Discover the genesis of Machukha and their fusion of post-black metal, emotional hardcore, and punk. Explore their debut album's themes of resilience and survival.
1. Can
you tell us about the origins of Machukha and how the band came together?
Nataya: Ilya and I had been connected on social media for quite some
time, sharing experiences of gigs and festivals back in Ukraine, even though we
hadn't yet met in person. Despite having many mutual friends, our paths never
crossed until a friend of ours visited me in Berlin and introduced us. Upon
discovering our shared musical backgrounds, I decided to reach out to Ilya with
a simple message: "Hey, want to try to play some music together?" And
so we did.
Soon after,
we met Bláthin, and with that, the band began to take shape. However, finding
the right bassist and drummer proved to be quite the challenge. After
auditioning numerous drummers, we finally found SchĂĽtte, who's playing style
significantly elevated our musical cohesion. Meanwhile, Vrohdo joined Machukha
just a couple of months before we began recording our album. Despite the time
pressure, he rose to the occasion, swiftly composing bass parts and adding his
own unique perspective to our music, ultimately completing the LP and making it
whole.
2. Machukha's
music combines elements of post-black metal, emotional hardcore, and punk. How
do you navigate blending these diverse influences into your sound?
Bláthin: When we were writing ‘Mochari’, we were constantly asking
ourselves what exactly we were saying? What are the key emotions in this
moment, where should it go afterwards? How does this part feel in the context
of what has already been said? We scrapped a lot, rewrote and rearranged parts,
so that there is a constant development from the very first note - that’s why
it became self-evident which part is expressed in which way, using the tools of
these varying genres to honestly express the guiding emotions.
Ilya: Our journey as a band is based not only on
blending genres, but combining our experiences, musical preferences, beliefs in
the most interesting and productive way.
3. Your
debut album 'Mochari' explores themes of resilience and survival. What inspired
the lyrical and musical content of this album?
Bláthin: What connects each member or active musician of Machukha, is
that everybody has got an ongoing battle. How this battle is manifesting itself
is just a result of the pain of being alive. The pain of being alive in a world
that is eating itself up. And yet, we want to be alive, that’s why we are still
here. We were asking ourselves why we want to make this kind of music - if we
are prepared to invest so much money and work into this, what is it for? And we
came to the conclusion that it’s always been music that has helped us as
individuals to keep going. Maybe somebody else can find solace in what we’re
doing, while we are soothing and expressing ourselves.
Ilya: In
addition to what my bandmates said, I would add something from my personal
perspective, experience, something that I contribute to Machukha's sound and
emotional journey.
In general any note I compose is a reaction to people's cruelty, violence,
wars, discrimination, killing of animals.
4. Natalya, you sing exclusively in Ukrainian. How does this linguistic choice contribute to Machukha's artistic vision and message?
DISCLAIMER
The
views expressed in this text are not intended to discriminate against
individuals of any background. Instead, they reflect Natalya’s personal
perspective, who is dealing with her family's history of oppression and her
journey toward embracing her Ukrainian identity. It's essential to approach
discussions of historical trauma and cultural identity with sensitivity and
understanding.
Natalya: The primary reason behind my language choice is deeply
rooted in politics. I was born two years post Ukraine's independence in 1991.
While the official language was Ukrainian, I grew up in a russian-speaking
household within a community where russian language was predominant.
As I
entered my teenage years, my grandmother shared with me that both her and my
late grandfather and their families spoke Ukrainian. This revelation sparked
questions about why they had forsaken their native tongue. The answer,
unfortunately, boiled down to the insidious effects of white-on-white
colonialism and oppression. In order to fit into soviet society, one had to
give up their national identity if it was not russian. Speaking Ukrainian was
stigmatized, often depicted as a sign of rural backwardness in the media.
Ukrainian culture, rich, wise and profound, was unjustly portrayed as crude and
inferior. Even after Ukraine gained independence, remnants of this narrative
lingered, perpetuating the erasure of Ukrainian identity.
