Ukrainian Field Notes XII

 

AUGUST 14 2022 – KYIV

Friedensreich

Hey, my name is Mykyta and I perform and write music under the pseudonym Friedensreich. Yes, it is without Austrian versifier Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

I’ve been making music for quite a while and it has been virtually my whole life. Most of the time I make it together with friends, but we are talking well-nigh my project here. Coming from a family of artists, I was unchangingly interested in music as a way of originative expression. Spawning multiple styles, instruments, and plane vocals, I ended up doing what I unchangingly enjoyed the most – techno and experimental.

What is your studio setup and what would you say is the most important full-length of your sound?

My home studio, or rather, workplace, is based virtually a modular synthesizer, although throughout the years I’ve used them all: from obscure DIY instruments to flagship keyboards and software. Modular just gives me increasingly tenancy over the process and sound. It is easier to express ideas and, of course, it is fun to use. Many years ago, together with Ivan Pogodichev, we started an online polity Modular.UA, which gets Ukrainian modular synthesizer enthusiasts together.

Many people would stipulate that the most important full-length of a modular is that you’ve built it yourself; thus it is a perfect system for your needs. Of course, the downside is that it will never be perfect, as it evolves as anyone/anything does. I would add that, for me, the most important “feature” is the worthiness to originate a patch on a couch. You know your tools and what they can do, so most of the time I’m thinking well-nigh specifics of an upcoming something that I’m towers later, when I know what it is that I want to build.

You have released several albums and tracks on Corridor Audio often with Splinter (UA). Many of your releases have a conceptual underpinning to them. Is tackling ideas the main momentum for your musical practice?

Yes, every release with Splinter (UA) is accompanied by a manifesto. If you’d squint at any release on our Corridor Audio label – they all have a manifesto associated. We try to discuss an idea or push a message slantingly each release to underline the conceptuality and outline a direction of thoughts.

In my opinion, manifestos requite increasingly heft to an art piece and add clarity to the work.

How would you describe the experimental music scene in Ukraine and how well catered is it in terms of venues and labels?

It is nonflexible to understand how the experimental scene will survive now and what its future is going to be like. Surpassing February 24, 2022, I would say the scene had a good direction. We had concerts, parties, and festivals. Plenty of venues opened in Kyiv and other places. COVID moreover had its own impact on the scene, but this is nothing compared to current events.

Interestingly enough, now that many people have moved to other countries, we don’t see the same names headlining every weekend everywhere in Kyiv, and many new names have started to come to the surface. To be fair, there are not many events either, and where there are it’s only during daytime [because of martial law there is still a curfew in place]. Nevertheless, this is the most unexpected minutiae in the current situation with certainly a lot of interesting artists and projects coming to the fore. Check out Gasoline Radio for increasingly context.

What impact has the war had on you and did it make you reconsider concepts of time and space as well as language, expectations, unconnectedness and history?

I understand that this is well-nigh my tome Known Areas. It is a talkative experimental piece where I’m trying to express some thoughts well-nigh these subjects. The title kind of says it all: it is well-nigh all those things that I thought I knew something about, at least for me on a personal level.

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Ruzzia kind of proved one thing: we cannot know or predict, in a wholesale sense, our future. But we should know our past. And one of the things Ruzzia tries to do is to erase us from history entirely.

Where are you at present and have you been displaced by the war at any point?

Yes, without the bombing in Kyiv on February 24, we decided to flee the municipality with my wife and my son. At that time, Timothy was scrutinizingly four weeks old. Young parents are stressed unbearable by default, and explosions certainly swayed our opinion well-nigh our son’s safety in the direction of moving Westwards. We ended up staying in Lviv for several months but now we are when at home in Kyiv.

Are there any specific things you finger are stuff misinterpreted well-nigh Ukraine in the current debate by the West and what are the questions you wish Western journalists would stop asking?

There are unrepealable forces that, with help from Ruzzians, try to push a hefty value of propaganda in the West and, unfortunately, there are people who buy into that. “Popular” talking points are: that everyone in Ukraine is somehow Nazi, plane though it is Ruzzia, who invaded an self-sustaining country using ridiculous pretexts, mimicking nazi Germany’s theft of Sudetenland, and all this with the support of a large majority of the population; that Ukraine somehow once lost when in fact it is Ruzzia that has once strategically lost by lightweight to capture Kyiv in three days, as they said they would; that Ukraine has to surrender and requite in to save the World from a larger mismatch when it is well-spoken that no country wants to requite up territory and winnow genocide of its people. And many more.

I would teach establishing a rule for one who tries to understand the conflict: when Ruzzia speaks – it is certainly a lie. People have to understand that this is a civilizational conflict, a mismatch of worldview, a mismatch between democracies and autocrats. The outcome of which will largely shape the XXI century and the direction we are moving as humanity. For example, does anyone think that autocratic governments, if they win, would superintendency about, say, Global Warming, or environmental or socio-economic challenges in general?

How difficult did you find it to listen to music and to produce new material over the past four months?

It is difficult, to say the least. Somehow, I was worldly-wise to hoke some material for an upcoming release: AXX and take part, musically, in some fundraising compilations like We Are Invincible.

Time moves slower now, I guess.

