Ukrainian Field Notes XVII

Episode XVII takes us to Kyiv, Eastern Ukraine, Kremenchuk, Uzhoorod, 200 KM south of Kyiv, and Kharkiv, via Israel, Poland and Slovakia for a healthy dose of field recordings, drone, electronic, experimental, and industrial music with a touch of darkwave and dungeon synth.

Along the way we ask Benjamin how vegan Ukraine is, we discuss coffee culture with Data Molfar, we engage in sound funambolism with Oleksii Lupashko, and compare air raid sirens from different parts of the country with Philipp Markovich.

Meanwhile Dahau Holidays bemone parents with dubious taste in music, The House Of The Hidden Light enthuses about Italian comics, tiho tiho surrenders to drone, Wim Dantinne lets a plank of willow wood go through his bone and marrow, and Olga Bekenshtein asks herself, Am I Jazz?

If that wasn’t enough Andrey Petrov journeys through the industrial wasteland of Donbass, and Mykyta Moiseiev takes us to the movies, while Symonenko ramps up the beats with his war tracks.

This month has also seen the liberation of Kherson, although the city remains under constant shelling. The Ukrainian singer turned soldier Anastasia aka Stasik is currently there. Her most popular song Lullaby for the Enemy, was remixed by Zavoloka and Kotra back in 2019.

But to begin with, here’s the fourth episode of the Ukrainian Field Notes podcast that aired on Resonance FM on 16-11-2022 featuring Nina Eba.

Tracklist:

Hidden Element and Ténèbre – Sensitive Content
Jockii Druce – боі стули пельку
Koloah – Time Traveller
Ivan Skoryna – Cheap Gas, Cheap Blood
Unfeeling – New Reality
Axxent13 – Bleached Mint
Nina Eba – сонце (demo)
Запорозький марш – Вогнем і Мечем
tiho tiho – Fragile Monuments (background)

Due to the recent damage to the electricity infrastructure, communications with Ukraine hasn’t always been all that smooth over the past couple of weeks, with artists apologising for their late replies through no fault of their own. As usual, follow the links to support them and make sure to check out the sterling work done by Data Molfar with the charity Onuky

And finally, for those who might be daunted by the number of interviews (13) and the word count (19,051), we’ve created a spotify playlist of featured artists.

 

NOVEMBER 8 2022 – KYIV

Difference Machine


My name is Benjamin. I live in Kyiv.

The story of the Difference Machine project is not so much about me, as it is about the circumstances I am in. This project was born within the context of the full-scale russian war against Ukraine. Many new things appeared in the lives of most Ukrainians after February 24 this year, not least of which were a whole lot of new sounds. «ніколи не змиряться» was created by Ukraine. It would be impossible to make it anywhere else at any other time.

Your album ніколи не змиряться (will never reconcile) is indeed one of the most powerful immersive experiences and reflections on the war that I’ve come across. In the liner notes you explain in detail the process of making the album, which is made entirely from sounds recorded between 24.02.2022 and 24.06.2022 during the full-scale russian invasion. Some of the sounds are processed to the point of making them not immediately identifiable and yet, they are still recognisable as “belliphonic sounds”. There have been a few studies on the auditory experience in the trauma of war, namely by J. Martin Daughtry, Lisa Gilman and Jonathan Pieslak.

For someone like me who’s not lived through a war, listening to your album heightened my sense of sonic alertness, to the point I kept thinking I was hearing air raid sirens. How would you say your sonic environment has changed since the full-scale invasion and what effect would you say it is playing on your mental health?

In the first days of the full-scale war, for me, it was the sonic environment that I noticed the most change in. Of course, everyone in Ukraine has the memory of hearing sirens or explosions for the first time – it is these sounds that were the mark of the start of the war for most people.

I was in a relatively safe city at the end of February, but I still remember that the sky seemed to be screaming. There was a constant roar (which I assumed to be from aircraft) coming from above, all day and all night. These sounds created a very oppressive and apocalyptic atmosphere in the city.

For most people away from the frontlines, it is the sounds which always keep us in this psychological war-state and prevent us from psychological escape. The sirens, the explosions, the military machinery – all constant reminders of the violence that is always on our doorstep.

The creative process started with some experiments with sounds taken from videos. Initially this was just as a break in the little free time between volunteer projects, doing something a little less intense, not really taking it seriously. But as the album creation process went on, it got more and more intense on its own.

This album was difficult to make, psychologically. It required listening closer to these violent sounds, instead of closing my ears to them, which in this situation is probably a more rational thing to do for the sake of mental wellbeing. But only by listening to and analysing these sounds was it possible to make something constructive out of them. but it was still an incredibly emotionally-draining process.

It’s interesting you said you kept thinking you were hearing air-raid sirens listening to this album, because that is how we live every day. our ears have learned to pick up anything in the sonic environment that sounds anything like sirens, like explosions, like military machinery. our ears are always on alert. and, especially at the start of the full-scale war, the sound of sirens just kind of resonated constantly in our heads, so we had to check every time if it was real sirens or if we were just imagining it. This change in the way we perceive sounds obviously contributes to anxiety and paranoia.

You’ve also included an interview with president of Ichkeria Dzhokhar Dudayev from 1995 in your album, to illustrate that the problems with russia did not begin on 24.02.2022, nor on 22.08.2014, nor on 31.12.1999, nor even on 01.12.1991. As a matter of fact, in October 2022, Ukraine’s parliament recognised the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as a “temporarily occupied” state.

In the West there are still many reluctant to see this as a colonial and imperialist war. What are the most glaring problems in your view in the way the West has been covering the war and framing the narrative around it?