Through my
own research, I uncovered numerous atrocities inflicted upon Ukrainians by
russia, including the devastating Holodomor of 1930-1933, which claimed the
lives of 10% of Ukraine's population. It made me angry, I felt a severe pain
for my people who were beaten, imprisoned, raped and killed just because of
their desire to preserve their national identity. This allowed me to recognize
and confront my own generational trauma. It motivated me to take action against
oppression and violence - bit by bit I got rid of russian language and culture
in anything that surrounds me.
MACHUKHA
channels this pain and explores methods of coping with it. In light of these
experiences, Ukrainian became the only natural language choice for our music.
Furthermore, my heart always spoke Ukrainian. Years ago, when I first began
experimenting with writing lyrics, it quickly became clear to me that using
Ukrainian language allowed me to say more in the most sincere way possible.
This aligns with our desire for MACHUKHA to remain authentic and sincere. This
authenticity would be compromised if we were to translate our lyrics into
English.
5. Could
you share some insights into the creative process behind your music videos,
particularly the continuous story they tell?
Bláthin: Since the album is written in a way that each part informs the
other, it was only logical to approach the music videos in the same way. We
financed the music videos ourselves, so we had to figure out a way around this
limitation within the actions that are happening in the videos. I have got a
background as a professional dancer and performer, so I used this understanding
of the body in order to visualize the story.
The music
videos are showing how one character is processing something very painful – so
Machukha hired the ritualistic performance artist The Ljilja to embody this
character, as The Ljilja’s work is rooted in exactly this – embracing the pain
and using it, and then showing this process through her body. Natalya and I
wrote the script based on what the core message of ‘Mochari’ is, and picked
these three parts, which are happening in the middle part of the album - this
is the moment of transitioning from confrontation to grief. Every moment and
action of these music videos have got a very specific intention that is logical
to this story of processing pain – but we wanted to keep the imagery and
characters open enough, that the viewer can connect this to their own story.
This is why Natalya designed the clothes in this way - to neutralize the
identity of the performers.
6. Machukha
has performed live since 2023, including supporting HIDE in Berlin and being
invited to the Core Festival in Glasgow. How do you approach your live
performances and connect with your audience?
Natalya: I'm going somewhere else out of this realm. Usually I
don’t remember anything that happened during the show - only flashes. For me
it’s important to bring one main message forward. “It’s ok to feel the way you
feel, it’s ok to be troubled and experience pain, anger, frustration, sadness,
etc. We are here to help carry it or at least ease it even if only for a little
bit”.
Bláthin: We’re purposely not using a click track or backing track
at the moment, which is very common these days - this has logistic reasons, but
also I feel like it pushes us more to connect and listen to each other, which
again informs the music. This is the first time that I have co-written music
that comes from my guts, so I want to spill them and invite people to wade
through them, if they want to. So far, after every time we’ve played, somebody
came up to us and said that they were deeply moved, that they even cried. This
is incredible feedback, especially since we are not released yet - and it
suggests that we are on the right track of how we’re approaching this.
I’ve also programmed lights that correspond with the dramaturgy of the set,
since lights have so much power to help translate the mood - I believe this is
also something that really helps the audience to understand what we’re trying
to say. Besides Core festival, we will play another festival in the Netherlands
this summer! Complexity Fest on the 17th of August.
Ilya: Live performance feels like a small
life. As Natalya said, flashes and then awakening.
Connection with the audience happens organically. This is a mutual exchange of
energy and emotions and there is no place for fears, doubts
If at least one person is leaving a venue with strengths to keep on fighting
with personal problems and/or with social injustice, discrimination,
restrictions - it means that we are making an impact.
7. What
was it like working with Jan Oberg from Hidden Planet Studio and Jack Shirley
from The Atomic Garden Studios on your debut album?
Natalya: Working with both of them was a blessing.
