I already have a sense of forgiveness and understanding. It comes with the years. My parents taught me to see the good in people first, and I am very grateful to them for that.

Love life, love people, love what you do. Whatever happens, the main thing is to draw conclusions, ask for forgiveness and forgive. And go with a light heart.

Openness is a state of vulnerability; you can get a lot of blows. But it’s better than being all locked up, fixated on yourself. In other words, giving is better than taking.

Loving one’s homeland is a very deep personal feeling.

I don’t want to idealize the time we had, but to the present generation the older people should convey, show by their example, their life, their work, their attitude, a very different side of real life, real art, real music.

Life itself is not easy, and I don’t think you should hope or blame the government, society or the system, but just look inside yourself and carry on with dignity.

Through suffering comes joy. There is a concept of “catharsis”, when a powerful mental outburst occurs, and then one finally “wakes up”. In suffering, through some very powerful lesson, a person wakes up, and the first thing he asks is: “Why did this happen to me?”

A state of happiness comes over a person in those moments when all the components of life are in harmony. This is exactly the meaning that the word “bereke” carries in the Kazakh language.

I will be very sad if I realize that I am not changing. We have talked now, and in an hour I will be different. That’s the way it should be.

There is no limit to beauty – you have to keep learning. My favorite word is “sabyr”, “sabyrlyk” – “patience”.

Songs fly away like birds, and there is no holding them back. There comes a moment when you like a song, or love it, or it just sounds for a while, and then it is forgotten.

The most important thing in life is the agreement in everything: in work, family, friendship. The result is when there is a team and understanding.

I like the expression: “for art is not the goal, but the way”. It reflects very well the inner life of the musician – the eternal discontent. It is the most important part of any creative person.

Almaty is a thaw. A city in which it is always warm.

I hate insincerity, envy and betrayal.

My favorite sound is silence.

I’m happy because this state of unsettledness is precisely the basis for finding something interesting, the most important thing. To find those notes, those vibrations not yet found, that can give new impetus.

The audience has a very subtle sense of what kind of thoughts the artist goes on stage with. My energy and mood are transmitted to the listener. The state of inner experience affects the quality of the work. Getting on stage is the hardest part.

The stage is like a litmus test. The audience feels everything – everything is in full view.

Re-evaluation of values happens all my life. I used to think that the main thing is self-realization and embodiment of creative ambitions. Now I am more inclined to the fact that the most important thing is the life of my nearest and dearest. That’s what makes me happy and gives me strength.

One cannot return the past, the future is unknown, I live in the present.

Going and doing your own thing is very hard. Much more difficult than being in a team. And I think you can only understand everything when you are going through it yourself.

One of the greats said the following phrase, “Gratitude is the memory of the heart”. As I go through life, I try to remember all the people who were and are in my life, whose words, deeds and advice helped me to become both a musician and a person.

Do you know what I would like most of all right now? To come to my hometown as soon as possible and say, “Hello, Alma-Ata”, gather my friends and fans as always and give them my new work, with the same love and the same impulse.

Religion and faith is that world of each person, in which no one has the right to enter or criticize it.

Improvisation and enjoyment of performing are the most important moments in a musician’s life, when you can be in a concert together in another city and play for pleasure.

It’s very difficult to catch the nerve of the time. After all, you don’t know what becomes the main priority, what dominates in a person’s life, what values he has, his views on his future. The main thing is to love your work, work hard and believe in yourself.

When you bring joy, warmth and light to people through your work, and they feel it, their energy comes back to you. It means that it makes sense.