After Prigozhin Repost, Dobryanka Auto Parts Seller Signs Label Contract

Ksenia Silinskaya, an auto parts store saleswoman from Dobryanka, performs covers of popular hits and her own songs. Her videos started going viral on Instagram* very recently. Last week, she signed a contract with the label Artel Media — which promotes young artists and boosts on social media such performers as Markul (real name Mark Markulis) and Artik & Asti. We spoke with her about how she started singing and writing songs, how she got acquainted with the label, and what comes next.

«I wanted to be heard through the songs I write»

Ksenia Silinskaya is 24 years old, born and living in Dobryanka, and currently works as a sales consultant in an auto parts store. In her childhood, our heroine practiced boxing for several years but quit after unsuccessful competitions. She studied at a cadet school because she wanted to connect her life with military service, but by the ninth grade, she realized she no longer liked it.

After school, Ksenia went to a technical college, where she studied until her third year to become a public catering technologist, then transferred to correspondence studies in Advertising at the Perm Financial and Economic College. She studied there briefly — she needed money for living, went to work in an auto parts store, and couldn«t combine work with studies.

«At first it was very difficult for me, I didn»t know the products well. Then I liked it — I went into auto parts trading because they paid quite well. Now trade has become worse due to various sanctions, but the salary is still acceptable,« Ksenia shares with 59.RU.

In a conversation with 59.RU, the girl shares that she has no musical education and hasn«t even taken vocal courses. But since childhood, Ksenia realized that she sings better than others. She started writing her own songs about two years ago. Their central themes were, of course, first love and how people in pursuit of success forget about important things. Ksenia posts videos with them on Instagram*.

«I am that girl who in childhood sang with a comb in hand, in front of an empty wall, imagining a crowd of people standing there and singing in unison with me,» Ksenia wrote under one of her videos on Instagram*. «I always dreamed of being on stage. But, probably more than that, I wanted to be heard through the songs I write.»

Ksenia chose the word Katana as her pseudonym.

Once, Ksenia tried to record a song with a familiar sound engineer from Dobryanka. There was no studio as such — only a separate room with equipment. The recording result didn«t please the aspiring singer.

«I was very disappointed because I didn»t get what I wanted,« the girl recalls in a conversation with 59.RU. »It doesn«t match the songs that play on the radio: not the same quality, not the same processing... And I got a little down. Then I got over that thought and decided to try recording in Perm.»

Friends and acquaintances persuaded the girl to record in Perm — they often praise her and say that Ksenia sings well. Thus the track «Ostat»sya« (Stay) was born — the singer dedicated it to a loved one.

«It was very scary, of course, but I went and recorded... And now the song is on official platforms,» says Ksenia.

Comments from favorite rappers and reposts by Iosif Prigozhin

The girl continued to post videos of her singing, and about a week ago one of the videos got into the recommendations of Instagram*. In it, Ksenia sings a fragment of her song. The video was noticed by rapper KhaliF (real name Kirsan Dubaev), and he wrote a comment under the video: «Never give up.» After that, Ksenia«s videos started coming across to other celebrities. In the captions of two other videos, the girl tagged the account of her favorite singer Ramil» (full name Ramil Alimov); he watched them and left comments: one with enthusiastic emojis, and the other — «You will succeed.»

Once, the producer and husband of singer Valeriya noticed Ksenia«s video — in early December she said in a video that she tried writing to music labels but they refused her — and reposted it in his stories. Last week, the girl posted a video with Valeriya»s song «Ya byla by...» (I Would Have Been...), adding her own verse to the song — she often records such covers. Iosif Prigozhin again saw this video and shared it in his stories.

After Iosif Prigozhin«s reposts, music labels such as VK Record and Gamma Music started writing to Ksenia and offering cooperation. But she chose Artel Media — from the correspondence she felt that their representative was more interested in cooperating with her than employees of other labels.

The manager of Artel Media asked Ksenia to tell about her creative path, how she started writing and singing songs. After the conversation, the parties discussed cooperation terms and the girl signed a contract for full production. The label promised to take all expenses for promoting Ksenia upon itself: payment for photoshoots, recording songs and helping to promote them, as well as business trips to Moscow.

«Actually, it even became easier because further steps I will take with the help of the label and it will help me. I can»t generate ideas 24/7, which video to post,« the girl reflects. »Next week we should have a photoshoot: now they are looking for a photographer, makeup artist, and stylist. Soon we will record two songs and release them around the New Year holidays.«

Probably, the pseudonym Katana will have to be changed — it is already used by another performer. She and the label haven«t come up with a new one yet.

«As if I fell out of reality a bit»

At first, Ksenia admits, she couldn«t believe that she was noticed and taken for promotion.

The family and friends of the aspiring singer were very happy for her when they learned about the contract with the label. But at first, some were wary, as was she herself. Ksenia says that she double-checked online all the people she communicated with several times to make sure: it«s not a dream and not scammers.

On not wanting to write songs to order and the inconstancy of inspiration

Inspiration for writing songs is not always there: Ksenia admits that sometimes a song is written in 10 minutes, and sometimes nothing can be created for more than a month.

«It happens that nothing helps and inspires — not books, not movies... And it happens that I walk down the street and a phrase from life comes to mind and the other lines pile up by themselves,» the girl shares with us. «About a week ago, I was walking after work, and lines appeared in my head. I repeated them all the way home to remember, and when I got home, quickly wrote the lines on a piece of newspaper.»

The main source of inspiration for Ksenia are events from her life or other songs — then she wants to write something with a similar message. The girl says that she writes different songs: some of them are simpler and suitable for radio, can get «stuck» in the head, and the listener will walk around humming them for a long time. And there are songs that are «a little not for everyone,» not for a huge stadium.

«If I dream a little and look to the future, there»s nothing terrible if suddenly I give a concert and 2000 people or less come to it. I think I probably can«t write songs that I don»t really like, but at the same time gather huge stadiums. I wouldn«t really like that,» Ksenia reflects in a conversation with 59.RU. «Also, I can»t write songs to order, even though I understand that it costs a lot of money and you can earn on it. Once I tried and I didn«t succeed. I can»t write someone else«s story because I haven»t lived in that person«s body, so to speak.»

By the way, Ksenia continues to work in the auto parts store even now.

Earlier we reported that the choir «Mlada», which reached the finals of the show «Nu-ka, All Together!» (a Russian talent show) and became famous all over Russia (12+), performed in the Kremlin — fans were upset that the Perm performers didn«t sing solo. After that, the choir»s director told how the concert went.

*Instagram is owned by Meta Corporation, whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation and recognized as extremist.