This was
the first real recording experience for us as a band. Jan is a very sweet and
attentive sound engineer with an amazing ability to create a calm, safe and
comfortable atmosphere during the recording sessions. This combined with his
professionalism made it possible for us to record in the best that we could.
When we
started to think about who to work with on the post production, we made a list
of the bands that had a similar sound to what we were envisioning for MACHUKHA
- Oathbreaker, Deafheaven, King Woman, etc. One of the things that these bands
have in common is that they were working with Jack Shirley. Everything about
the process we’ve gone through with Jack was easy and enjoyable. He is
attentive to details and incredibly fast with implementing the changes.
8. In
addition to your music, Machukha is involved in associated acts and projects
like Peaches and the BACK TO YOUTH festival. How do these collaborations and
projects contribute to Machukha's overall artistic identity?
Natalya: music is a huge part of my life and it helped me to get
through a lot. For some years I wasn’t playing in any band, however as a part
of the Back to Youth festival crew I was enabling other people to create and
share their music. Doing all that taught me a lot about community,
collaboration and creativity. This experience is reflected in how we do things
in Machukha - through close collaboration and mutual understanding.
Bláthin: My year on tour with Peaches completely changed my life. She is
a legend to learn from, and I understood that if I truly want to hold the space
next to her on all of these massive stages, honoring her breakthrough album
“The Teaches of Peaches” which features her iconic track “Fuck the Pain Away” -
I have to confront my pain and not just drag it with me. This album was
actually an album she wrote when she was in a lot of pain! So, playing these
shows and working with her and the crew for this tour unraveled me and gave me
the strength to confront my traumas in a soft and surrendered but grounded way.
When I came back home to Berlin, I poured everything I learned from this
experience back into Machukha, while I went to therapy for the first time in my
life - it was also the first time that I could connect to a group of people and
feel safe, connected through this dedicated and hard creative work.
9. What
can fans expect from Machukha's upcoming debut album, set to be released in
late spring or early summer 2024?
Natalya: it is dynamic and rich with emotionsBláthin: It’s a
bit tricky to answer this question, since we were chewing on this material for
quite a while now - when writing, I was constantly imagining myself hearing
this for the first time, but now it’s rare that I can do this. But - I wanted
to create an album that soothes. That lets you feel your rage, your pain, but
then brings you to a point where you can let go of it and from this devastated,
surrendered point - brings you back up, with renewed energy.
Ilya: I hope that everyone will find
something for themselves. I wish I could listen to this as an outside
listener.
10. Finally,
what are your aspirations and goals for Machukha moving forward, both musically
and creatively?
Natalya: looking ahead, our aspirations and goals are deeply rooted
in both musical growth and creative exploration. We’re committed to improving
our skills as musicians both live and on record. Creatively, we see ourselves
experimenting with the sound, rhythm and various musical instruments. We’re
quite excited and humbled at the same time to go onto this journey of
self-discovery and artistic growth. Can’t wait to see where it takes us.
Bláthin: Right now, I am in the first Opera production from the
Choreographer Florentina Holzinger - who is known to do extreme work. Similarly
to how my work with Peaches has in a way informed Machukha, I am certain that
everything I am learning in this production, I will bring back to this band -
especially regarding pushing the boundaries of art, these past few weeks have
been very inspiring… I want to keep on pouring everything I gain outside of
this band back into Machukha. And the more often Machukha will play live before
we work on new material, the more we will understand this album in a deeper way
- which in turn will let us know where we want to go after this. I don’t want
to overthink the next steps too much, but to channel what comes.
Ilya: To improve skills. Musically and
creatively, to experiment more. Find new ways to fill notes with even greater
depth. Build the community around the band.
P.S.
Thanks for having us and your thoughtful questions.
Stay safe.
Machukha (@machukha.stepmother) • Photos et vidĂ©os Instagram
Bezpliddya | MACHUKHA (bandcamp.com)
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