People in the West don’t like to listen to Ukrainian voices. They’d much rather give their liberal views on the situation from their safe place of privilege and lack of understanding, selectively listening to what helps them continue believing what they already want to believe. They don’t like to hear about the horrors that Ukrainians are living through. Instead, they prefer to listen to “good russians”, who are extremely guilty for enabling this genocidal war, but find the opportunism in themselves to utter two or three intelligible words (like “no war” or “p*tin is bad”) and suddenly they are deemed innocent (while they said nothing against the russian wars in Ichkeria, in Syria, in Georgia, etc.).

People in the West are not demanding enough of russians, but they are very demanding of Ukrainians. For fear of “discrimination”, they refuse to hold responsible the russian people as a whole, and make whatever excuses they can on behalf of russians. russians demand to be treated well by the world without doing a damn thing to deserve it.

Honestly, I don’t care how russians are treated, but the result of them not facing any consequences for enabling the war means that they won’t have any motivation to stop it. In this case, being tolerant of russians means more Ukrainians will die. And that I do care about.

Listening to Dudayev’s words from 1995 serves as a good illustration of how the problem with russia and ruscism is so much deeper than the “good russians” think it is. The problem is not the current russian leadership, it is the idea of the russian empire-federation-state built on genocide and theft and settler colonialism. This is not the first attempted genocide on Ukraine, and certainly not the first genocide that russians have conducted in their history. I have yet to see a person who identifies as russian acknowledge this. Chechens understand this. Ukrainians understand this. Baltic peoples understand this. Westerners do not. And russians are still lightyears away from understanding.

The other thing is that Westerners like to always relate everything to themselves. Maybe they think that nothing in the world happens without them, but they have a hard time understanding when something actually has nothing to do with them. russia wants to wipe out Ukraine because of sick ruscist supremacist ideology. It has nothing to do with international relations between east and west. if you tell a Ukrainian that their whole family was raped and executed by russian soldiers because of NATO, they’d have every right to punch you in the face for stupidity.

You also host the series Difference Machine Transmissions at Gasoline radio, where you develop the theme of tension and the power of sound. In what way would you say has music helped you survive the experience of war?


I can’t say for sure that music has helped to survive the war, whether for me or anyone else. I don’t want to give any illusions that music is some kind of supreme spiritual thing that allows a person to overcome great adversity. Really the only thing that truly helps to survive this war is by being an active part in it – whether by fighting or by supporting those who are fighting.

This radio series has been an opportunity to discover new stories in old music. The first 2 episodes of this series were reflecting back on survival and motivation during the first months, with the sounds and themes that influenced the process of making ніколи не змиряться. The 3rd episode is looking towards the future, at the new world we are building here in Ukraine. The 4th episode is returning to the present, with the relentless tide of death constantly crashing on our shores, while we try to live our lives.

Looking back, it is clear that this sequence reflects an evolving psychological environment, starting with processing the experience of the first months, then looking to the future for a source of hope, then a sober return to the present brutal reality. The future is not coming soon enough.

What impact has the full-scale invasion had on you both personally and professionally?


I am busier now than I have ever been in my life. To our normal everyday routines, we all had to add a whole lot of new regular activities, to contribute to fighting this war, but also to simply survive in it. I have learned a lot about human capacity. Seeing the limits of what I thought a person was capable of being stretched and stretched again… it is inspiring but also heart-wrenchingly difficult to watch. We see it in civilians doing incredible things daily, but especially in our soldiers literally staring hell in the eye and telling it to go fuck itself.

I imagine the time when I fully reflect on how this war has affected me personally will come some time after its end.

What is the current situation on the ground in Kyiv after the most recent attacks on the infrastructure and do you currently have running water?


We are all bracing for a brutal winter… At the moment we all have to restructure our lives around regular blackouts, internet outages, interruptions to water supply. And this is on top of the missile and drone attacks, and generally trying to fight this war. There are a lot of things that russians are doing to get in the way of our lives.

Nothing will reduce our resolve. Ukrainians have already lived through hell, many times over the generations. If there is something we must do to protect our lives and our freedom, we will do it. It’s just unfortunate that it’s not us who sets the price.

Are there any recent releases by Ukrainian artists you think deserve to be global hits?

There is an album coming soon from Mariia & Magdalyna. Their work was a big influence on the Difference Machine album – specifically their theatre show «Human? …», in my opinion the most powerful work of art to come from the full-scale war. They have been touring this show in Europe too. Marusia from this group lent her voice to track №1 on «ніколи не змиряться». I am looking forward to their album.

One of my favourite local bands, Emotional Anhedonia, is doing amazing and interesting things all the time. Their only format is improvised live shows, which are recorded on phone then released online, and they sound amazing.

How vegan is Ukraine?


Ukraine has a very vibrant and dedicated vegan community. We actually recently started a regular vegan festival in Kyiv, which celebrates local vegan culture, as well as raises money to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The locally-grown fruits and vegetables are incredibly tasty here. We are very lucky here to have such beautiful food, so it is very easy to be vegan, especially if you enjoy cooking.

Who should I interview next and what should I be asking them?


You should interview Mykhailo, the band-leader/conductor of Emotional Anhedonia, organiser of many local events, and owner of the label Erythroleukoplakia Records.

 

Kseniia Yanus: As a child, my parents did not instil in me a taste for music, they listened to mediocre pop and chanson. And my desire to go to study at a music school was ignored, cause my grandmother and mother were not accomplished pianists, the poverty of the USSR, injuries and bad medicine prevented them from being realised. They did not believe that I could succeed. At the age of 11, I got on the Internet and started discovering strange music that no one in my circle listened to. Since that time, the bands that have changed my idea of music and the world in general have stayed with me: Flёur, Coil, Sopor Aeternus.

