We were lucky to catch up with Chase the Comet recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chase the Comet, thanks for joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

We would like to talk about a creative burn-out. We’re immigrants and while working for our American Dream we hustled non-stop for many years. We worked multiple jobs to be able to afford to record our music and then later go on tour. We visualized, we believed, we saw the fruit of our hard work and then… I won’t say “one day” cause it doesn’t happen overnight. It happens little by little but you realize that there’s less and less passion in what you used to love. At first, you ignore it, then you get scared, you get weak, you get angry, then you keep pushing yourself and get even angrier. To finally find yourself absolutely empty.
That happened to us last year – we had just paid a pretty big amount of money to the label – it was a step of despair, we had no more energy or desire to keep going independently, we grew tired of neverending need to create content and be on socials and it was our desperate attempt to see if anything could go different.
It was also a long-desired event – we grew up in the world where signing with a label was a big thing and though after years of being in the music industry we knew how bad for the artist it actually used to be, we found a way to keep the rights to our music (that’s why we had to pay) and wanted to use the label’s resources as a marketing and a booking agency.
And after that, we both realized that we didn’t even feel happy.
I remember I posted a TikTok/reel with my poker face and a caption: “when you’re finally signed to an American label after 17 years of playing in a band and dreaming about it but you don’t feel anything cause you’re already dead inside”.
And that’s what it felt like. We were both in crisis – in a personal crisis and in a creative crisis. And with all of that, both our romantic relationship and financial (somewhat) stability went south too.
No we did NOT know what to do. We were freaking out. We didn’t feel like wanting to get out of bed. We didn’t know if there was any point in being in America so we went traveling (to also reduce the costs of living). We lived in Argentina, Colombia and Uzbekistan. We tried to focus on simple things – good food (yes, we did gain a lot of weight), video games, books, yoga, birdwatching and most importantly – nature. I (Nika) spent a week living with an indigenous tribe in Colombia doing spiritual work and reconnecting with nature. And of course, we started psychotherapy. We took a break from music and from society.
The best way to get back is to not expect anything from oneself. I remember, at first, when I started feeling that I w, I was anxious to schedule things – we had an album to release on the label!
But that was not the way. Things need time to ripen. Energy needs time to reaccumulate, especially if we people waste it carelessly. And big cities steal that energy. Putting any human being, not just a creative, into harsh frames or not letting oneself enjoy life because “you’ve got a goal” is not the way. Art and creativity should exist just for the sake of it and when we get anxious because of the pressure of success, they choke.
So it’s a good idea to ask oneself every once in a while – do I love doing what I’m doing? Does it make me genuinely happy with no but-s? If you say yes, then keep at it. But if the answer is complicated or there’s conditions to that, then you’re doing something wrong, you’re not in tune with your soul. It works with anything in life, really. A person next to you. A place where you live. And this is the only way to be happy – to be as truthful with oneself as possible.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We started playing in our first band back in 2005 in Moscow, Russia while still in highschool. And less than anything it was a business for us then. It was an opportunity to unite people and have fun together while doing something beautiful, something important. Years of performing, touring and even going to the finals of a TV-show like “American Idol” formed us into top-notch industry professionals. Not only we recorded and played our own songs but we worked as hired guns for other artists and private employers. Ah, us! We are Nika Comet – vocals, translations, songwriting and Alex Mishustov – guitar, bass, arrangements, production, songwriting.
Music creates magic so naturally we fell in love and kept doing what we love together. In 2013 we got married after 5 years of dating and in 2016 we took a leap of faith in our music and in ourselves when we booked our tickets to Los Angeles, CA. We were in our prime – our band was doing great, performing at all biggest festivals in Russia, we had our music on TV, Alex opened up for Metallica and Linkin Park on stadiums as a guitarist for an other band, Nika sang with one of the most prominent Russian punk-rock bands as a background vocalist…
But in the US we had to start everything from scratch! Not only our creative path but our whole life – renting an apartment (with no rental or credit history!), buying a car, making new friends and finding band members… And of course, we learned the ropes the hard way.
In 2018 we were offered an investment contract for $300K when the investor saw us playing at the Whisky a Go-Go in Hollywood. But due to a lawyer’s misrepresentation we had unintentionally overstayed our welcome in the US and with terror learned that we’d become illegal immigrants. It took us 3 years to resolve that issue, survive COVID and come back to the US with new artist visas for people with extraordinary abilities in 2022. It was 2 days after Russia invaded Ukraine and our investor refused to work with us because of our citizenship.
During all that time we kept making music, releasing albums and building our small but loyal and international following. In 2023 we signed an agreement with Pavement Entertainment and released our latest album “Ill.U.Me.Nation. Part I: Inception” through Sony in March, 2024. After almost a year-long break from music and recharging our batteries, we’re back in the US yet again, ready to carry the light, motivate, inspire and share our truth.
Our songs and our performances are not about us being rockstars – it’s about YOU, the listener. Our songs help people get through the toughest periods of their lives remembering they are not alone. And when they make it to a live show – to let go of all the limits of the Matrix and feel free, feel energized, feel like they have a right to be happy and to do anything. Our live performances are an experience taking you to higher frequencies and a mesmerizing spectacle.
That’s why this year we were approved to perform at Burning Man in Black Rock City, NV and later in fall we’ll be on a month-long national tour opening for CKY. We have shows in LA and Anaheim. So… come see us live and you won’t regret it!

Find us on any digital platform and immerse yourself in our music:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/chasethecomet

YouTube: http://youtube.com/chasethecomet

Facebook: http://facebook.com/chasethecomet

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6rAhA8i4TU879LKxSXgpTa

TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@chasethecomet

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Haha I think I just did in the previous question! Our whole story is a story of resilience, isn’t it?

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

We read a lot of books and took a lot of courses that taught us to be disciplined and tough. I (Nika) think I’ve been too tough, not letting myself breathe, not letting myself goof around. And that brought me to the point that I became so tough, I almost broke. I mean, I can even say, I almost literally broke – I injured my knee playing tennis and couldn’t walk for a month. It was a pretty bad injury as it turned out and later I had to have knee surgery. It’s been 3 years and I still can’t say I got my pre-injury shape back. And I don’t think I’ll be ever jumping on a snowboard again, even riding still hurts.
So the lesson is – don’t be metal, be water. Be tough like ice, when needed, be liquid when flexibility is required and when things get too hot – be steam and get the hell away!

Contact Info:

• Other: The book about our adventures written by Nika Comet is available on Amazon in digital, paperback, hardcover and audio version narrated by the author: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJ9WWCFK

Image Credits

Photos by Xavier Zamora, Eduard Kalashnikov, Alisa Zayanova, Darya Kiryanova, Leksa Enotova.