The Total Sound Of The Undergound

Lelahel Metal

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 Schütte, 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.

https://www.machukha.com/

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Bezpliddya | MACHUKHA (bandcamp.com)

 

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