Your main activity is the creation of experimental music and sound art, the central themes of which are alienation, internal migration and reflections on the experience of childhood in the industrial region – Donetsk. With the full-scale invasion the number of IDP has grown exponentially and Donetsk has now been “annexed” by Russia.



I generally ask all my Ukrainian interviewees if their motivation to make music changed after February 24. In your case, since you’ve always been addressing and responding to topics raised by Russia’s colonial war, has the full scale invasion made your resolve even stronger, and how does it feel having to relive the trauma of 2014?

Vadym: Dahau Holidays is our way of responding to reality. The russian war in Ukraine and its prerequisites are our main creative motivation.

Kseniia: For me, all the music that we create is a way to survive the trauma caused by Donetsk. The trauma of this experience began long before 2014, and the russian invasion was a tragedy that further highlighted the evils of the society in which we lived. We did not want to believe in the possibility of a full-scale invasion to the last, but we still prepared for the worst and thought in advance what to do in this case. This allowed us to leave Odesa on the very first day of a full-scale war.

You’ve formed three different bands, Dahau Holidays, Климентово поле (Klimentovo pole), and Орфос (Orfos). How would you describe the post-industrial and darkwave music scene in Ukraine?

Vadym: There are individual musicians and bands, but they don’t make up the scene.

Kseniia: Indeed, it is difficult for me to speak about the scene, but I can recommend compilations that can illustrate what groups represent these genres in Ukraine: Khatacomb label trilogy: Ноктурналія, Ліміналія, Вакханалія and Side Line.

Lyrics to your albums are written in Russian. How do you feel about the language debate and has a line like “Мы останемся в ушах бойцов в виде МП3” (We will remain in the ears of the fighters in the form of MP3) acquired an even stronger resonance?  

Vadym: We don’t write songs in Russian anymore. The line you quoted is taken from a song by another band and is used by us as an element of an ironic text collage.

Bit of a silly question, but once upon a time, I used to collect happiness (books, songs, albums, anything with the word Happiness in the title) and there’s a track called счастье on your album Шудра. What is happiness for you? 

Vadym: Happiness is desirable, alluring, but unattainable, like a carrot tied in front of the muzzle of a donkey harnessed to a wagon. This is what the song is about.

You are part of the Neformat Family that, together with the МА|ПА project, has released three volumes of a fundraising compilations aimed at supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine. What are your feelings about the number of compilations that have been released with this from the West mostly donating to the Red Cross and Unicef?

Kseniia: I am very pleased that the West was able to discover Ukrainian culture, albeit under such tragic circumstances. And the number of compilations that came out and come out, getting them to the top of the bandcamp is really very supportive and inspiring.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to explain why donations to the Red Cross and UNICEF are not the best choice, because these organisations have authority in the eyes of the public. But the war in Ukraine showed how much more effective private charitable initiatives are, what colossal power lies in local fundraising. If we talk about large funds, because many are afraid to make a mistake and fall for scammers, donate to Come back alive and United24.

Are there any recent releases by Ukrainian artists that you believe should be global hits?

Vadym: Current 93 haven’t written any world hits but that doesn’t stop them from being one of the most important bands that has ever existed.

Ukrainian music has always enjoyed well-deserved popularity in Europe. Ukrainian artists often become winners of prestigious world competitions, so I don’t think that any of the Ukrainian mainstream performers have been deprived of fame. As for the Ukrainian music that we listen to, in order to perceive it properly, one must have a good understanding of the specific cultural context in which it was written, but this will not be enough. The Odesa band Flёur is the most important band for me, they are known and understood here, but even here it is very niche music.

Is there anything about 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? 

Vadym: I think that the West should continue to ask and be interested in Ukrainian culture and history, so that everyone would absolutely understand the prerequisites for this war and its inevitability. The stakes are too high, and our main concern is that the West may lose interest in Ukraine in order to restore the status quo.

Opinion leaders such as Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson demonstrate blatant incompetence in matters of Ukrainian history, and broadcast to their multi-million audience the message that Ukraine must accept the world on Russia’s terms. Even worse, the Pope of Rome publicly declares that cruelty is not characteristic of the Russian people, referring to Dostoevsky, he claims that Russian culture is a culture of humanism. I want to tell these people, wake up! Read something else from what the Russian chauvinist, anti-Semite Dostoevsky wrote! Dostoevsky, who argued that the Russians should decide the fate of all Slavic peoples.

The people of Poland, the Baltic countries, Finland, having survived centuries of oppression, prohibitions of national languages, religions, the Ukrainian people, in addition, survived the Russian genocide of 1932-1933, know what Russian humanism is worth. I want to say that there is no such atrocity that the Russians would not commit in the fight against the opponents of Russian imperialism, and that this is not Putin’s war, this is the war of Russian imperialism against the people who dared to throw off the Russian yoke.

Where are you now, and what is the current situation on the ground in Odesa and Uzhhorod at present? 

Vadym: We are in Uzhhorod now and plan to settle here.

Kseniia: There are no safe places in Ukraine right now. The air alert map very often covers the entire territory of Ukraine, all cities are in danger of missile strikes. Since February, Transcarpathia can be called the safest region, due to its geographical location – the border with 4 European states. Odesa is also becoming safer, the successes of the ZSU (The Armed Forces of Ukraine) on the southern front, the liberation of Kherson – this inspires hope.

