Igor Nikitin: «I met Ilya later then Sergey. As far as I remember, it was 1994. That day I was invited to my friend’s place, who had has interested in guitar. That time he was playing in The Symbol band, where Ilya was the front man. By that moment I had already heard about this group, firstly I was nervous and didn’t want to go there, because all band was supposed to be there. But the friend was a very persistent person and wanted me to be there. Eventually, I had to meet Ilya. It was very intense moment, but then we got drunk together and after that everything went smoothly. I even was almost late for the last train in the metro. But everything was ok.

Consequently, after several years our friendship became the reason of our cooperation based on the pop-rock, that wasn’t very successful, I realized by that experience that if I ever play metal, the first person to whom I will offer cooperation will be Ilya, nobody else but him. It took me 7 years to understand it.

We used to do too much stuff and I used to drink too much. We should have started playing metal from the very beginning, that is it. It happened the way it happened. There is nothing you can do about it.

In conclusion I will add few words about Ilya. It could be said he is the best bassist on planet, but I wouldn’t say so, because if you say it that means that you say nothing. I cannot find appropriate epithets that is why I will not say anything. Everybody knows everything. There is no reason to say if you can just take our records and listen to them. By the way Ilya is the calmest team member of The Morningside. I don’t know if it is true, but I guess he doesn’t care about my idiot tricks and hard drinking. No, please don’t think I am going to check, where his patience edge is … It could be very harmful for me, couldn’t it? I will not try, just in case. It is an interesting though… “

Sergey Chelyadinov: “Ilya is a brilliant musician and wonderful person. Sometimes it seems to me, he is supposed to be canonized. Or at least his name is supposed to be written in tablets. He has become a legend in the annals of music history a long time ago, everybody knows it. The number of the projects with his participation as a bass-guitarist and sound producer and even vocalist cannot be calculated. But he prefers to hide this side of his talent being awfully shy.

From time to time I cannot understand how he can make a lot of different things for the same 24 hours while I only can go to work and have a dinner. Maybe his incredible pedantry helps him. Though, I cannot understand how he can go outside with such pedantry. Sometimes he is getting ready for so long and is preparing to something, that it drives me crazy. But then he acts very quickly and effectively as terminator. Or “Zinger” sewing-machine. He has magical hands, magical ears and a heart of gold. Maybe something else inside is golden as well, but we didn’t check it.

It is impossible to imagine The Morningside the way it is now without Ilya. In addition, he is our organizational core in the ocean of chaos and misdoing. You can always rely on him.

But his pedantry is really irritating! It becomes worse in winter. Just try to wait for him putting on the hat and scarf with the only possible and proper (from his point of view) way! Once he had been getting ready so long, that we forgot him in another city. In short, it is driving crazy!”

Boris Sergeev: “Ilya! The best bass-guitarist I have ever played with for my not very short life! He is a locomotive who pulls the rhythm-section! You can stop him only you exploding the railways right in front of him! Although some of the team members do that (you will hear later about them) he always finds a way round to keep moving forward!

In addition to all of the listed “disadvantages” he is also a sound producer for whom there is nothing impossible in the sound that he shows us all these years! Indeed, sometimes he becomes a real pain in the neck, he realizes it and makes fun of this quality by himself. But you cannot produce sound properly without being a pain in the neck!”