When was the last time you said “last time“?

It feels like a lifetime ago. Though, the title of this track has increasingly positive connotations than negative ones, in my opinion.

Who should I interview next?

Splinter (UA) [Corridor Audio label head]
Louwave [Corridor Audio label mate]
Lu-Joyce [See Ukrainian Field Notes IX]

[All images by Friedensreich – as he explains, “Here are some pictures I took during production of AXX; this is in and virtually Kyiv, its parks and forests. This coincides with the main theme of AXX – the fear and respect of nature virtually us, how I found its importance tween war.”]

 

AUGUST 16 2022 – KYIV

Edward Sol

I’m into many variegated things, and composing music is only one of them. I started years ago as a guitar/bass player in some school bands, then I studied sound for cinema, TV and theatre, and through professional interest in soundtracks and sound design, I came wideness experimental and twentieth-century music.

I was born in a small municipality in Southern Ukraine, very tropical to Crimea. A very nice place, but if one wants to work in cinema, or is into twentieth-century art, one needs to relocate to a worthier city. That’s why I’ve been living in Kyiv for increasingly than 30 years now. Still, I paid my debt to my native city: I spread my interest in difficult and weird music between my friends there and now Nova Kakhovka is quite famous for its vibrant experimental scene, the so-called “Southern Ukrainian experimental scene”.

What skills from your training in sound-design for mucosa and theatre have you unromantic to your musical practice?

I guess the drama, some editing skills, montage. Also, patience and listening thoughtfully to other people’s ideas, finding my own ways to self-fulfillment.

Would you say you have “Strayed From The Herd” in your musical path?

Good question. Positively so, I guess. I’ve strayed from the world of cinema, as I’m too unwrought to be an wonk twentieth-century composer. And I’m too difficult for industrial/noise purists.

What is your current studio setup and how has this reverted over the years?

Well, it’s unquestionably very basic. I’m using variegated old tape machines – cheap, outdated, damaged. All kinds of reels, cassettes, scribers, dictaphones, machines for the veiling etc.

Also, I own a couple of samplers and a couple of old Soviet-made synthesizers. For composing I use a very primitive DAW. My process of making music is all well-nigh recording sounds, processing and collaging.

Too simple, to be honest. Nothing fancy, tricky or expensive. From time to time I end up ownership some “new” piece of gear (or rather, old and cheap) when I manage to dig up something interesting and obscure.

But I definitely have no interest in waffly my gear, trying out or “playing” new models of existing stuff. I’m increasingly into sounds and new ideas, not well-nigh new equipment.

You are one of the veterans of the Ukrainian experimental music scene, how would you say the scene has ripened since independence? Also, what are the most heady new developments you have witnessed in increasingly recent times?

Nowadays I’m increasingly focused on my own projects, interests and on a tropical whirligig of (international) friends. I have no idea what happens on the local “experimental” scene. That said, there are unchangingly new sounds and new names coming out, and if I liked any of them, I’d probably release them on one of my labels.

The biggest name on the trendy industrial/experimental Ukrainian scene for me is Kadaitcha and I have been working with them from the very beginning.

You have been running a number of labels over the years and have released big names from the noise and experimental/impro scene, such as Merzbow, KK Null, Lasse Marhaug, Mats Gustafsson and Thurston Moore. What have you found most rewarding in your role as a label throne and is this an worriedness you still plan on pursuing?

It seems that I run 3 labels now, some quite active, others not as much, or maybe they’re just dormant. And I still love to produce physical releases plane without all these years. I unchangingly regret not stuff a part of that fantastic experimental cassette scene of the late 70s to early 90s, considering of the Iron Curtain and my age.

Still, now I’m happy with my contributions, both on a personal and on a national level.

Where are you now and have you been displaced by war at any point

I live with my wife in a quiet village 15 km outside Kyiv, now sadly known as the Bucha region. I believe the Internet has tons of info well-nigh what happened here.

My family runs a small pet shelter and we stayed for 2 weeks in the epicenter of all that gainsay madness.

On the 8th of March we came squatter to squatter with the humanitarian ending and decided to move our animals yonder to a safer neighbouring region, 2 hours momentum from our house.

On the 2nd of April, as soon as the orcs were repelled from our region, we returned home and have remained here overly since. There’s no place like home when it’s self-ruling from any invaders.

What impact has the full scale war had on you?

I got increasingly and increasingly into vital “simple things”. On an existential / philosophical level and on a physical level too.

Have you been worldly-wise to listen to new music and produce and perform new material since February 24?

After the shock of the first month I slowly returned to listening to my favorite music and I found it plane increasingly uplifting and “stabilising” than before. Music is a good remedy to get rid of visionless thoughts.

In terms of gigs, I would say that during the past four years I performed only once and I have no want for it now.

Also, I whimsically etch new music anymore. I must well-constructed a few unfinished projects I have laying around, but my working spritz today is slower than overly and feels harder.

What next for the experimental music scene in Ukraine and how do you see it developing under present circumstances?

As I have once mentioned, I’m out of touch with the local scene. I truly believe the future post-war period could help someone to make increasingly serious, original and “adult” art. The world definitely doesn’t need any increasingly superficial, pseudo-intellectual, and fake experimental content.