You’ve taken part in the project Land to Return, Land to Care with field recordings from the Horyanska Rotunda. To my knowledge this is one of the few initiatives that looks at the current soundscape of the country. How would you say the sonic environment has changed and or your relation to it?

Kseniia: A lot of new triggers have appeared in our sound space: the sound of an air raid alarm, the sounds of explosions, the attitude to everyday sounds has changed – aircraft engines, fireworks, even carpet kicking – can now cause panic. In regions that suffer from active hostilities, citizens can distinguish the sounds of different weapons, and this is monstrous.

The Land to Return, Land to Care project creates an archive of wartime soundscapes from different regions of Ukraine. I am sure that in a few years, listening to these sound replicas of time will evoke completely different emotions in me. The question is what they will be.

How do you unwind and what makes you laugh nowadays?

Vadym: One of the features of the Ukrainian mentality is self-irony – a completely inexhaustible source of humour. It is enough to remember your life path and how you got to this point to smile bitterly)

Kseniia: We win not only on the battlefield and in the information war, the meme war is also ours. It is interesting how even the communications of official bodies have changed – humour unites all Ukrainians.

Which book / film / album / song / traditional dish / podcast / blog / artwork / building / meme best captures Ukraine for you?

Who should I interview next and what should I be asking them?

ERYTHROLEUKOPLAKIA label founders.

 

 

NOVEMBER 16 2022 – KYIV

Data Molfar

Hello. I am Data Molfar. Ever since I was a child, I have loved science fiction and electronic music. Only strange, unlike sounds could create the feeling that I was in one of my favorite books by Philip Dick or William Gibson. I walked a lot alone with this kind of music and continued to fantasize about the world and beyond what I see.

It was absolutely natural that at some point I began to think about how to do something similar, and one day I saw a Techno Ejay disc in a computer games store. I think my childhood friend, with whom I went to this store, really regretted that I found this disk, because I went crazy and could not think of anything else except to hang in this program. I was 11 or 12 years old.

What is your setup and how would you define your sound?

I think this will amuse you, but the computer is what I now write music on. And I don’t plan on changing that.

My tracks are different from each other, so it’s hard to clearly define my own sound. But I absolutely love deep and dark ambient. I usually say that my musical setting is “an occult ritual in a dark future”)

Over at A Closer Listen, we’ve featured 100+ fundraising compilations. You’ve contributed to the compilation Hospitallers by Mystictrax yourself. Are there any specific compilations out there that have impressed you in particular and which are the organisations you feel such compilations should support?

I apologize for the short answer, but no. In all the time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, I almost never had free time to study all these collections. But I listened to tracks of all the artists from the Mystictrax compilation and I was very impressed with the Clasps work called “Peacedove”. This is a very deep and dramatic work. I think I listened to it for several days without stopping.

You host the series обряд (rites) on Gasoline Radio. In your SoundCloud bio you state that Data Molfar is about shamanism in data streams, where music is the programming code. Each performance is a connection to cyberspace to conduct a reimagined occult rite. Are there any specific rituals you have been performing since February 24?



On the one hand, I believe that it is not necessary to follow traditional rites in the modern world. In my podcast series, I try to show that sometimes it’s enough to get into this energy and setting. How to watch a quality film and how to become a participant in it.

On the other hand, in preparation for the next issue, I read the history of the holiday with pagan roots and try to perform at least one of the rituals, if possible. For example, on the feast of Ivan Kupala, I jumped over the fire and symbolically burned and left behind all the bad. And on Veles Night, unlike Halloween, there is one of the traditions to call the souls of the dead to oneself and see them off to another world. This ritual is considered light and not scary. To do this, I put candles on the windowsill, as if it were a lighthouse, so that souls would not get lost in the world of the living.

Has the full-scale invasion changed your motivation in terms of making music and has it influenced your playlist in any way?

There is less time for my music, but more motivation to just get on and finish the job. Sometimes I could only have one night at home to use part of the track. Most of the time I lived near the volunteer headquarters, without access to my workplace. This is exactly what happened with the music for the documentary film about the work of volunteers. In one evening, my most profound and heartbreaking work appeared.

I also love the great interest in the self-expression of the musicians who stayed in Ukraine. A huge number of unique shows appeared on Gasoline Radio. Non-commercial, experimental music, some field and collection recordings were very clearly manifested. The reason for this is very scary, but it seems to me that this trend will be very beneficial for the electronic scene and for independent music in Ukraine in general.

Are there any recent releases by Ukrainian artists you feel should be global hits?

Yes, I really like everything that artist Tucha does. But her joint track with Rusiiick and Badwor7h is just energy from somewhere in the bowels of the earth. I think it should be heard all over the world.

What impact has the full scale invasion had on you both personally and professionally?



I became faster in everything, and especially in decision making. I began to build contact with people faster and just as quickly began to cut off all unnecessary connections for myself. In addition, mistakes no longer frighten me, because it is much more important to do, get results, analyze and do again with the experience gained. There is no more time for long reflections.

And professionally, well, I became the director of a charitable foundation. That’s the turn in life, haha)

Could you tell us more about your volunteering and the charity you run?

On February 28, I joined the Kyiv Volunteer Foundation as a volunteer. The main specialization of the foundation was food. We fed both the military and civilians. At the peak of activity, the number of servings reached 15 thousand.

After the de-occupation of the Kyiv region, we all saw the terrible consequences of the presence of Russian troops in Bucha, Borodyanka and other small towns. Almost instantly, we decided that we needed to collect food and take it to the locals. I led this direction in the fund. My team and I built routes, looked for funding and other resources, organized a convoy of oversized cars, kept in touch with the military and tried to get to the most forgotten places where people could not get help.

