“Spirit of Summer”: My Collaboration with DJ Suhov Across Records, Radio and Live Events

On February 23, Funky Green released “Spirit of Summer,” my new collaboration with DJ Suhov and saxophonist Fairtonesax.

The original track was recorded by Yuriy Poleg and Papa Tony with vocalist Jenna Summer. Our contribution to the EP includes two versions: Nevelskiy, Oleg Suhov & Fairtonesax Remix and a separate dub mix.

The release is the latest chapter in a collaboration with Oleg that has taken us from GSS Recordings and Garage FM to festival productions and live events in Southern Russia.

Listen to the “Spirit of Summer” EP on Apple Music, the full remix on Spotify or the official audio on YouTube.

From an Introduction to Garage FM

Oleg and I met through a mutual contact who recommended me as a producer whose work he should hear. That introduction quickly developed into practical collaboration.

DJ Suhov has been one of the central figures in Russian club culture since the 1990s. The Garage radio show began broadcasting on Europa Plus in 1996 and remained on the station for 13 years before continuing through regional broadcasters and GarageFM Online.

DJ.ru described Garage FM as one of Russia’s best-known dance-music radio shows and Suhov as one of the country’s most prominent DJs. In a later interview with Mixed News, Oleg explained how Garage expanded beyond Europa Plus to stations across Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Latvia. Europa Plus also reported that he had taken sixth place in an audience ranking of Russian DJs.

Oleg introduced me to the Garage Sound System network and GSS Recordings. He also invited me to create and host the Loony House Radio Show on GarageFM Online. The program also airs through Radio 107 in Krasnodar.

Loony House is the creative collective I lead in Krasnodar. The radio show gives us a regular space to present new electronic music, our own productions and artists whose work deserves attention beyond the local club circuit.

Garage Sessions in Krasnodar

Our work is not limited to the studio and radio.

In 2014, I was working as the art director of Loft Bar Angart in Krasnodar while Loony House produced its own series of electronic-music events. On April 26, we invited DJ Suhov to headline Garage Sessions at Angart.

Oleg performed the main set, with Nevelskiy, August, Ostap, Mar Estiu and other local artists completing the lineup. The archived event page identifies Loony House as the promoter and places my set immediately after Suhov’s.

That summer, I also invited Oleg to Flagman, a well-known club in Betta on the Black Sea coast. The event was again organized through Loony House, with DJ Suhov appearing as the special guest and me performing as a GSS Recordings artist.

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These events brought together an established Moscow club brand and the electronic community we were developing in Southern Russia. They also showed what Loony House could do beyond regular club programming: organize guest appearances, build complete lineups and connect artists from different regional scenes.

Two Productions for GES Fest

Our next project was connected with GES Fest, a major electronic-music and extreme-sports festival in the Samara region.

I created two complete festival mixes for Oleg, each representing a different side of electronic music.

The first, “Independence #1,” is a 55-minute progressive-house mix released as DJ Suhov vs. Nevelskiy. It combines melodic records with a steady festival structure and is available through PromoDJ and Mixcloud.

The second, “Noises #1,” moved into dubstep, trap and drum and bass. It was credited to DJ Suhov and F.I.69 and included music by F.I.69, Freestylers, Invisible Brothers and other bass artists. The complete release is available on Spotify.

Releasing “Run to You” on GSS Recordings

I then proposed that Oleg and I remix “Run to You” by Mariqua.

We developed the remix together, combining the vocal house foundation of the original with a new club arrangement. “Run to You (Oleg Suhov & Nevelskiy Remix)” was released through GSS Recordings on July 25, 2014.

The four-track EP contains the original version, an extended mix, our remix and a separate remix by Timmy Kos. It is available on Apple Music and Spotify.

This was our first jointly produced official remix and brought the studio side of our collaboration directly into the GSS Recordings catalog.

Adding Live Saxophone to “Spirit of Summer”

For “Spirit of Summer,” we brought another musician into the production.

Fairtonesax is Yuri Krasilnikov, my longtime friend and one of the leading jazz saxophonists in Krasnodar. We have known each other since childhood, and I invited him to record the saxophone parts for the remix.

The track already had a clear summer mood and a strong vocal from Jenna Summer. The new production gives it a more developed club structure, while Yuri’s live saxophone adds warmth and a recognizable human element. We also created a dub version that places greater emphasis on the instrumental arrangement.

Over the past year, my work with Oleg has produced an official GSS Recordings release, two mixes for GES Fest, a regular radio show and events in Krasnodar and on the Black Sea coast. “Spirit of Summer” brings those different parts of the partnership together in one record: production, club experience and live musicianship.