What are the worldwide misconceptions well-nigh the war that you find most problematic?

The whole idea of this “modern” Ukrainian-russian mismatch is a total misconception. They undeniability it “modern” when in fact it is a 500 years old existential confrontation.

How do you deal with burnout?

I’m a devoted follower of Wim Hof‘s method. I practice the zoetic technique and other exercises on a daily basis, they help to tenancy emotional and mental states, but moreover to strengthen the immune system. I strongly recommend Wim Hof the unconfined Iceman and his healthy method.

Has the motivation overdue making music reverted for you since the full scale Russian invasion?

My art is powered by other things, much increasingly transcendental than war.

How are you preparing for Winter?

Oh, you unprotected me! It’s the traditional countryside routine here: harvesting fruit and vegetables, processing and preserving them. Making reserves for food, meds, veterinary meds, firewood, gas and fuel. Ownership what we need.

Fixing the house and the yard, all the stuff and gear, making sure all is in working order and ready for Winter. Vital things people were doing for centuries to survive.

Why do Unhappy People Love to Hurt Things?

It’s considering of “The Fullness of Life”. It’s a fundamental Christian principle and it isn’t easy to achieve.

Generally speaking, one is truly happy only when one’s own life as a human stuff is complex.
Shallow and hollow disintegrated people are tightly unhappy, they want to destroy the world virtually them to finger a false sense of wholeness, to find their own miserable place in it.

Which typesetting / artwork / towers / mucosa / tv series / podcast / dish / meme / joke weightier encapsulates Ukraine for you?

– Ancient Cossack ballads (you should learn Ukrainian first).
– Kvitka (2 albums of Ukrainian songs from an American but native Ukrainian singer).
– Earth; movie (1930, Olexandr Dovzhenko).
– Taras Bulba; book.
– Olexander Oles‘ poetry.
– Vasyl Stus poetry.
– Varenyki stuffed with cherries (traditional summer dish).

 

AUGUST 18 2022 – KYIV

Dmytro Ostudinov

My name is Mitya Ostudinov, I am a Ukrainian musician. Moreover known as Hatroneli and co-founder of Peauty Fute. In 2010 together with Sommer we created Peauty and started doing parties.

Background and influences. Well, Future Sound of London and Autechre made a significant impact. As fuel. And moreover groups like The Cure and Cocteau Twins became a big inspiration for Hatroneli’s early works.

What is your current studio setup? And what do you consider the most important speciality of your sound?

Pc and plug-ins.

Sound philosophy are important to me this is one of the main aspects.

Have you had any “Eureka!” moments in your musical development?

Actually, when you make music, it can happen all the time: things somehow come together into something interesting and amazing. And you are once working in this context. Some of them can be noticed not immediately, and then, “wow, it’s not bad, but how did it happen?”. So I think “Eureka!” happens increasingly often than it seems. Or is it all in vain?

Are Hatroneli and Ostudinov variegated faces of the same coin, twins separated at birth, or simply your live vs studio persona?

It seems to me that it is not so important to unmistakably divide into A and B, considering it is a universal nomination of ideas, a worldwide musical language and it is constantly changing. All this can be taken as you like.

Could you introduce Peauty Fute, and how would you describe the electronic and experimental music scene in Kyiv both in terms of labels and clubs and how do you see it developing in present circumstances?

Peauty Fute started as a polity of musicians virtually 2010. We didn’t have unbearable parties where we could hear and play interesting stuff, including maybe some experimental local music, we lacked musical comfort. So we started doing it ourselves, hosting parties with weird music, in particular creating webcasts of performances tabbed “Touching From a Distance”. And in 2014 we launched the Shuffle series, fully settling in the native club Otel’.

The electronic scene stunned me when in 2014. The whence of the first phase of the war gave a huge uplift to everyone around. In particular, when we gathered increasingly than 20 Ukrainian musicians and DJs for our Glitchwein festival. Of undertow this was only a fragment of the whole picture, but it became well-spoken that the scene was very big, working and constantly growing. We saw how much music was stuff created virtually us and how much increasingly there was to discover and how we could connect with a larger group of people. And it continues to this day. It’s just impressive.

Since February 24, 2022, local labels are releasing a lot of fundraising compilations and solo releases, and soft-heartedness events are held. Everything is now zingy much faster and on a larger scale, considering the pain and wrongness of the full-scale invasion of the russian nazis has generated a feeling of well-constructed uncertainty, making the need for bilateral support and unity increasingly present and acute. All this gives us a lot of energy for developing.

Are you currently in Kyiv and have you stayed in the wanted throughout? Also, what is the current situation on the ground?

Yes, I stayed in Kyiv. I can say that now “everything is calm”, the municipality is working and moving forward, although air alarms still sound scrutinizingly on a daily basis, as a unvarying reminder that this relative peace in Kyiv is very precious.

How would you say the war reverted you and what impact has it had on your life?

A full-scale invasion reverted veritably everything. And these changes will happen then and again. Previously unknown levels of tension, uncertainty that seems to have no end and wool instability. To some extent, this can be tabbed an risorgimento to reality.

