LEGAT — Interview with the bRAVEs about “The Fall”

Born in Kyiv, LEGAT lives in Berlin since 2017 and produces electronic music with a bit of Hate, Melancholy and Paranoia. Between 2010 and 2020, he released four albums and five singles under the German-language Industrial-Metal alias Tyler Milchmann. the bRAVEs spoke (first published Mar 17, 2024) with LEGAT about Berlin, his love for the German language and his debut album “The Fall” (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

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the bRAVEs: You are living in Berlin since 2018. What feelings have you developed for this city?

LEGAT: I was honestly more inspired by Berlin right after I moved here than I am now. Some things seem tempting and refreshing till the moment you realize they stay mostly the same and their diversity is just a one of many illusions. I have a feeling the city has been in decline in recent years. I definitely met some wonderful people here, but I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that I would move somewhere else in future. Life is a journey after all.

the bRAVEs: In your project Tyler Milchmann (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), which ended in 2020, you sang in German. Where does your love for the German language come from?

LEGAT: Since I was a child I had a really strong bond with Western culture as a whole and German culture in particular. Not the most trendy preference in Germany 2024, I have to admit. I always liked German poetry for focusing on action and meaning rather than on feelings. I think the story has a greater impact if you tell it without adding too many adjectives and too much of your personal perception. I feel that German poetry — unlike Russian or Ukrainian — is all about it. It just resonates with me.

the bRAVEs: What made you switch to electronic music?

LEGAT: My music always had a strong electronic background, even when it was industrial metal.

Berlin’s techno clubs — a truly remarkable part of the city

— brought me to the idea of trying new ways of expressing my musical vision. Basically I´m still telling the stories through my tracks, just in another setting.

the bRAVEs: You use a lot of hardware in your production. Did you teach yourself everything?

LEGAT: Yes, but nowadays — when you have all these talented people on Youtube with their brilliant ideas and detailed tutorials — it’s honestly not a big deal. You just need to have time, patience and love for this specific process.

the bRAVEs: After 2 singles “Once Upon a Time in Ukraine (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)” and “Kyїv22 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)”, your first album as LEGAT “The Fall (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)” was released on March 1, 2024. In what period of time was it created?

LEGAT: Basically I worked on this album for the last 4 years. Not only on this album, on some other projects as well. That’s why it took me a while to bring these ideas to their final destination. I experimented with genres, equipment and forms a lot till these 7 tracks with their own different stories stood out from others and formed an album.

the bRAVEs: “Heimweh” — a very energetic song. What was the inspiration behind it?

LEGAT: Imagine that drive, that adrenaline spikes you´re getting as a traveler from a nomadic life. And also that feeling of sudden sadness when something during your chaotic adventures reminds you of your home — a color of the sky, smell of burning leaves, edges of roofs under the evening sun, — something barely explainable. That’s when Heimweh (“Homesickness” from German) kicks in. I used the quotes of Salman Rushdie as a sample in this track — I think his idea of home and away being both a mirage is also very interesting.

Maybe the home is not a place, but something existing only inside of us — somewhere beneath our remembrances.

the bRAVEs: You don’t want to commit yourself to a genre, but it’s clear that space plays a big role in your tracks. What feelings do you want to evoke in the listener? Or are these your feelings that you process in the songs?

LEGAT: The endless space, dark and silent, where you’re alone and no information nor people can reach you. That’s the place where you can finally rest from a rush of your day-to-day life and just be yourself. I´d like people to forget for a while about the raging world around them and to concentrate on their own thoughts and feelings when they’re listening to my music.

the bRAVEs: How much do your songs reflect russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the country where you were born and grew up?

LEGAT: They’re definitely not getting happier. The album is called “The Fall”, and for me — as like for millions of other people —

the world I knew previously collapsed and fell apart on 24.02.2022.

I’m still figuring out what to do with all the shards left. I miss Kyiv and my friends in Ukraine a lot. My thoughts of them, my dream to meet them soon are a big part of what created this album.

the bRAVEs: Will we still hear you DJing in the future or do you just want to concentrate on producing?

LEGAT: I love producing and creating new music the most. But I’m also open to DJing, so, dear event managers, feel free to book me as a DJ to your parties 🙂

the bRAVEs: What are your plans for the future?

LEGAT: Now I’m working on two albums, which I’d like to release this year. One of them will be more of a traditional hard techno. The other one will be my return to the roots, an electronic music with my vocals. I started to work on it during my last visit to Kyiv.

the bRAVEs: Thanks for your time!

LEGAT: My pleasure!

LEGAT
Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) I Soundcloud (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Photo Credit
Darina Medoeva
Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

the bRAVEs — Electronic Music Berlin
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