live, easier to endure.

It happened more than once that a man came on stage at a concert and proposed to his beloved. Such a surprise for the girl. And you know what's very pleasant? After 3-4-5 years, you meet them at a concert already with a child and hear: "Thank you very much! This helped us a lot!" (laughs).

As for premieres, we are currently preparing two releases. With J:Mors, Aleh Harbuz, and Siarhei Chub, we are recording an album of songs from the play "Zekameron." I plan to release it this spring as a full-fledged album. And in parallel, we are making a new J:Mors album.

— This year is your anniversary. What would be the best gift?

— To hug my parents and relatives in Belarus. I generally don't like planning holidays. Friends know that I never make special restaurants and all that. I either go on a trip or perform a concert on that day.

Maybe that will even happen this year. But I haven't thought about it yet, because it's all quite conditional: 50 rotations on planet Earth around the Sun.

— If not restaurants for the holidays, then what makes Pugach happy today?

— Professional successes and travels. Which were not part of my past life in Belarus, as tours were more limited. But now you travel from Zurich to San Diego. You see different interesting Belarusians, expand your horizons, emotionally and mentally.

— Perhaps a dream of visiting somewhere, even not on tour, has come true?

— There have been quite a few such stories. I love documentary naturalistic films about wildlife. And last year I watched Kevin Costner's film about Yosemite National Park in northern California. The largest sequoias in the world grow there. And three of the largest trees I saw in the film.

And approximately four months later, I found myself in that park. After a concert in San Francisco, my friends and I specifically went there. We spent a wonderful day there.

Павялічыць

Also, on the East Coast, I visited the museum of the Wright brothers, creators of the first airplane. I got to see many things I had dreamt of.

«All of us desperately need beacons of hope and especially love»

— We could have taken a bus to these sequoias, but we decided to take a walk. Uphill, closer to evening, a dark forest all around, almost no people.

We knew this was a place where bears roam. So as we walked, there was this feeling, oh my goodness, let's just not meet any bears. Quite a vivid picture (laughs). Even to prevent bears from eating your food, metal cabinets were installed in the park's campsites to hide it. But they still come, they can even enter a tent. So the chance of meeting a bear was quite high for us. Thank God, we were lucky, but it was risky.

— Didn't you lean against a sequoia to make a wish?

— It's such a magical place that you want to embrace it all. To wrap it all up, close your eyes, and dream (laughs). Those were the emotions and feelings.

My second wish, after I hug my parents, is the opportunity to play concerts for Belarusians in Belarus.

— And what is the main difficulty for Pugach-the-person today, in 2026?

Павялічыць

— Not to lose hope. To cheer myself up, to keep myself in a productive active state.

I can't say that I succeed every day. Because one has to work on this separately, and a lot of strength goes into it.

— Someone says that this hope will kill us if we don't lose it.

— I disagree. Hope is an engine. A factor of purposefulness. In any life, for any person.

Just living from the past into the future, without a plan, without hope — that's a rather futile existence for human dignity. Therefore, having hope is that very engine. Love and hope.

These are indeed bombastic and clichéd words. But it's like with biblical commandments. They turn out to be the most correct, the most true. And you feel this especially in dark times. That's why all of us desperately need beacons of hope and especially love.

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