Most people I have spoken to have told me that they found it untellable to listen to music in the first couple of months without the Russian invasion of February the 24th. Has your relationship to sound reverted in the past few months and have you been playing live since? 

I didn’t immediately return to music either. In the first months, I was so tumbled that I no longer understood how to make music. There were unvarying explosions all virtually us. Things started to regain some semblance of normality sometime in April. It is interesting that friends and colleagues moreover talked well-nigh these couple of months “pause”. The feeling of hybrid emotions has wilt plane increasingly pronounced, perhaps this influence is once present in the material that I am currently preparing for release.

And no, I didn’t have any gigs lined up when the full-scale invasion began. Actually, the last live events I played at were when in 2019.

I understand you have organized or been involved in fundraising events, how does one alimony the momentum going and how does it finger to play live under current circumstances?

I had the pleasure of stuff involved in an important rationalization and to curate the Peauty Fute stage at the Na Chasi soft-heartedness festival.

Well, one just goes into “just do it” mode – that’s how one keeps the momentum going I guess. Actually, it is no variegated to many other similar situations.

Is the international music polity doing unbearable to support musicians from Ukraine?

“International music community” I don’t quite understand what this is, it feels to me as something very vague, so I cannot assess it adequately.

How do you deal with exhaustion and what are your coping mechanisms? Also, how do you relax?

Actually, this is somewhat impossible. But I reduce this effect by standing to make music. Maybe, at times, I wilt less active, or I might pay increasingly sustentation to learning other stuff, with the main objective still in sight. Perhaps it is a question of the speed at which one must drive. I do not know. And spending time with friends and family is a good way to relax and recharge.

What typesetting / mucosa / podcast / TV series / blog / artwork / meme / diamond work / traditional dish / weightier describes Ukraine for you?

Kobzar by Taras Shevchenko.

 

SEPTEMBER 5 2022 – KHARKIV

hspd

Hi. I’m Nikita from hero-city Kharkiv, Ukraine and I have an electronic music project tabbed hspd. My musical path started from learning to play piano when I was a 8-9 yo child. Then, in the early 2000s, when I was in upper school, I sold my soul to new-metal, post rock, progressive waddle music and played guitar in a wreath with my mates.

From 2010 to 2017, I went under the name Breaksage with DJ sets containing bass, hip-hop, pulsate & bass, illbient, industrial and electronic music, and gradually switched to producing my own tracks, but they were so far from the sound I wanted. The truth is that they are still there)). Then, in 2019 I started hspd.

What is your studio setup and what would you say is the most important full-length of your sound?

The foundation of my setup is the Ableton push 2 controller. I can’t say that it was like a totally gamechanger for me, but it certainly uplifted me.

Of undertow I have a classical studio kit (sound card, studio monitors, headphones etc), but, honestly, 85% of the time I spend making music, I’m just moving “squares” in Ableton’s session mode. I think it’s considering of my lack of wits with hardware synths. But I’m not bored.

How would you describe the electronic music scene in Ukraine and how do you see it developing under present circumstances?

Oh. I’m so out of the loop)). I mostly alimony track of the USA music scene, considering most of the musicians I like are from there. I have friends making music here in Ukraine, but know nothing well-nigh the very Ukrainian electronic scene. I only saw how times have been nonflexible for the past couple of years considering of COVID-19, both for musicians and the public in general, and times are getting tougher and tougher.

Your tome Prayer One came out in April. How much of that was once produced surpassing the Russian invasion of February 24 and are tracks like “Hostile Sky” a uncontrived reflection of current events?

“Direct reflection” is a very well-judged unravelment in this case. Two or three tracks were finished surpassing the war started. Other tracks I made in the first month of the russian invasion.

How difficult have you found it to listen to and produce new music since the invasion? And what is currently on your playlist?

I know that many people have been unable to listen to or produce music since the invasion started. I had such feelings for the first 2-3 days. But then, for me, it was a some kind of private bomb-shelter. And I started to make music for 14-16 hours a day. So, without a month I had 9-10 finished tracks and jokingly asked my label head, Andrey R.roo, if we could release my tome while I was still alive. And he answered “Yes” haha)).

Generally speaking, war hasn’t reverted my playlist. It was once 99% dark, Lorn, Ital Tek, Om Unit, Amon Tobin, Thriftworks are in my top 5 to listen to.

Where are you now and have you been displaced by war at any point?

From the 24th of February to the 10th of May I lived in Kyiv. Now I moved from Kyiv to my hometown Kharkiv, which is 30 km from the russian verge and have been under russian shelling for 190 days. You may say, “It breaks any logic” and I’ll answer, “Yes, I know”. There are no 100% unscratched places in Ukraine now. And I finger myself increasingly useful and increasingly wifely here in Kharkiv.

 

Is the international music polity doing unbearable to support Ukrainian artists?

In this specimen I can’t separate the music community, but the size of overall support to Ukraine from the whole civilised world is incredible, and it inspires me a lot.

How do you unwind in present circumstances?

Hmm… I have a CAT! His name is Yahoo. He is such a cute motherf#cker. And I have really f#cked up friends and I love them all

Are you worldly-wise to think well-nigh the future?

I would name the last 7 months “one day at a time regime”. But I could try to like it.
There will be a lot of Ukrainian thoroughbred and tragic deaths in the near future. But I am sure we will win and rise.

