In the autumn of the same year, having joined the orchestra of the music school, he met the violinist Nikita Zaitsev, who introduced him to the Leningrad rock underground.

A year later, he took part in the recording of Grebenshchikov's album S toi storony zerkal'nogo stekla [ru] (Russian: «С той стороны зеркального стекла»).

[citation needed] Gakkel played on all 10 of Aquarium's magnitizdat albums recorded between 1981 and 1986, contributing cello, vocal, and bass parts.

[6]Cello player, modern saint and everybody's favorite citizen of Leningrad, Seva has been playing with Aquarium for 15 years, always preferring to stay in the background and rarely taking solos.

In June 1988, Gakkel performed with Aquarium at the conference of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in Montreal, in the band's first trip outside of the Soviet Union.

In 1985, during a temporary disbandment of Aquarium, he collaborated with guitarist and sound engineer Vyacheslav Egorov, recording the album Inorodnoe telo (Russian: «Инородное тело», lit.

[2] After leaving Aquarium, Gakkel joined a Leningrad blues group called Turetskiy Chai (Russian: «Турецкий чай», lit.

'Turkish Tea') and performed with them in the spring of 1991 at the Yubileiny Sports Palace, at a festival organized in honor of the tenth anniversary of the Leningrad Rock Club.

[2] From 1992 to 1994, Gakkel played with the post-punk band Nikogda Ne Ver' Khippi (Russian: «Никогда не верь хиппи», lit.

In 2004, Gakkel performed as part of The Optimystica Orchestra, Tequilajazzz frontman Evgeny Fedorov's project with members of Leningrad and Markscheider Kunst.

[10] A year later, he took part in the recording of the group's debut album, Polubogi Vina (Russian: «Полубоги вина», lit.

[2]After traveling to the West and visiting intimate rock clubs in New York and San Francisco, Gakkel was inspired to open a similar venue in Saint Petersburg.

[13] TaMtAm became the center of the alternative movement in Saint Petersburg in the 1990s, with Leningrad, Markscheider Kunst, and Tequilajazzz among the bands that frequented the club.

[15] From 2010 to 2012, Gakkel worked as the art director of Chinese Pilot Jao Da [ru] (Russian: «Китайский Лётчик Джао Да»), a club in Saint Petersburg.