I worked in this format until July, when the friendly Onuky Foundation offered me to become a director and help with all the processes. At the beginning, I did not really understand how exactly I could be useful in this position, but I also understood that it was clear and would not be until I started to act. “Onuky” dealt with elderly people who do not have the support of relatives or the state, as well as supporting internally displaced persons (internal refugees). I realized that this was close to me and just tried to make the organization work efficiently. Searched for resources, contacted the media, organized fundraising activities.

It was often scary because of the great responsibility, but now we have a lot of success and this is all, of course, thanks to the team and the support of caring people.

You can read a little about our activities in this article for The Village.

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



I’m in Kyiv. I traveled to different cities about 20 times only as part of humanitarian missions. These trips happened because of the war, but I personally did not have to move to other cities as a refugee.

What is the current mood on the ground in Kyiv after the recent attacks and how are you preparing for winter?


It is extremely difficult to explain the mood of Ukrainians without having been here. We feel a mixture of apathy and anger. Everyone is used to sirens and explosions, but the confidence that everything will be fine does not disappear anywhere. We have only one scenario in mind – victory and independence. Other options are worse than death for us.

I believe that in the winter everything will be in order and it will not be too hard. But just in case, I have candles and a warm sleeping bag. With my friends, I’m definitely not lost)

Is there anything about 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?

Of course, yes! I consider it absolutely unacceptable to call the invasion and genocide by Russia “Ukrainian-Russian conflict” or “Ukrainian situation”. This is complete bullshit and unprofessional. It’s all just because of Russia and that’s it! I would like everything to be called by its proper name and not softened in any way. This is the bloodiest and most insane war since World War II. In 2022!

Now it seems the most terrible thing is that the world will get tired of helping Ukrainians and remembering what is happening with us. And it’s worse if the story of what is happening is distorted, so the more correct and correctly presented information in the international media, the better.

How do you unwind and what makes you laugh nowadays?


Whenever possible, I go out into nature, where there is no news and work. I listen to silence and drink tea.

Well, I laugh a lot at the Russians, who record propaganda videos, and then are surprised at the failure of their authorities or the military at the front. There is nothing funnier than how they try to explain everything and not fall face down in the mud. It ends up getting worse.)

You are also a professional barista, and have helped set up cafes in different cities all over Ukraine. What is coffee culture like in Ukraine and what what type of coffee do you normally go for?

Oh, maybe it will surprise you, but Kyiv is a coffee revolutionary. Here you can find excellent equipment and professional baristas on every corner. But I would mention a few favorite places: Svit Kavy, 16 coffee, Blur, Yellow Place. And my favorite coffee is just a filter)

Which book / film / album / song / traditional dish / podcast / blog / artwork / building / meme best captures Ukraine for you?



Klitschko Bridge (not its official name). Firstly, the people of Kiev were not very happy about its construction and are sure that with the help of it the city authorities once again stole money. The main “feature” of the bridge was transparent sections of strong glass, which a few days after the opening of the bridge were fenced off for “repair”, and later this glass did not become transparent at all, although this seems to be the main value. But in the end, this unfortunate glass bridge withstood the missile attack and became a national symbol and the hero of numerous memes. Absurdity, excellent sense of humor,  a great desire to live and endless faith in a better future, all this describes Ukraine well.

Who should I interview next and what should I be asking them?
 

I think you need to chat with Oi Fusk. A very talented and original musician who survived a missile attack on the house where he lived.

Well, and of course Tucha [UFN VIII]. This girl is on fire.

 

NOVEMBER 18 2022 – WARSAW, POLAND

tiho tiho

Hello. My name is Volodymyr.

When I was a kid my parents insisted on me going to music school and I did for several years. I was learning classical guitar and honestly – hated it. At the time I did not find that kind of music interesting at all.

A few years later I got interested in playing drums and it all started there. I was a drummer in a post-rock band and some years later after the band disbanded I picked up a modular synth as a way to tinker with sound. So now I’m releasing ambient as tiho tiho.

What is your setup and how would you define your sound?

There is a certain feeling of tension in the middle between stillness and movement. That feeling fascinates me. I feel like the world around us wants us to rush somewhere all the time, and wants us to be distracted. So my music-making process is akin to meditation, it’s for me to be completely in the moment and focused.

Prior to the war, my setup was a modular synth which I recorded as improvised performances. I always had a hard time using a computer for music making, because it always lacked dialogue. The computer is capable of fantastic results but the interaction is not tactile at all, it’s too rational.

But since the war started my usual setup is unavailable to me, so it’s just Bitwig now.

Given my interest in the space between movement and stillness, it’s fair to think about my compositions as installations. It’s my dream to make an installation one day. The teamLab experience in Tokyo was a huge inspiration for me. I’m always trying to build an instrument that would be able to produce output on its own and then interact with it to shape the result. I found out that Bitwig is the closest thing in software that allows me to do what I used to do with modular.

There’s a sustained tension in your latest album, Fragile Monuments, even when the drone gives way to more “organic” and analog sounds. In the liner notes you write that it is your attempt to process all that is happening.

Has the full-scale invasion made you reconsider the way you approach sound and has it changed your motivation towards music?

This whole year has been one of sustained tension. For me, the war brought forward the meditative, healing, calming aspect of music practice. Previously I would make conscious attempts to create melody, to create something more “conventional”. But now, I gave myself to drones.

What impact has the full scale invasion had on you both personally and professionally?

Professionally it was really hard to find any meaning in what I was doing. But I decided that if it helps me to keep myself sane then it’s ok.

Where are you now and have you been displaced at any point since February 24?