Which typesetting / mucosa / tome / traditional dish / podcast / blog / artwork / towers / meme weightier captures Ukraine for you?

 

September 7 2022 – KYIV

Ocheret

 

SEPTEMBER 8 2022 – BERLIN

Denys Koin

I am Denys Berehovskyi. My originative moniker is Koin or Denys Koin. I am from Kharkiv, but for the past 5 years I lived and worked in Kyiv with my family.

When the war started I was on vacation in Israel. I moved to Berlin and evacuated my mother to Berlin. My wife is now in Israel with her parents.

I started producing computer music in upper school. My mother just got me a computer, a Pentium I processor with CD-drive and floppy-disc drive. I had a classmate, Sasha, who was moreover producing music and we started collaborating on some electronic music tracks and used floppy disks to zip our projects. Each project could take up 3 or 4 floppy disks.

Sasha and I were crazy well-nigh all kinds of electronic music. In Ukraine there were no Virgin Music Stores and suchlike and one had to go to the local typesetting marketplace where they were selling pirate copies of albums which one could moreover rent for a week. We moreover asked deejays if we could rent or infringe their CDs which we would then rip on our PCs. That’s how we got to listen to a lot of new music from 1999-2000 from the Warp and Ninja Tune labels. There was moreover a tattoo of Pulsate & Bass, as an volitional underground music, with lots of people into Pulsate & Toned parties. In Kharkiv there was only one night club, Zhivot, where DJs played Pulsate & Bass. It has now been operating for 25 years. Ok, we were teenagers at the time and security wouldn’t let us in but Sahsa had a cousin, Grisha, and Grisha had a waddle wreath that played at Zhivot, so Grisha would let us in through the backstairs or put us on the VIP-list ^)

At the time we were both mad well-nigh real nonflexible Pulsate & Toned and tried to replicate it on our PCs in early versions of music software such as Fruity Loops, SoundForge, and CoolEdit. We produced several records this way. Sasha bought a CD-RW and we self-distributed our music amongst our friends. One day a guy found us and offered for us to play at Zhivot on the strength of one of our self-releases. He was the art director of Zhivot at the time, and subsequently became our manager. We became a part of the promo group BreathColonies. Then we created the insemination Infuzoria. I had variegated views on the music we were producing to our manager and we had a big conflict. This man secretly terminated contracts with the members of the band, expelling me and two others wreath members.

After that, I worked with variegated musicians and mostly within experimental electronic music. The majority of my output I recorded in my bedroom studio on my PC, with sampling, field recordings, and DIY midi devices and a simple oscillator. I moreover held, tok part and collaborated in numerous events in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Dnipro, and Lviv in variegated venues and clubs, as well as unshut air stages and festivals here in Ukraine.

In 2015, without a six month cultural mart programme in Berlin I returned to Ukraine. When in Kharkiv there was only one club playing techno, and yes, it was Zhyvot. The club was on the verge of latter lanugo due to debts, so I decided to build a local underground scene and help out with fundraising.

Me and my mates Asket and Seymour (with #BSKD joining us later) established LOZH promo and held parties on a regular understructure as well as several increasingly events in variegated music genres from house, to garage and electro. We were still operating when WAR reverted everything. We are now trying to bring this event to Western Europe and have unromantic for a special permit from the Government of Ukraine. We moreover had a tropical friend, Enformig, who died of cancer a few years ago and a group of us organise a party every year to commemorate him. Eva Florinutz made a special mix in his memory. Now I am running my own label Keep It Real Records.

Over the summer I was invited to TRACKS, a small Festival in Goteborg (Sweden) where I played in collaboration with Lisa Nordstrom. It was a special live performance considering we had never met each other before. I used audio leaks captured from the front line, mostly radio exchanges between russian troops. Flipside performance with the harp player Stephanie Irvine was moreover special. We played inside a grotto in the mountain used as a water storage for the municipality of Goteborg.

What is your studio / live setup and your favourite piece of gear?

I left everything in Kyiv and now I use Abletone and started to build my own setup on MaxMSP. I moreover love to use the Korg EMX_1, I have one in Ukraine, but I have to be shielding with it as its not for everyone.

What would you say is the distinctive full-length of your sound?

Mostly it’s “haunted sound”, basically retro electronic or rave music as it was in the 90s or 00s. I made my own hashtag for it #haunted_rave. Haunted, considering it is sound that one tries to replicate from the past that never unquestionably existed. Coco Bryce or Dj Boring do similar stuff. And then theres this huge wave of trance music at techno parties.

You are moreover an illustrator and designer and have produced artwork for Andrey Kiritchenko amongst others. Is there navigate pollination between your originative and musical practices?

Yes, I did artwork for Andrey Kiritchenko. I did a lot of parties virtually the year 2000 and I did most of the artwork for them slantingly imbricate artwork for my albums. In additin, I worked for a lot of other projects and bands and music festivals. Definitely music and art are closely related to each other. Its some kind of poetry. Rhythms and rhymes. Tones and colours. Textures and sound effects. Fonts and soundscapes.

You have been zippy on the music scene for 20 years now. How would you say the scene in Kyiv has ripened over the years?  

