All musicians dream of a scenario in which the public’s embrace forces industry executives and radio to demand their music, but Konstantin Nevelskiy is living it. His phone began continuously ringing and journalists were clamoring for an interview in the summer of 2018 when it was discovered that the music which set the tone for the latest EFES summer campaign had been created by Sytnik Oleksiy (working under the pseudonyms Alex Sate and Usual) and Konstantin.
This brief one verse/one chorus tune ignited a ground swell of unsolicited demand for more information and more music; not without justification as it conjures the ideal season tone. “Summer is Here” nearly crashed Shazam (the music ID app) and led to a new recording of a full length release. It’s one of the most successful and unexpected musical happenings to ever occur in Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, and the entire region. Nevelskiy concedes that he was caught completely by surprise and delighted by the new fans it brought to his work.
Music sets the tone for most moments in our life. For a professional musician like Mr. Nevelskiy, being open to the variety of opportunities in which his creations can be used has led to a successful and bustling career. Exposure equals interest, fans, and essentially the ability to keep doing what he’s always been passionate about.
When Fury Ad Agency Producer Alisa Shutova discovered Konstantin’s work in films like Pavel Tsessarsky’s Ideal Scenario, she was convinced that he could manifest the ideal musical personality for the EFES beer campaign. Nevelskiy notes that while he doesn’t typically work in the advertisement realm, he had a clear and quick vision of what emotion should be communicated to lead audiences to the emotional goal line.
Partnering with Sytnik Oleksiy (who works under the pseudonyms Alex Sate and Usual), the duo created a short version of “Summer is Here” which was quickly approved and presented on all leading Russian television channels. The response was immediate and overwhelming for all involved parties.
Nevelskiy concedes, “As soon as the commercial started airing, people took to the song. The fact that it wouldn’t come up on Shazam seemed to heighten the mystery and interest of it all. My friends would be talking about the song and were surprised to find out that it was my work, they all seemed to think it was some famous band from overseas.”
The press joined the search. Danila Metelev of “Music for Advertising” contacted EFES to inquire about the band who wrote and recorded “Summer is Here” as the internet was exploding to find out more about this undiscovered music group. Metelev snagged the first interview which revealed the identity of the song’s authors.
Recognizing the demand for a full length version of the tune and its preordained hit status, Konstantin and Oleksiy promptly returned to the studio to flesh out a final version of “Summer is Here” for public consumption. Upon its release in mid-August, the song became THE anthem of the season.
Originally presented as the background to an ad campaign, “Summer is Here” became the essential summer touchstone. No one was more shocked than Mr. Nevelskiy who was simply exercising the same imagination and skill that he does on a daily basis in his film work and with music artists of many different genres; it’s also true that no one is happier about the immense success of this unexpected hit.
Konstantin’s creative partner in “Summer is Here” is much less astonished, noting that Mr. Nevelskiy has a golden touch. Sytnik Oleksiy professes, “Songs we’ve worked on together have reached top of the charts; that doesn’t happen by mistake. Nevelskiy is the kind of partner that you dream of. It is always easy to find a common tongue with him and he understands you from the half-word. This kind of behavior helps you to concentrate on work and go all out. He knows what he is doing, and if he does not know how to do something, he always just figures out a way to make it happen anyway.”
Writer: Coleman Haan