At present I’m in Warsaw.

What is the current situation on the ground where you are after the recent attacks?

Since I’m not in Ukraine I don’t experience attacks first hand. But friends and relatives are there. Recent power outages complicate everything a bit, but I am sure it’s nothing we can’t handle.

Is there anything about 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?

It’s a tough question. On one hand the support of Western communities is nothing short of amazing. On the other hand, I am disappointed in the media once again.

It feels like there was a stereotype of “strong russia” in the West, something sinister like the Empire from the Star Wars movies, and that the media currently spends A LOT of time trying to find proof of that stereotype. They try hard to obscure misconceptions and mistakes. They give me the feeling like, “We have to be afraid of russia because earlier we convinced ourselves that they are strong and sinister”.

It also saddens me how democracies are blind or powerless to how russia abuses democracy rules against them. Like free speech, freedom of beliefs. The media field is littered with garbage comparable to nonsense like flat earth and yet for the media it still boils down to objectivity and giving space to all points of view.

Oh, and Facebook siding with russia and using community standards to cover its censorship is just pathetic.

Are there any recent releases by Ukrainian artists that have positively surprised you and struck a chord with you?

The recent EP, Fuga/Fortuna, by Koloah is soothing. I also greatly appreciate what Heinali does.

What is your current mindset and how do you unwind?

I like driving, somewhere to the forest preferably. I also play video games sometimes.

Do you still have issues with Paypal payments on Bandcamp?

Since I had those difficulties I made a decision that all my music on Bandcamp will be free. It would seem that the difficulties are resolved now. But I don’t think about music as my source of income. 🙂

Which book / film / album / song / traditional dish / podcast / blog / artwork / building / meme best captures Ukraine for you?

This is the most difficult question. Maybe modernist architecture. It was popular a while back, but it’s underappreciated now, it looks cool when it’s done right.

Who should I interview next and what should I be asking them?

Koloah maybe. You are doing a great job finding Ukrainian artists.

 

 

NOVEMBER 18 2022 – TRNAVA, SLOVAKIA

Olga Bekenshtein

I am a music curator, cultural manager, music listener, and presenter of it in different ways. I founded Am I Jazz?, a festival of Black American and improvised music in Kyiv that is affiliated with the Closer team running the club and such festivals as Strichka and Brave! Factory. I’m also deejaying a bit.

You are part of the Closer team in Kyiv, what is the current state of play with the club, how is it managing to survive under present conditions?

Not sure that I can speak on behalf of those who stayed in Kyiv. Can only say that I am extremely proud of them. Since the first days of the full-scale invasion they’ve been volunteering. During the summer they also started organizing concerts, even festivals, and most recently — even daytime parties featuring not only local talent but also brave European DJs as well. I have no idea how they manage to do it between the constant danger of drones attack, air raid sirens, electricity outages, curfew, plus the very normal financial instability of cultural events, but they do it and they keep gathering funds for the army. Seeing such strength and audacity, knowing that Closer is very much alive, active, creative, and has some plans for the future is actually one of the factors that keeps me sane.

I know Closer held a couple of fundraising events in Berlin over the summer, generally speaking how would you say the international music community responded to the full-scale invasion and to the calls for the boycott of Russian electronic artists?



Of course, there are people with an adequate level of empathy, who understand that real solidarity comes from actions. But in general, I would say, it responded with ignorance and indifference. Lots are willing to add the Ukrainian flag to their profile pictures, make a fundraising compilation, or even charity events. It is easy and nice to use such words as “peace”, “love”, and “community”, but only a few would commit to them, would fight for them, would do something uncomfortable in the name of those things. Even DJs, who we considered our friends, would still go to parties in Moscow or perform at the Sensor festival affiliated with a russian oligarch, indirectly sponsoring the bombing of our homes. I think they are capable of drawing the logic of how it works in terms of the effect on the war, they just choose to ignore it. Which is very disappointing for us, of course.

You are the founder of the festival Am I Jazz? The program is focused on vanguard expressions and emphasising contrasts and parallels between new acoustic and electronic music, the festival has been showcasing a broad range of Ukrainian artists from Dennis Adu to Ihor Tsymbrovsky and Georgiy Potopalskiy alongside international names. What would you count as your greatest achievement as a festival organiser and where would you say the greatest challenges have come from?

At some point, I realize that my strength lies in what I am also considering my weakness. I can’t call myself an expert in any music genre, but I can freely navigate across different forms of contemporary music. Once I realized how to use it, it started bringing the results — either as a program that I can be proud of, or as commissioned projects that merge scenes, and these days even across countries.

For the first two years of the festival, I learned how to run a niche festival and not go bust, for the next two years I managed the festival from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, and then came the pandemic, and now it’s the war. So, the greatest challenge is always something unexpected.

 

Closer is also behind the Brave! Factory Festival, one of many festivals that used to take place in Ukraine. I know it’s pointless to speculate at present, but to your knowledge have new relationships and links been forged with international institutions that could secure financial backing, collaborations, exchanges, and other forms of support so that events and festivals will be able to resume in Ukraine when the appropriate time comes?

In some sense, festivals are happening even now. Since the summer, Closer and other venues of our factory building have united for the Na Chasi festival (On Time — Ukr.). It consists of music, art, and educational programs; you can eat street food there, get a new tattoo, etc. People need festivals, gatherings, and pleasure to keep resilience, and to fight. But what will happen after the victory is hard to predict. I don’t think that it will be a matter of budgets, but rather what structures we’ll have, how quickly we’ll demine lands, and how fast our energy infrastructure will restore. And most importantly, what moods will dominate — because sure we will celebrate, but also we will finally mourn.