I think one cannot separate Kyiv from other Ukrainian cities, Odesa, Dnipro, Lviv, Ternopil, and Crimea as well. Every region has its special mood and scene. Crimea was a huge hub for big Trance Festivals, and not only Kazantip. Odesa was a scene for minimal techno with these hookah type clubs. Dnipro was a techno scene municipality in the early 00s. Kharkiv was increasingly well-nigh bass, breakbeat culture and Hip-Hop. The Carpathian region of Ukraine is well known for its trance open-air festivals and raves. And there are some really good events like RythmBuro and their unshut air event Natura.

As for clubs, it is a sad story. They play the same music, the same techno everywhere. Techno clubs in Kyiv try to reprinting Berghain and other Berlin clubs, and it looks sometimes comical and sometimes depressing.

For people who travel from upalong to go to parties in Kyiv it is some kind of Amusement park in a Post-Soviet country (we dont use the term post-soviet country in Ukraine considering it has colonialism connotations and is offensive) like Berlin in the early 90s.

How would you say the music polity in Ukraine in unstipulated has responded to the war and how do you see it developing under present circumstances?

Everyone supports the Ukrainian Army, donates funds and volunteers. There are many fundraising events taking place not just in Ukraine but all over Europe. Also, there are fundraisers to help music producers and DJs who have been left without work or savings. I will organise such an event in Berlin in the Fall.

How would you say the war unauthentic you both on a personal and practical level?

It had a devastating impact on me. Ive lost my home, my family is divided and Ive lost my job (I used to work as a graphic and motion designer for a big company). A tropical relative who could not squatter the challenges of evacuation passed away. Her health was deteriorating. I was with her when she became ill. I tried to move her to a largest place but it was too late and she died recently. I cremated her. I was the only one at her funeral. She was my grandmother.

Given the current constraints, has your motivation to play live and release music reverted since the full scale invasion?

There has been a shift yonder from commercial activities and I stopped promoting myself as a brand. Now, I just listen to old music as a therapy for myself, and try to recreate a time when I felt unscratched and happy. Considering no one deserves such pain as Ukrainian families are now experiencing.

Yes, I do some records and live performances considering when one plays live or DJs, one forgets all the pain or transfers all the wrongness into the music.

Where are you now and have you been displaced by war at any point?

I am in Berlin right now. I live in Kreuzberg. At the time when I lived in Kharkiv there was no war activity. But in unstipulated a lot of people in Kharkiv supported Russia and shared its
propaganda, considering they were mostly russian speaking citizens and watched russian TV. When then, I lived in the municipality centre in a shared suite near a small park. One day, there was a
terrorist act in this the park and they blew up the monument that was there. This was organized by pro-russian terrorist groups. I was at home and there was a huge explosion. It scared me a lot and traumatised me. So I left Kharkiv when in 2016 for Kyiv looking for increasingly self-rule and a safer place for myself.

Is there anything well-nigh the way the war has been covered in the West that you find problematic and / or is there anything you wish the West would stop asking?

I want to mention this quote considering it is tropical to my thoughts, The time when Europe believed in resolving all the issues through negotiations is over, and we are when to the fighting attitude. Sadly, we need heroes then in the most straightforward, military sense of the word. Those willing to risk their lives. The problem with all those socialist pacifists, however, is that, in fact, they dont want to lose their well-appointed existence. [Slavoj iek, interview for Birdinflight, 2022]

How do you deal with exhaustion and how do you unwind?

I go swimming in the lake, or spend time in nature, thats all I can do, I dont have flipside options. I mean, I could go to somewhere like Cyprus for a weeks holiday, but I cant plane do that as I am a refugee in Germany and there are things I have to comply with.

Also, I am unemployed. I dont do drugs, I dont drink, and weed gives me panic attacks. And I dont like crowded places, I finger uncomfortable if there are no friends tropical by. I have typical PTSD.

What makes you laugh?

Bloopers videos compilations on YouTube, memes with cats, and Ukrainian memes in Telegram chats.

If you could have anyone deejaying at your next birthday party, who would you ask?

My friends: DJ Asket and #BSKD, considering of war and martial law they are in Ukraine and cannot leave the country. And Eva Florinutz, who is currently in Spain. Actually, my birthday is on the 23rd of November.

What is your current mindset and how have you been preparing yourself for the winter ahead?

I have no super plans, just to take superintendency of myself. And to try and shoot my own film. I have unchangingly dreamed of making a film. I have plane attended mucosa courses for filmmakers. Plus, I am unshut to all proposals as a designer and motion graphics animator, or to make music video clips.

Which typesetting / mucosa / tome / traditional dish / podcast / blog / artwork / towers / meme weightier captures Ukraine for you?

Book The Forest Song by Lesya Ukrainka.

Film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Sergei Parajanov

Album (Weed meeting) by () (Entrance with a transpiration of shoes)

Traditional dish is definitely Varenyky (any kind, with meat, or mashed potato, or sweet berries) and sour-cream on top

Podcast Music with stories The Ukrainians Audio

Artwork “Venice”, 1924 by Oleksandra Oleksandrivna Ekster – this artwork by Ukrainian twentieth-century versifier is in Moscow. It was appropriated by Bolsheviks and without the Soviet Union dissolved, russia refused to hand over the painting to Ukraine ultimatum that this is a Russian artist. But she was belarusian and married an Ukrainian man and lived and worked in Kyiv. I saw this artwork in Moscow Tretyakovka Gellery. Its a huge and impressive work. The 20s are my favourite period in the arts.

