5 Minutes With… Make Like a Tree

By Isaac Miranda • 19 Aug 2014 in Interview

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Not many people possess the cojones to drop everything and leave just to pursue their dreams, but Sergey Onischenko happens to be one of them. Under the guise of his alter ego Make Like a Tree, Sergey is on a one-man mission to save the world and spread his passion of music while discovering himself. JUICE has an intriguing chat with the Ukranian native about local females, beards, and the inner self…

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m boring. I don’t smoke and I wear a beard. I enjoy getting drunk from fresh air. I hate football and borders. I love my guitar. I believe in reincarnation and hope that I’m gonna live the next life better then present one.

How did this one-man band world tour come about?
I always had a dream to travel round the world without using planes and one day I felt bored sitting at home and doing things that I didn’t really enjoy – working as a wedding photographer. I realised that I was wasting my time and I went travelling without any purpose – just to clear my mind. And it happened that during my travels I’ve gotten deeply inspired by people whom I’ve just met and places that I have seen. I started doing music more intensively and some nice people helped me to organise my first shows. At that moment I have realised that that my dream came true – I can travel round the world with the help of my music – that’s how my world tour started and that’s what I’m still doing now.

Do you have any beard grooming tips?
Listen to the Australian band The Beards and just let the beard grow.

If we were to visit Ukraine, what is one thing that we must do?
Date a girl from Ukraine. She will cook you traditional food and will break your heart (laughs).

What has been your favourite experience in your journey so far?
For the moment it turned from outwards to a more inwards journey. I’m trying to analyse what changes a long term life as a bum can bring to me, and I’m chasing the inspiration as while I’ve been on the run I’ve gotten inspired much more deeply than when I sit at home in my comfort zone. My favourite part of the journey is meeting people, getting inspired and learning new things from them. Every stranger who I meet is my own personal teacher and I’m lucky to have met good folks on the road.

How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Si.

Do you have any other projects coming up in the near future?
At home I play in a dark-noise-free-jazz band. I kinda miss the stuff we did. By now I’m trying to learn how to create electronic music and hopefully one day I will release a new album in that stream.