Meet Anatoliy Semochkin, the street musician

Henrik Røyne
Sep 6, 2018 · 3 min read

Photo and text by Henrik Røyne

Anatoliy Semochkin, or Анатолий Сёмочкин as written in the Russian alphabet, playing his guitar in the middle of Lille Torv.

When walking around the city centre during the ongoing festival week, it almost feels as if there’s a beating heart pumping people through the vein-like streets and avenues of Aarhus. The city is buzzing with life and people of all ages crowd the city to partake in the current festivities. However, the participants are not merely limited to the typical festival-goers. A wide array of street performers also gather in Aarhus during this time of the year.

You find them in the alleyways, squares, and on the corners of the most trafficked areas of the city. Their stages are made out of concrete and asphalt, and their audience mostly consists of people who are simply passing by on a busy day. The street performers are not necessarily a part of any event, program, or show, but they make an understated contribution toward making the public spaces feel alive and inhabited during the festival week. A lot of them use the occasion as an opportunity to amass an audience and make a living from their performances, while others do it entirely as a ‘hobby’.

Most of the people passing by are in too much of a hurry to pay Anatoliy much notice, but some perk their ears and stop for a second to listen.

Street musician Anatoliy Semochkin is a part of the latter category, at least according to himself. He is a 57 year old guitarist hailing from Moscow, Russia — where he also runs his own school for teaching younger children how to play guitar. He has a daughter, two grandkids and a dog.

The street musician has performed in different cities all over Europe, and often find himself returning to his old destinations.

“It doesn’t matter if there is a festival or not. I like danish people. As long as there are people here in the streets I will still come here and play,” he says with a childish grin on his face.

This is not the first time the tunes from his guitar has sounded through the streets of Aarhus. The first time he came here to play was in 1997. Since then, he has returned to the city every year to perform, always around the same time as the festival week. According to Anatoliy, the main reason behind his recurring trips is the warm and hospitable attitude of the Danish people.

The Moscowian musician doesn’t actually make a living out of performing on the street, although he humbly accepts the quarters and coins thrown his way by the enthusiastic people in the crowd. At home he works both as a music teacher and a sound engineer. When asked about wether he consider his current trip to Aarhus as business or pleasure, he responds that this is nothing more than a holiday for him. He adds that it is a way for him to travel and to get in contact with new and exciting people.

Although he likes to play everything from heavy metal to jazz, the Russian guitarist prefers the Latin rhythms of the Flamenco.

Anatoliy explains that the reason why he enjoys street performing so much is the informal and improvisational aspects of it.

Furthermore, watching him pause between the songs to have a nice chat with the people watching and giving them a quick handshake and a smile after they compliment him on his music, it is easier to understand why the Russian guitarist choose to come back here every year. Seems like a couple of flamenco riffs on an old six-string is enough to open up a lot of doors.

While most of the adults passing by seems to be in too much of a hurry to enjoy the music, many children eagerly watch and dance along as the street performer strums on his guitar.

Seagull Press

Stories from Aarhus Festuge 2018

Henrik Røyne

Written by

Seagull Press

Stories from Aarhus Festuge 2018

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