Building: Derzhprom

Memes well-nigh Ukrainian Literature of the past XIX and XX century. But you must know the context, its not simple to get them at once.

Who should I interview next?

Vera Logdanidi, CEO in RythmBuro, Kyiv

Vlad Fisun – DJ Buro Kyiv

Asket – Art Director in Zhyvot Club, Kharkiv

Lozh

Zhyvot club

 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022 – BERDYANSK

Arthur Kriulyn

I am an versifier on the Mystictrax label.

About my musical past, at the age of 16 I got into a nightclub and I was immediately surprised by the DJ standing in the part-way of the flit floor and, as I remember now, he played excellent, flit electro-house.

I immediately realised that I wanted to do the same. In parallel with this, I became interested in writing music. I write music in the FL studio program.

What would you say is the distinctive full-length of your sound?

A full-length of my tracks is the undercurrent and experiments with vocals. And if I write flit music, then I try to make a tight groove.

You are originally from Berdyansk and found yourself there visiting family at the time of the full scale invasion. Have you remained in the municipality throughout and what is the current situation on the ground?

I came to my relatives’ home for the New Year holidays from Europe. I was going to go back, but the war started and Russia invaded my country, Ukraine. Our municipality of Berdyansk was occupied on February 28. The situation in the municipality and in the zone today is very bad. The municipality and region are cut off from normal starchy life.

Your Berdyansk EP evokes the feeling of summer nights and is lovingly put together. How did you find producing and releasing music since February the 24th?

So it is. I really love my city, it is provincial and there is the sea. It has very a suitable undercurrent for writing music.

Has your motivation to make music reverted since the invasion?

I have a variegated tideway to writing music, I don’t need any motivation, I just unshut my palmtop and set the mood.

You have moreover produced a number of mixes in recent months. Has your playlist reverted in any way since the invasion?

Nothing has changed, my favorite genres remain ambient, hip-hop, and house. Sometimes I can record some thematic mix, for example dub techno.

How would you say the international music polity has responded to the war?

I don’t know. Everyone has their own opinion on this. But the main thing is that people do not speak woebegone – white, and white – black.

Are there any releases by Ukrainian artists since the war that you finger are expressly poignant or that have surprised you in a good way?

I recommend the music of the label @mystictrax, Kashtan, Noneside, Masterskaya.

Is there anything well-nigh the way the war has been covered in the West that you find problematic and is there anything Western countries should be doing to help?

I think that we should simply be given MORE WEAPONS, this is stated in plain text by our president, the people of Ukraine fully stipulate with his opinion and support both him and the current government, the truth is overdue us. Our armed forces are the weightier in the world and they prove it in practice.

Who should I interview next?

I recommend interviewing Kyiv DJs and zippy participants in the cultural life of Ukraine, these are @lostlojic and Sasha Ushenko. Very interesting people.

What describes Ukraine weightier for you?

I can describe Ukraine in 3 words :  ZSU, Zelensky, borsch. Glory to Ukraine !

 

PODCASTS

 

MIXES

“The photo shows a place in my village, which I found a long time ago and which has wilt my favorite. I think the magic and significance of this place is that it is on my land, on the small homeland of my family. Who knows, maybe this is where the girl Maria, my great-grandmother, moreover came and dreamed well-nigh 90 years ago. Moreover now it is very important for us to squint for our places, our music, the sound of our family.

I took the songs from the 90’s considering that’s the time when I grew up and some of them I knew from my diaper and some of them I find out only now. Some songs are naive, some are increasingly dramatic, some are real, but they are ours, and that’s the main thing now.

Separately, I want to mention a track by Ukrainian musician John Object, who is now defending our land, listen to how he has redefined our heritage and given it a new sound. I think that’s one of our missions. Squint for your own!”

 

 

 

FUNDRAISING COMPILATIONS

by Shum.Rave // electronic, experimental, ambient, techno, Slovyansk

“With the whence of the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, many of our friends from the creative sphere joined volunteers, TRO or the front. And the question to friends: “How are you?” has wilt an integral part of every day.

Shum unchangingly had a lot of friends. To be honest, without them we wouldn’t be worldly-wise to do what we do. And then one day I decided that it would be tomfool to release a compilation of tracks by our musician friends, and requite the proceeds to the Armed Forces – with our friends amongst them, as it turns out.

On the imbricate there is a molotov cocktail, a Bandera smoothie featuring a collage of photos from our first six events. One hell of a cocktail, I tell you. We will protract to ignite!”

 

. III / II / I by Neformat Family // metal punk waddle woebegone metal death metal grindcore hardcore indie metalcore pop post-hardcore post-metal psychedelic waddle punk rock

Neformat Family together with the | project (series of interviews with representatives of the Ukrainian underground scene) releases a soft-heartedness compilation aimed at supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Hardcore, death metal, rap, screamo and a tuft of other genres from 72 Ukrainian artists have come together for the worldwide goal – to bring Ukraine closer to victory in this war versus russia.

