TEMNA RÁDIST: One Of My Tracks, Which Was Included In The Charity Compilation '24.2.25' Is Dedicated To The Hero city Of Mariupol

TĒMNA RÁDIST is the project of Ukrainian musician-composer Viktoriia Kliuchnyk in the electronic music genre, with two of her compositions included in the annual charity compilation "24.2.25" as part of the "OCHI" label. One of her tracks, "On That City by the Sea", dedicated to the Hero City of Mariupol, became the musician’s first attempt to return to music creation. TĒMNA RÁDIST shared with Drive Music Media about her journey into the world of electronic music, the "24.2.25" compilation, and the challenges of building a career amid russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

Interviewer: How and when did your musical journey begin? What were your first steps in this field?

Viktoriia: I wanted to be involved in music as long as I can remember because it always played in my head. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to attend music school in my childhood, so I had to learn everything on my own. With some help from a private teacher at 16, I learned to play guitar decently, then taught myself piano, flute, and later the hurdy-gurdy. In adulthood, I also studied vocals, but I gave it up at the beginning of the full-scale war. During my early student years, I had a rock band, but it didn’t bring any real success. So, years passed, and I wrote dozens of songs that never saw the light of day until I met a community of Ukrainian electronic artists and producers. I am very grateful to musician Ira Lobanok and my former vocal teacher, the talented Lola Kolosovska. After that, I started learning Ableton and getting deeper into electronic music. Eventually, during the Great War, I brought out my tracks from the drawer and even released one of them with the help of producer and DJ Mr. Manyface. And here I am.

Interviewer: Why did you choose the direction of electronic music? What attracts you to this style?

Viktoriia: Electronic music combines many styles and is the most flexible tool for me. Working with electronics, I can avoid being confined by stylistic and genre boundaries. Even with a certain direction in my work, I can remain flexible. As a child, I was mesmerized by the electronic music of Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre, in my youth, I was a huge fan of darkwave, Diary of Dreams, Björk, and later I discovered the genre-bending styles of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Coil, Current 93, Crystal Castles, Trentemøller, and many others. This probably had an influence on me. This probably had an influence on me. However, I’m also not dismissing other genres. Stay tuned for more experiments ahead!

Interviewer: TĒMNA RÁDIST. Tell us about the name of your solo project. Why did you combine such contrasting words?

Viktoriia: I love extremes in music, and the project name should express that, be an oxymoron. TĒMNA (ed. – Dark) is the word that most accurately characterizes my music. But darkness doesn’t necessarily imply sadness; there’s room for RÁDIST (ed. – Joy) in it. Darkness is a state of meditation, a deep dive into oneself and reflection.

Interviewer: Tell us about your tracks that were included in the compilation "24.2.25" as part of the "OCHI" label. What was the process of creating these compositions, and what meanings did you embed in them?

The "24.2.25" compilation is an annual charity release, and the proceeds go to support the "Musicians Defend Ukraine" foundation, so I’m honored to be part of it. The compilation features two of my tracks released in 2024. "Oh that city by the sea" is dedicated to the Hero City of Mariupol. This track was my first attempt to return to music during the war, at a time when it seemed pointless and futile. I couldn’t write poetry or prose, and I think it’s difficult to talk about the war with people who’ve never experienced it. Words felt insufficient. Music seemed to be a better medium for communication, even though it’s too abstract. On the other hand, it wasn’t an attempt to tell anyone anything; rather, it was a dialogue with myself – what do I feel right now? I answered that with this track.

"Out of Silence" is a musical experiment in which I began my exploration of ambient landscapes. For this track, I used acoustic instruments, including the hurdy-gurdy, and environmental sound recordings. I wanted to make this track a mirror of the moment, a reflection of the world around me right now. Of course, it also carries the emotional weight of the moment.

Interviewer: How difficult is it to build your career amid russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine? What challenges have you faced along the way?

Viktoriia: It’s difficult for me to talk about "career" because I don’t have a concert activity or a team to promote the project and engage in long-term strategic planning. Of course, I have some plans for the development of the project, but the horizon of planning is short under the current circumstances. Living in Ukraine, we can’t fully plan for the future, whether it’s a career or anything else. The future is fragile and unpredictable, so it’s better to live for today. My time is currently divided between work, volunteering, and music, but often it’s hard to juggle all these things at once. The minimum goal for me right now is to reach as many listeners as possible and find my audience.

Interviewer: How long do you spend working on one composition? What do you enjoy most about the process, and what do you dislike? Why?

Viktoriia: There is no universal plan or recipe. The work on the track "Guess Who?" lasted with breaks for three years because it always felt incomplete. But this is also a question of the artist’s maturity – when you don’t know where to stop because you’re not sure what to expect from yourself. Perfectionism definitely plays a role in this, which is why the final point is hard to reach.

Perfectionism definitely plays a role in this, which is why the final point is hard to reach. The track "Echoes of the Light Far Away", which was released a couple of weeks ago and is the first single from my upcoming EP, was written faster. There was a clear vision of what I wanted to express in this track, a sense of form and means of expression, and a more or less prepared set of tools (including hurdy-gurdy, drones, and expressive percussion). But even there, there was room for playing with myself and searching for something new. Each track is like a little journey, where the destination, the road, and the weather conditions are always different.

Interviewer: Which of the compositions you’ve created is the most special to you? Why that one?

Viktoriia: None is more special than the others, actually. Each composition was an experience of something in the moment, a tool for understanding something, and a way back to myself. At the moment of its creation, a composition is special because it’s just the author and the music, the magic of the act of creation, and it may seem like the best thing I’ve written so far. But tomorrow comes, and new music is born. Listening to previous tracks is like reading a diary – it can serve as a tool for mere recollection (which is a pleasant feeling) or as a way to discover something new about myself today through introspection. Quite therapeutic.

Interviewer: Which composition will never see the light of day but holds special meaning for you? What is it about?

Viktoriia: I have many works that will never see the light of day. Mostly, these are improvisations, experiments, or explorations. There are quite a few of these works, but they might not fit into the concept of the TĒMNA RÁDIST project, so I don't release them.

Interviewer: What mission do you have as a composer in the electronic music genre? Why this mission?

Viktoriia: The word "mission" seems too loud for me. I have a path and certain guidelines that I follow in my work, and these can change. Once I wanted to have a metal band, later I was passionate about folk music, and now I’m focused on electronics. But of course, my entire musical journey influences what I do now; past interests haven’t passed without a trace. Within my current project, I want to seek new sounds and expressions, experiment with form, deconstruct it, and use more unusual sound sources beyond just musical instruments and synthesizers.

Interviewer: What word do you associate with your music? Why that word?

Viktoriia: This is a bit of a strange question for me. I don’t have any specific associations with words. I simply process my life experience and musical experiments into musical works that I share with people. I enjoy this process and feel a sense of fulfillment and completion from it. I’m happy if it’s interesting to someone else.

Pictures were provided by TĒMNA RÁDIST