Mist Tower: It’s better to play online than not to play at all

The psychedelic scene of Odesa recently demonstrates the splash of its activity – Ritual Service, Gerenric Doom Band Name, Amber Platypus, etc. But today our heroes are Mist Tower – Odesa-based stoner/desert rock band which lately presented the debut EP called "Obsession".

 

Mist Tower
stoner band

Mist Tower band was formed in 2019 by members of the local scene after a spontaneous jam in More Music Club. Band’s discography is one mini album only, though the guys have managed to play a bunch of concerts in native Odesa.

The respondents are Artem Matiyenko – vocals, Olexandr Hodosevych – guitar (More Music Club), Yaroslav Starovych (Openspace Garage) – drums, Andrij Levchenko – guitar, and Simon Buzzkeeper – bass. 

photo_2021-06-08_16-48-24

Left to right -Yaroslav, Artem, Andrij, Simon Buzzkeeper, Olexandr 

 

- Last August, when you released the debut single, you said the tracks are already recorded and will come out soon, but in fact it took you almost a year to finally release the album. What was happening during this period?

Andrij Levchenko: We were trying to understand how to set the guitars right, tried different methods, so we had to use math, physics, and even some occult rituals.

Olexandr Hodosevych: We did not decide it at the outset which tracks will be included in our first EP. We had to set straight which tracks to continue working on and to record. As we were finalizing those tracks on the scene, some changes occurred, we noted them and later remade some things in the already finished tracks.

- What was easy to do during your working on the debut release and what was the hardest?

Andrij Levchenko: To understand what we do, for whom and why – was both.

Simon Buzzkeeper: It was easy and interesting to work within the collective the members of which have huge experience to create the most variable music. The hardest thing is the conditions we all found ourselves in, meaning in 2020.  

- As you told, the key symbol of this album is an obsession. Did you express it more through the music or through the lyrics?

Andrij Levchenko: Lyrics. All our songs are about it, in some way we are obsessed with an obsession. It’s hard not to sing about it when you see all this waltz of life around.

Simon Buzzkeeper: Each of us tried to put in his own obsessions, which follow us every day. It found a way out partly in music, partly in lyrics.

- We did not find the lyrics on the internet and could barely hear the lyrics to accurately percept them, so could you, please, tell us what those words say about this ’obsession’ idea?

Simon Buzzkeeper: What about me, the first track from the mini album called "4th of July" tells about the path of a marine to Indochina during the Vietnam war. This theme, wars in Indochina, is a part of my obsession.

Artem Matiyenko: It is more about abstract cortege in the desert where wild nature and gods leave you all by yourself and it’s undefined will you come back or not.

- What was your approach to creating the vocal parts, their recording? Because, to me it seems that your vocals distinguish you from the rest of Ukrainian stoner bands by meanings of quality.

Artem Matiyenko: The process of creating vocal parts is difficult to explain in one sentence. So I’ll just say that the part of our tracks was smooth sailing, other tracks were hardly and boringly recorded, we edited and changed something many times.  

 

- You consider two fuzzy guitars the image of your band. I think it might be interesting for guitarists to read which instruments you have, pedals, processors. And how did you assemble those combinations.

Andrij Levchenko: What can we say here, actually I borrowed a guitar from Artem, our epiphone costs 200 hrn, fuzz is just fuzz – they are all the same. To be truth, I like the simplicity of equipment and of the sound, all fun comes after it!

- It’s quite interesting that the “perfect creature” from the cover by Olexandra Horodetska is the sea one and it hugs the lighthouse. Did you do that on purpose, connected the artwork with Odesa, or it happened unconsciously?

Simon Buzzkeeper: The sea monster and the lighthouse are, in some way, indicates our origin. The majority of members are children of the Black Sea.

- Should we expect your album to be physically released?

Olexandr Hodosevych: As for now, we are looking for a label which could help us with that.

- There is a psychedelic scene in Odesa, which was formed during recent years, it is not huge, but powerful enough. To what can you relate these processes?

Simon Buzzkeeper: At first, More Music Club should be mentioned here, as this location unites not only listeners, but musicians, too. Like-minded people meet there. So it’s no surprise that psychedelic scene of Odesa blooms.

- Many attentive listeners must have heard already that your band was born within the walls of More Music Club after a spontaneous jam. There exactly you recorded your debut mini album. So, this place should mean a lot to you.

Yaroslav Starovych: I would even say MMC meant a lot to a lot, it is a cult place for the fans of non-ordinary weird music. Me personally, I visited this club a few times during the first underground gigs which my friends played, and I cannot imagine my life without it since then. The club itself is not just a free from stereotypes scene, but the generator of such atmosphere. People who want to make something new and extraordinary exchange ideas during and after the concerts, some catch the thoughts of each other, and new creative processes initiate. I believe that such places are an integral part of the cultural life of youth and adults.

- By the way, about fans, are there enough of stoner-loving ones in Odesa?

Simon Buzzkeeper: Stoner fans are never enough!  

 

- Your band actively performs during its existence, but it seems you haven’t played beyond MMC yet. Why so?

Olexandr Hodosevych: If to check the statistics of listenings to our release, many services show that Ukraine is too far from the first place. So I think that, except our local party and colleagues, there are not so many people who’ve heard our release. From here comes the absence of proposes to perform somewhere else.

- You had the experience of performing online. Could you compare this format to live concerts? Which advantages / disadvantages it has, and would you do that again when pandemic ends?

Olexandr Hodosevych: The feelings about it differ, of course, but preparing the material and the ability to perform stimulates working on our music, so it is better to play online than not to play at all. If it’s necessary, we’ll enjoy playing online again.

- It’s been told, that you are working on new tracks and are planning to collect some new material. In short, should we wait for new singles or you’re preparing something bigger?

Olexandr Hodosevych: Now we are in the process of making our first clip, and simultaneously we finish a few tracks which, expectedly, will come out in autumn as the single and little EP.

Mist Tower in social media: 

https://misttower.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/108702457604926
https://www.instagram.com/mist.tower

The cover – photo by Evelina Podolyanyuk

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