HOW VLADYMYR GOT HERE! – Vladymyr Buryanov Interviewed

How long have you’ve been Bartending? I’ve been bartending for 6 years.

And Flair Bartending? 4 years.

Where do you work? Kahunaville, Treasure Island in Las Vegas.   

What got you into Flair Bartending? When I graduated from college I began working in a hotel at a bar.   I wasn’t a bartender until one day the actual bartender didn’t show up for work so I filled his spot and in that one day I made the same money I made in a month doing the other job. That is when I decided to become a bartender. While I was bartending I realized my knowledge of the profession wasn’t so great so I started going to school to improve my knowledge and I began Flairing at the same time.
How did you start out learning to Flair? When I began Flairing there were no good Flair bartenders in Ukraine so after I learned a few basic moves I tried learning on my own. After a while I saw one of the Legends DVDs and started learning from that competition.

Tell us about the Flair Bartending scene in the Ukraine, Russia and East Europe? In the past few years a big change in the Flair scene came to Ukraine and east Europe. There are now two different organizations. In Ukraine we have the IBA organization which organizes competitions which pushes more people to get involved in Flair.   Also, after the FBA was involved in the running of the very successful competition, Flair Castle in Odessa many of the competitors who came from East Europe learned how to compete in big competitions, which pushed everybody to get better.   Now, every year there are a lot of competitions that take place in all the countries of East Europe because of the involvement of the FBA.

Describe to us your style of Flair? I have a lot of originality and difficulty and I spend a lot of time perfecting moves that I know that no one else can do. I also spend a lot of time practicing my routines so they are smooth and I usually don’t have very many drops.

What makes you stand out from other Flair Bartenders? I think it is because I am new to the states and most people here didn’t really know me until I started competing here and I have always made finals and I think it helps that I won Nations this year.

What do you hope to get out of Flair? Since I began learning how to Flair my dream was to have an opportunity to work in the USA and now that I am doing that I hope to get more opportunities to earn money.

What is your favorite Flair Bartending competition and why? Roadhouse always used to be on of my favorites because the crowd is awesome, but after I competed in the Flairbourne competition Battle in Seattle, put on by James Zachodni and Evan Carter I now think of it as my favorite competition experience because I never had a crowd so loud that I couldn’t hear my music and everyone stormed the stage at the end of my routine.This routine is also on youtube.

Who do you look up to in this Sport? I don’t look up to anyone for Flair because I think that would take away from my originality, but my favorite Flair bartenders now and those that I looked up to when I first started Flairing are Mindaugas Gradeckas, Neil Garner, Alexander Rodoman,Vasco Lalic,Tobi   Hilton, and Nicolas Saint Jean.

What are your thoughts on the FBA Pro Tour?

If you could help influence Flair to change our sport somehow, what would it be and why? I think it would be better if there were more competitions with prize money like the Bacardi Flair Pro and UFBC. It would push everyone to get a lot better.

Where do you see the future of our sport? Even in the past few years Flair has grown so much. I think in about ten years there will be three or four hundred competitors at all the big competitions and at least half of them with skill level equal to most finalist in big competitions today!

What are some common myths about the profession of Flair bartending? One is that we always have a lot of girls, and most customers in Ukraine think that all bartenders drink a lot and not all of us do.
How often do you practice? I practice whenever I get a chance.

What is your advice to some of the new people starting Flair behind their bar for the first time? They should keep at it because Flair is just like any other sport. When you first start out learning anything you are not going to be great at it and people will always make fun of you, but that should be motivation to get better.  

Tell us about your first Flair Competition and your experiences there, What were you feeling, Did everything go as planned? A few months after I finished Flair school I had a qualifier for a Ukrainian championship in my city. My routine consisted of bottle tin and two bottles and I did really well because I practiced this routine a lot. I ended up qualifying first.

Tell us about your experience moving to Las Vegas and why you moved their in the first place? When I came to compete in King of the Ring 2 I met Mig and he showed me all the benefits of living and working in Las Vegas so I decided to keep practicing so maybe I could live and work in Vegas one day. When I came for Best in the West this past year I was planning on just coming to compete and hang out here for one month, but then I was offered a great opportunity to have someone get a work visa for me so I could stay and work here.

What advice do you have for Flair bartenders wanting to come to work in America? I think if they were to try to come to the States to work they should go somewhere besides Vegas because it would be easier to get a job. In Vegas it isn’t just about the Flair. In most places you to have to be a union member to get a job, and if you get a job the amount you work is based on seniority so some people who don’t even Flair could get shifts at a Flair bar over someone who is really good at Flair because they have more seniority.

What was it like competing in Nations this year? It was my first Nations and I had a lot of fun because I love competitions that are all about Flair and I was so happy to be able to compete on that stage because my only regret for not competing in Legends 9 was after I saw the finals. I thought the stage was amazing and I really wanted to be on it.

Did you think you would make it to the finals? Yes, I was very prepared for this competition.

What were your thoughts on winning 1st place during the finals of Nations this year? I was shocked because I didn’t think it was possible for me to win this competition. Even before the comp when there was a picture of the check on barflair.org and it said “is this yours?” I showed Justin Keane a picture of Christian on that check.   I thought for sure he would win Nations.

Are all of those countless hours of Flair practice worth it? Yes, of course.

What are your plans now? I will continue to work at Kahunaville because to me it is the best bar I have ever worked at and I think all the bartenders I work with are the best in the world. I will also continue to compete all over the world and take care of my family.

If you had the opportunity to convince a skeptical Bar manager to hire a Flair Bartender, How would you go about it? I would show him clean working Flair with no breaks, drops, or spills and in front of a crowd, that way he can see he wouldn’t have a loss of profit due to Flair and he would see that the guests love it and maybe he would then see that it could be good for business.