Inferno Laor: "Miss Monique" who escaped from Ukraine will play in Jerusalem Israel today

If Adam Levin, lead singer of Maron 5, came to Israel from a show in Abu Dhabi directly to the hotel room in Tel Aviv, ready to sunbathe, upload fan stories and flirt with the local female offering, then the story of the arrival of Alicia Arkusha, Miss Monique for you, is a little different.

Technically, the 30-year-old DJ does come to us from Hungary after a performance in Paris, where she participated in the prestigious "Circle" festival, but her arrival in our districts is preceded by a dramatic escape story and a hair nail, the kind that can easily support a Netflix movie or a typical Itai war zone reporter Engel, suppose.

"My family and I are from Kiev. The Russians attacked the city at 5 a.m., when everyone was asleep, and rocket fire started firing at us," she recalls of the dawn of February 24, the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, her country.

"Before that we did not really believe it could happen. Despite the threats, we thought until the last minute that maybe we could discuss with someone on the Russian side and be quiet.

"But Putin attacked, and it has been going on for almost three months and has not stopped. So like a lot of people leaving their homes, and some of them the whole country, my family decided to do the same. I stayed in Kiev for the first ten days of fighting, and on the 11th day of fighting We decided to leave it - something that was only possible on two roads that remained open.

"We traveled 300 kilometers, a distance that is usually quite easy and fast to travel, but this time it took us 12 hours, because everyone tried to leave Kyiv at the same time. On the way the Ukrainian army stopped us quite a few times and checked our documents, and it made leaving the country a long trip. especially".

Arkusha and her family soon discovered that even if the escape from Kiev, complex as it was, was a possible thing - at one point Ukraine became a bloody battlefield that was hard to escape.

"On the escape route we reached the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, which is in the center of the country, and in relation to Kiev - it was calmer there," she says almost indifferently, or with practical composure, what many would carry in their minds as trauma.

"We did not have too many belongings, because when it all started we were just in shock. We took with us some warm clothes and necessary things, but beyond that we did not really know what to do.

Arkusha does not remember exactly what day it happened, but at one point the Russian army fired no less than eight rockets at Vinnitsa.

"We decided to leave the city, so I went with my family to the west of the country. Most of the people traveling west were on their way to Poland, and some crossed the border with Hungary. I myself stayed in this part of the country for about a week, then crossed the border into Hungary and reached Budapest."

"It is forbidden to sit in the place"

And as if to add a measure of surrealism to her incredible story, Arkosha decided to continue working for DJ and set herself a tour of major cities in the Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, Germany, Argentina and other countries that are fortunately not war-torn.

The tour will end at the end of July at the Tomorrowland Festival in Belgium.

She will arrive in Israel as part of "White Night Jerusalem", the first electronic festival of its kind in the Holy City, produced in collaboration with the Jerusalem Municipality and will present performances and sets of world-renowned DJs, including Hardwell and Mind Against.

Alongside them will be playing local ensembles such as Red Access and Magit Kakon.

And yes, Arkosha also sees the absurdity in the gap between her past survival journey and conducting over thousands of dancers in changing euphoric states.

"I realized I could help my country more if I continued to work, but it was one of the most complex decisions of my life," she explains.

"I'm lucky my job is so cool. I can travel the world and attend various events, and I have the opportunity to meet a lot of people.

"But deciding to have parties and try to create a good mood when a war is raging in your country is a super difficult thing, both for me and for every Ukrainian artist who has made the decision to continue working. We recently started sending donations to my country, holding a charity event, .

"But the war continues, and only this morning I saw in the news that the Russian army fired rockets in the direction of western Ukraine. They show no signs of stopping, and I can not even explain how many Ukrainians died during this period - and to what horrific spectacles people are exposed daily. H., Gastomel and Irpin (cities that became famous for brutal massacres of civilians and other war crimes committed by the Putin army; according to), after the Russian soldiers left them, all they saw was hell and horrors.

"I can not find another word to describe what is happening there. They found in these cities more than a thousand civilians dead. The Russians just killed them - children, men, the elderly. It is inconceivable. I can not understand how war is something that is still happening in our century."

You may have thought about the possibility of not returning to Ukraine again any time soon.

