I first met the subject of today’s story in 2014 in Moscow at the “From Sea to Sea” music festival. Vigen had come from Barcelona to take part in the festival with his band, while I had come from Rostov-on-Don to treat my ears to some quality music. In 2015, we both moved to Yerevan and finally met in person at a concert in Dilijan.
 

Vigen Hovsepyan was born in the Armenian SSR and grew up during difficult years for our generation — war, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and unemployment. In the 2000s, his family left for Spain in search of a better life: “Back then, almost everyone in Armenia dreamed of leaving. First my father left, and then my mother and I joined him. I was happy to leave; at the time, I didn’t understand what a homeland really meant. We weren’t taught to love it, either at school or within our community. We had no reason to love our homeland; we weren’t given the opportunity to truly discover it, because in order to love something, you first need to know it. We didn’t understand where we were living…”
 

It took Vigen some time to adapt to his new surroundings and a different mentality, to find friends and hobbies, but there were some things he was never able to get used to.
 

“We couldn’t get used to the Spanish way of thinking because we were very conservative. Our way of communicating was unacceptable to them, and vice versa. I didn’t have any Spanish friends because our understanding of friendship was different as well. I had acquaintances, good acquaintances, but no friends,” Vigen says.
 

Music became the space where Vigen could express and fulfill himself in his new environment. He first became involved in music when he was 18, although his curiosity had appeared much earlier: from early childhood, he would play on all kinds of tables and windowsills, as well as on the piano. “I never imagined that I would have anything to do with music. One day, a friend and I went into a store in Barcelona, and I saw a percussion instrument for sale. I tried playing it and liked it. My friend bought it for me, and later my father bought me a keyboard, and there were other instruments as well. That was how my musical journey began.”
 

Soon, a guitar also found its way into Vigen’s hands, despite the fact that he had never particularly liked the instrument. He started playing and singing, and with this growing musical experience, he eventually wanted to perform as well. So he posted an advertisement and received a call from a local band inviting him to come to a rehearsal.
 

“I played percussion instruments in that band for quite a long time, until one day I sang and the guys liked it. We performed folk music from different nations, so naturally, they asked me what we could play from the Armenian repertoire. I felt embarrassed because I realized that I didn’t know any Armenian songs. That became the reason I started exploring Armenian music and performing it,” Vigen continues.
 

The group’s repertoire was diverse, but Vigen had a particular interest in flamenco, which would later influence his creative journey, including his work in Armenia. He visited Armenia frequently and eventually moved there in 2015. Personal circumstances prompted the move — Vigen had never actually thought about relocating: “When you live a decent life in another country, you can already show people what Armenia is like. I had a mission to represent Armenian culture. That was what I lived by, but I consider my return to my homeland important, even though it had been planned.”
 

Life in Armenia had changed greatly during Vigen’s years away: nothing was as it had been before, his friends had either left or he had lost touch with them. So he began discovering a new Armenia, meeting new people, including musicians, and performing in clubs. His Spanish repertoire was well suited to these performances and became very popular with Armenian audiences. While in Spain Vigen had introduced Spaniards to Armenian music, in Armenia he presented the world of Spanish music and flamenco. Later, he began creating mixes of Armenian music and flamenco and launched the ArmenoFlamenco project. Today, he collaborates with local musicians working in pop music.
 

“I feel good in Armenia because I’m a musician. Our world is very interesting, and you don’t really have time to get deeply caught up in problems. In other words, I see Armenia only in a positive light, and it is all thanks to music,” he admits.
 

It was only through music that Vigen was able to discover and fall in love with the real Armenia, and only after exploring its boundaries did he truly begin to appreciate it.
 

“I wouldn’t have dared to say this before, but now I can say it confidently — come and live here! Today, Armenia offers all the same opportunities as other countries, and I say this without exaggeration. The circumstances that caused you or your parents to leave no longer exist here — you will be living in a completely different Armenia.” 
 

Interview by Nare Bejanyan

Translation via AI based on the original article in Russian:  Любовь через познание: история музыканта Вигена Овсепяна