 

V/A “Artdopomoga Ukraine vol. 1 and 2 // experimental, electronic, indie

The compilation Artdopomoga Ukraine Vol.1 and 2 (2022) are released on the Ukrainian volunteer resource artdopomoga.com

The compilations includes unique material of the legendary bands of the Ukrainian indie scene: Dakhabrakha, Dakh Daughters, Grozovska Band, Hudaki Village Band, Mama Diaspora, Perkalaba, created during the struggle of Ukraine for self-rule and independence. All proceeds from the release will be used to support Ukraine.

 

Berlin Kyiv Freundschaft: Volume 1 and 2 by Berlin Kyiv Freundschaft // coldwave, darkwave, gothic

“Berlin Kyiv Freundschaft is a movement of solidarity amongst the musical polity of Europe and beyond, in a time of crisis, when war has been forced upon innocent people.

In such upturned and challenging times, when stuff an versifier is increasingly difficult than ever, it is now that we must do our weightier to support those in our polity who are suffering the most.

All contributing artists come from Ukraine, and 100% of the money earned will be given directly to them.”

 

Musicians For Ukraine (volume 1 and 2) by XaVioN // ambient, chillstep

13 16 ambient and downtempo tracks from the Dutch label with 100% of all earnings to be donated for Humanitarian aid in Ukraine.

 

01 by Worn Pop // ebm, electronic, darkwave

(Ukr. [Rukh] Movement) is a compilation series launched during the war in Ukraine and released by Kyiv-based label and promoter Worn Pop. All proceeds from this compilation will be donated to the Musicians Defend Ukraine fund that helps Ukrainian artists on the frontline.

 

UNITED (O) vol.1 by (O)SOZNANIE // ambient, electronic, experimental, techno

14 tracks by the underground music polity from Kharkiv, Ukraine.

“In these nonflexible and uncertain times, despite our differences, were all united like weve never been before. In this compilation we present tracks in variegated genres, but one goal – to contribute to our victory. All the proceeds from Bandcamp will be donated to Ukrainian Unwashed and humanitarian aid to our people.”

 

For Ukraine (Volume 3) by Various Artists – Headphone Commute // ambient, drone, experimental, modern classical

“Since the first volume of our goody compilation For Ukraine, we have raised and donated $17k USD for the humanitarian needs of this conflict. Our last wayfarers has been triple matched, bringing the total relief to $31k USD. We are grateful to be when with the third volume and ask for your support once again, and in return share this trappy music from some of the scene’s most notable artists.

100% of all the proceeds (excluding Bandcamp’s revenue share and payment processor fees) will be donated to the International Rescue Committee (rescue.org) to support displaced children and families with vital supplies during the Slipperiness in Ukraine.”

 

Freedom Fight V/A by Vibronica Festival // deep house, downtempo, multicultural electronic

“Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the vital human desire for freedom. (Dalai Lama)

All money from sales will go to support the Ukrainian Army. We requite music for free. Donate as much as you can and finger necessary.”

More Info: Vibronica Festival

 

Avon Attorlaðe by Avon Terror Corps // ambient, experimental, field recording, herbalist

“100% of profits for this compilation go to Solidarity Apothecary for their work on the confines of Ukraine. £1,000 donated so far.

They are currently working from a gas station supplying herbal medicine to thousands of refugees passing by every day. Herbal medicine is widely known and used in Europe and they reported some women crying at the sight of Valerian tincture on arrival.”

 

DF 01 – Ukraine by Deep Fundraisers // electronic, experimental, ambient

For the Deep Fundraisers first fundraising release, we have assembled a variety of tracks from artists virtually the world in order to help raise funds for Tabletochki, the biggest Ukrainian crowdfunding soft-heartedness foundation that advocates and protects interests of children with cancer in Ukraine.

 

Hope for Ukraine by Circular Limited // deep techno, electronic

100% profits from this release will be used as a donation of humanitarian material (medical supplies and non-perishable food) destined for Ukraine, through the aid NGO ”’Gala Sebital” in Seville, Spain.

Hope and peace

 

Ukraine Soft-heartedness Tome by Frsh Br3ath Rcrds // electronic, edm

Frsh Br3ath Rcrds & IncomingSound Records joined 9 magnificent artists for the cause.

Almost everyone has listened to the terrible news of the situation in Ukraine, and the millions of people losing their homes and lives.
We want to help them, but we need YOUR help.

Everyone can buy this tome and segregate to value they want to give.

ALL THE RAISED MONEY WILL BE DONATED TO Sunflower of Peace Foundation

 

Band Together: A Goody for Ukraine by V/A // punk hardcore indie folk metal

Death, displacement, destruction. The war in Ukraine is an atrocity. In this moment, Ukrainian voices need to be heard and Americans need to stand in solidarity. Most of all, we need to work to overcome Russia’s invasion and aid the victims of this unprovoked war.

All proceeds from this compilation of Ukrainian and American punk, post-punk, hardcore, folk, and metal bands go to Razom (Together in Ukrainian)..

 

VIEWING ROOM

 

(Gianmarco Del Re)