"Of course I would love to come back, because I did not plan to leave my house. Like all Ukrainians, I was sure I might return in a month, but in the meantime it is not possible. I do not know how the people who stayed there continue to lead lives, maybe they are very strong.

"I have a relative who serves in the army. But as for me, I can not return, unfortunately, because at the moment it is not safe there. I do not want my family and I to live there, as long as there is no peace in my homeland. Beyond that, there are no flights entering Ukraine. "At the moment, I think this type of transportation will only return to the country at the end, when there is a safe sky there."

Do you feel that the world is not aware enough or is not doing enough to stop what is happening to you?

"I'm not a political person, so I do not feel I can judge anyone else. I think everyone should do what they can, and focus more on helping my country. I do not analyze who helps more and who less. From my side, I try to help and hope "Everyone does everything they can. But yes, we need to talk about it, not keep quiet and sit still."

Recorded in Kiev in 2020.

"I realized I could help my country more if I continued to work," Photo: YouTube, from the Atlas Weekend Live Festival

"A huge community on YouTube"

To Israel, a place that understands a thing or two about the "dancing and crying" procedure, Arkusha comes to pick up.

Those familiar with it will define her as "the woman most identified with the progressive-house and melodic-techno styles in the electronic scene."

For the party-loving audience (and their producers), she is considered no less than an Eastern European sensation who broke the boundaries of the genre and managed, through a combination of different styles, to create her own voice, stand out among her colleagues and become one of Europe's most beloved and sought-after DJs.

Almost irrationally, she herself has never really been a clubber.

The great success and her attraction to the field, she says, she owes in general to YouTube.

"I've never been someone who goes to a lot of parties," she says, "but about 12 years ago I visited some big music festivals, and I really liked the vibe there, the energy of the crowd, and especially that of the DJs. I also had a few. Friends who recorded, so I decided to try to record myself - and I just fell in love with it. "

What do you think made you stand out among quite a few others working in your field?

It's not that there's a shortage of DJs.

"It's hard for me to talk about myself in this context. I think I work hard. It's a very standard answer, but that's what happened. I just worked a lot, and probably also arrived at the right time.

"I grew up on a YouTube platform. My first radio show, a podcast called 'Mind Games', I broadcast on Ukrainian online radio that could be listened to on YouTube, and then I started making clips. I started my own YouTube channel, and people probably liked what I did - and my audience There he began to grow.

"Today I have a huge community there, and for every one of my broadcasts, between 3,000 and 4,000 people are connected, listening or watching in real time. So I think the significant difference between me and other DJs is that I just grew up on YouTube, and thanks to him. It shows no You have to produce tracks and hits, and there are a lot of ways to grow to be a DJ.

Although she did not arrive at her last intended reception in Israel, last March in Eilat, after failing to cross the borders of her country at that stage, Arkusha is certainly no stranger to the Land of Zion and what is happening there.

She has submitted sets here in the past, and somehow, when it comes down to it - the constant compliment "Israelis are the best audience" sounds authentic.

"You always have good energy, and I really appreciate the warm welcome," she says.

"It's never boring with the Israeli audience, because you tear up the dance floor. I really like playing with you, and at every party I go to, the energy is always good. Always. I never had a bad party with you."

We like to see in Israel, and especially in Tel Aviv, one of the centers of clubbing and good nightlife in the world.

How true is this from your angle?

Did you get out here as a blabbermouth?

"Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to spend time at your parties, but I already have my favorite place to walk, a few miles on the shoreline. When I get to Tel Aviv, even if I'm tired or want to sleep, the first thing I do is walk this beach. "I walk towards the port of Jaffa and then return to my hotel, so I had the opportunity to see Tel Aviv many times, and I can even walk around it in some places without Google Maps. I know the city a bit."

In the middle of this difficult period, your country also won the Eurovision Song Contest.

How is it perceived by you?

Not completely detached and detached from reality?

"This is wonderful news. It's an amazing thing, and our guys have done a wonderful job. I'm very happy, but we still have a war going on. Before that I enjoyed my life as much as I could, but in my head now I can not forget that the war continues.

"So even if I smile and enjoy and hear great news like winning the Eurovision, it's not one hundred percent real joy, because I understand what's going on in Ukraine at any moment. I'm very happy and proud of our successes, but overall I'm proud to be Ukrainian and part of something so strong." . 

shishabat@israelhayom.co.il

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