During the panel discussion at the Next Festival in Bratislava, you have talked about being in a privileged position in terms of being offered support and residencies after the full-scale invasion. You’ve left Kyiv in June for a residency in Slovakia. What can you tell us about that experience?

I started the residency at Malý Berlín in Trnava on July 1st. I feel welcomed, cared and supported. It’s amazing how little we know in Ukraine about Slovakia and vice versa, and that only after the war we started to discover how beautiful each other’s culture is. During the residency me and my colleague Pavel Plastikk developed a new festival Svitanok, the first edition of which happens in Norway this November. And the next one is planning to be here, in Slovakia. Also, I am researching the experimental scene here, and I hope I’ll do something with it. And speaking of Next Festivals — I will do my best to bring more Ukrainians to this amazing festival.

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

I let myself be burned, and reduced to ashes until I get myself together again. Sometimes a long party helps, sometimes I’m spending months looking for meaning through lectures, and panel discussions, and sometimes I do the opposite and binge on stupid TV shows.

Are there any recent releases by Ukrainian artists you feel should be global hits?

Would be nice, if ТУЧА (Tucha)’s “russia is a terrorist state” played in every party. And my favorite tune of this year  — “TER.RAIN # 1 26 15 22 19 20 5 5 12” by Ujif_Notfound.

Which book / film / album / song / traditional dish / podcast / blog / artwork / building / meme best captures Ukraine for you?

I just recently rewatched Parajanov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, so it immediately came to my mind. I love every second of this movie.

But also, one TikTok song – По суті Україна то така пісочниця — that says that Ukraine is a country where everyone does whatever he or she wants, and it’s uncontrollable, so such freedom is our blessing and a curse.

 

NOVEMBER 22 2022 – KREMENCHUK

Wim Dantinne

Could you take 5 seconds off whatever you’re doing to give us a decent bio?

5 seconds is too little.

If I may, what took you from Belgium to Kremenchuk and what made you decide to stay there after the full-scale invasion?

A project to repurpose a vacant building brought me to Kremenchuk. Love made me go live there after some years. A feeling of responsibility made me go back at the beginning of the war while working in Belgium.

You host the podcast series ЧОРНОЗОМ on Gasoline radio. Has the full-scale invasion had an impact on your relationship to music and sound?

It sure has, the first weeks I barely listened nor made any music. In my selections for ЧОРНОЗОМ I feel certain restrictions because of the war.

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

Besides the small movement I have witnessed growing here in Kremenchuk, I have little understanding of that scene. But what I do understand is that there is great potential, talent, artistry, and the will to make magic happen here. It seems that the war has only strengthened the determination of the whole music scene to express itself and not be pushed down by a cowardly aggressor.

What impact has the full-scale invasion had on you both personally and professionally?

That’s a bit too intricate and personal to talk about here.

What is the current mood on the ground in Kremenchuk after the most recent strikes and how have you been preparing for winter?


The situation is far from ideal, but people are resilient and resourceful… I used to bitch about the not so ideal circumstances in Ukraine before the war, (coming from a rich Western country, some things seem self-evident) but I’ve been humbled and have a deep respect for the Ukrainian way of handling hardship, they do what is necessary and they do it with a great sense of (black) humor.

Being from Belgium, how do you view the way the discourse around the Russian invasion has been framed in the West and have you found yourself having awkward conversations with friends and family from back home?

I studied political science, so there’s no way to answer that question by writing down a few words.

Are there any recent releases by Ukrainian artists that have impressed you and that you believe deserve to be global hits?



Global hits are of no importance. I am impressed by some local artists and I am looking forward to seeing them grow. Step by step I’m also finding out about artists from other parts of the country. Partially thanks to the amazing platform which is Gasoline Radio, but also by gradually moving out of my cave and connecting with people.

How do you unwind and what makes you laugh nowadays?

Having tea with friends, talking and joking and finding some resonance for my thoughts and emotions… this brings some warmth, light, smiles, laughs, tears…

Is it still possible to source vinyl under present circumstances?

Vinyl culture is way more limited here than it is in Belgium… but when the weather allows it I sporadically go to the flea market to see if I can find something. The circumstances are rather impacting my appetite for records than the possibility to find any. My latest ‘find’ came from some vinyl group on social media, a guy was selling some Polish big band jazz I had on my wantlist for a long time.

I’ve been considering learning Ukrainian, how long would you say it might take me and what are some of the first idiomatic expressions I would need to learn?

It fully depends on your discipline, which I fully lack when it comes to learning a language.I have to admit my Ukrainian is almost nonexistent… but it’s a beautiful language. I suggest you also dive into some “Surzhik” which is a blend of Ukrainian and Russian. I love the blending of languages, probably growing up in and around Brussels has something to do with that.

Which book / film / album / song / traditional dish / podcast / blog / artwork / building / meme best captures Ukraine for you?

Veryovka Ukrainian Folk Choir – A Plank Of Willow Wood is a song that goes through bone and marrow (that’s a Flemish expression), it just touches the deepest of my soul every time.

Who should I interview next and what should I be asking them?

These talented guys from central-Ukraine (Kremenchuk/Kropyvnytsky connection), they are working on music, they’re still looking for a name, but it will come sooner or later.

