Electronic producer 6TH CROWD presents her debut ‘Avoid The Void’ EP, following up a string of singles intended to introduce her work to new and familiar listeners, who otherwise know her as frontwoman of the post-punk band On The Wane.
Based in Kyiv, Ukraine, this is the solo project of Dari Maksymova, who has a knack of luring us into her adrenaline-inducing musical world, where analogue and digital thrive together. This music is infectious and vibing, euphoric yet somehow grounding. 6TH CROWD combines grooves from rave dance floors, melancholic storytelling from 80’s alt-rock and melodic pop vocals.
Earlier, 6TH CROWD released the singles ‘You’re Not An Island’, ‘The Day is Over’ and ‘Самозванцы’ (Samozvantsiy)’ to whet our appetite. Inspired by such artists as Modeselector, Siriusmo, Four Tet and Thomas P. Heckmann, her music is a welcome addition to the electronic music landscape. All tracks are mixed and mastered by @plastmassa.community.
Written well before the dire COVID-19 situation, her latest video for ‘You’re Not An Island’ is of timely significance in our newfound world of social distancing, lockdown and quarantine. She says, “We all go a little crazy here in a month of lockdown, huh? Huge thanks and all the credits to my friends for going crazy in the video and for being amazingly patient with me these days.”.
We get it – surely everybody gets it by now. Cabin fever is making us stir crazy, not to mention worried for our family, loved-ones and the future in general. We need human contact, personal connections in order to get through this.
“The lyrical part of it is exceptionally minimalistic. In fact, it’s just John Donne’s quote, “no man is an island entire of itself,” and the phrase “you’re not an island.” The last one is repeated in Ukrainian, Portuguese, German, French, two types of Spanish, Chinese, and Hebrew. That’s pretty much dance music, voices just give us the feeling that we’re not alone. Even if you’re here in your bedroom all alone, you should remember that there are thousands of people in their rooms across the world feeling just as lonely as you do. And that unites,” says Dari Maksymova.
“The song had been sitting in my hard drive for a year. And the description above was written in early February when Ukraine had no clue about the imminent pandemic. I always write music for myself, to get something I need from it – courage, support, relief. But I had no idea how much will I need this one. If you feel scared, tired, and a bit lost – take my hand, we all together here.”
As a kid, Dari was obsessed with dance and dreamed of becoming a choreographer. It never happened but the inner connection between rhythm and body never disappeared. In 2018, she took a part in a dance and music program in Germany and that dance-obsessed kid woke up. Dari attended legendary dancefloors where Thomas P. Heckmann and Regis were playing and discovered a wonderful new world of polyrhythms and textures.
By that time, synths and drum machines has already appeared in On The Wane’s sound – her port of entry to creating electronic music. After the band disbanded, she took an intensive course in electronic music production, run by Kyiv’s techno community Module Exchange – thus was born 6TH CROWD.
‘Avoid The Void’ will be released digitally on May 15 everywhere, including Apple Music, Spotify and directly from the artist via Bandcamp. French/UK producer Beatastic has also released an excellent rework of ‘You’re Not An Island’ for this occasion.
Photos by Daria Kulnina
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