 

 

NOVEMBER 24 2022 – 200 KM SOUTH OF KYIV

Mykyta Moiseiev

I was born and raised in Kyiv and have been doing a lot of activities since my childhood. It all started with my mom’s old piano, which was kept in my grandma’s house where I used to stay often. So what I started with was pure improvisation. This lasted for some years until my parents advised me to join a choir. I guess I was 8-9yo at the time. It was actually a fantastic boys’ choir, an international festival winner, and it took many years overall. I went through almost all the vocal sections – discants, altos, and then baritones and basses. I’ve got no academic background in music theory, but from the age of 12-13 I started taking piano lessons with our choir’s concertmaster and that gave me a lot of confidence in my own musical abilities.

At the age of 16 I was considering entering a musical college and had even started preparations, but then realized that academic tradition was not the thing I was looking for. That was the age of protest, the period when I discovered old revolutionary artists such as Hendrix, The Doors, Pink Floyd, and so on, so playing arpeggios didn’t seem like the right thing to do. And that was a trap because in Ukraine there are no options if you’re about music but non-academic. That led me to sound design for film, and I studied at the University of Theater, Film, and TV.

Then it was a period of searching, moving here and there, trying different jobs. I worked as a recordist, mixer, radio journalist and radio presenter, news reporter, and then recordist again. I played in several bands as a keyboard player (psychedelic rock and hardcore). And listened to really different music, all the time, from polyrhythmic African drummers and Gamelan to minimal, from noise to contemporary classics, and they were my best teachers ever. Many things I know and use in my creative process are the result of careful and attentive listening. Ultimately I ended up feeling unable to fool myself into avoiding the most desirable job in the world, being a film composer, and that was almost 15 years ago. It’s been the only way of life since.

What is your setup and how would you define your sound?

 

NOVEMBER 25 2022 – KYIV

Symonenko

 

NEW RELEASES

stonefromthesky – Zero Origin

“Zero Origin is the second full-length album by the Kyiv-based electronic music artist stonefromthesky. It picks up where his previous EP Schema Theory (2019) left off and develops its ideas further into a gloomy futuristic soundscape covering the gamut of electronica, trip-hop, breakbeat, bass and IDM.

Produced over the course of several years and in different studios, the album is an immersive seven-track exploration of technological abundance, overuse and oversaturation that collapses into a zero point.

Juxtaposition of the future with the past taken to the extreme manifests itself in the production through the use of sophisticated software algorithms in conjunction with the raw hardware synth tones, acoustic instruments and field recordings — an orchestra of timbres that tells a story of post-humanity and future tribalism.”

 

Hidden Element – Ranges

“Hello, my friends. It’s a big honor for me to release this EP on YUKU because I sincerely love lots of releases of this label and follow them practically since the day they started. I’ve created 5 tracks specially for this release.

They turned out to be very diverse, quite different, but at the same time cohesive.
5 tracks — like 5 variations and 5 stairs of my life. The cover by my friend, Kyiv-based artist Bohdan Burenko, perfectly outlines the mood of this EP. It shows 5 faces, 5 characters, and 5 stories.

I should mention that some demos for these tracks I wrote back in 2018, when I lived in California. And the basis for ‘The Wall’ I wrote in the suburbs of Los Angeles in a small town Walnut. This explains the song title. Back then, I listened to a lot of old-school Metalheadz tracks, and I guess this music had a big impact on the atmosphere of this track. Same story with ‘Runnin’ Out’ – I made the demo in US, then finished it when I was preparing the release for YUKU. ‘Offset Range1’ is my personal favorite. I wrote it in Kyiv, when I had Covid and was tweaking knobs on my sampler and automation on my synth. 99’ is my nostalgia for good ol’ breakbeat and ‘Vezhlivy Otkaz’ has the most unusual drop I have ever written. Of course, it’s an honor for me to have a remix by Tim Reaper on board, because I’m his fan.

I’m writing this text now in Kyiv. Because of Russian invasion, I’m not sure what my future will be like, but I don’t see any reason to postpone this release. All the profit from this EP I’d like to send for the charity & restoration of the infrastructure of Ukraine.”

 

Valentina Goncharova – Ocean – Symphony for Electric Violin and other instruments in 10+ parts

Valentina Goncharova’s 2xLP fundamental conceptual musical work released in full uncut form as part of Hidden Harmony Lost Tapes series, under catalogue number HHLTS01. Restored and mastered from the original 6.3 mm analog tapes.

A large-scale work comprising eleven parts of varied, brooding, mystical reflection in which the author alters the instrumentation to fit both programmatic and musical character of each section.

 

Arthur Kryulin – 17 October EP

I wonder how it will end, asks Vincent Price in William Castle’s House On Haunted Hill (1958) one of the film samples included in the opening track, “Like a Movie Situation”. A rethorical questions that underscores Arthur Kryulin’s otherwise lighthearted new EP with its cinematic loops and dubby undertones coated in a vintage veneer.

 

Smezkh – Polissia

“Nothing is known about Ukrainian Polissia! It has been shrouded in mystery for centuries: what exactly is happening in those boundless forests, who exactly lived there and what they fled from, what mutations radiation created, and how ancient rituals and words have been preserved there, no one can say for sure. But the sound equivalent of all that mysticism, that natural organism, a certain neural network made of plants, was created by Vitaliy Litvinchuk in his new album.”

 

Adaa Zagorodnya – Польові Записи з Лютого

This enigmatic album was included in “Deep Cuts: 11 Ukrainian releases that makes sense of the war experience” by Don’t Take Fake, with its title translating as “Field Recordings From February”. There are no liner notes, although track titles such as Mariupol serve as geographical markers. Mundane sounds are woven together with drones, phone messages, and people going about their daily business, to create a disquieting atmosphere that grows increasingly oppressive with what appear to be muffled explosions going off in the distance until, eventually, an air raid siren is triggered. Not an easy listen.

(Gianmarco Del Re)