Your donations in March, both internationally and in Ukraine, helped purchase a Honda SUV for John Object’s former unit in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. We have a glimpse of that vehicle and a chance to hear more of Timur’s fantastic music — this time, to help buy a VW Transporter. They really need this, this is the reality for Ukrainian music, and your help makes a difference.
In the 1960s, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom published a poster that became a catchphrase in the USA: “It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.” (See the copy in the Library of Congress.) But Ukrainians actually do have to hold fundraisers to purchase basic equipment, from inexpensive and DIY drones to body armor to vehicles. That’s doubly true now with the Trump Administration having cut off arms.
Anyone who has Ukrainian friends and follows those artists on social media sees a flood of these fundraising posts (see below). So you can be opposed to war profiteering and arms proliferation and support Ukrainians, partly because the global arms industry and world politicians have so often turned a blind eye to the real cost of Ukrainian civilians following Russia’s invasions. (‘ll leave the topic of Ek and drone maker Helsing for another time. But one way to think of it is this: like Ukrainian music artists, you can give directly to what’s needed on the front lines. And that’s probably better than waiting for Daniel Ek to get rich off your music and then maybe invest in the right place in the process of trying to get richer.)
The answer is simple: focus on the reality on the ground, talk to the people involved, and tune out everything else. Our Ukrainian friends need a damned van, and we can help.
The thank-you music
With nightly drone attacks and missiles, I know it’s tough for our Ukrainian friends and colleagues to make music at all. But Timur writes about how he put this together, and it’s a glimpse into the process of figuring out what sounds to make:
it is kind of a melodic noise thing, i suppose – and the majority of it was done on a Roland JX-3P, which i’ve had for a while and it had a couple of dead voices, which i had serviced, and now it is just glorious-sounding. the MIDI on it still doesn’t work though, so all played by hand or relying on internal sequencer!
some bits were run through homemade distortion pedals i’ve soldered – a “Steve Albini variant” Harmonic Percolator, a Rat clone with like 24 different diodes, etc. and lots of Doepfer modular on top.
one of the tracks is built primarily of samples i made from an old cassette tape sold to me by a Ukrainian priest – older gentleman in a small village sells pristine cassettes to us DIY-noise-scene-label kids in Kyiv, and i usually have a listen to what’s on there before overwriting; one of the cassettes began with a Ukrainian pop song from the 80s, but the very first beat, as it starts, was quite distorted on the cassette, sounded like nothing i’ve ever heard – so i kind of built a track around that.
It’s transcendent, really; Timur is selling it short. It feels emotionally present in this moment now, but also a window into a world beyond the dark times around us, a science fiction portal to a better reality, interwoven with memories. It sounds defiantly sentimental and optimistic.
The Honda and the Volkswagen
It’s always good to follow up on fundraisers, so here’s a glimpse of that Honda! (I wrote it would be an Opel, but the Honda won out!) And it’s out there in action now.
He writes:
here’s another picture of it, taking a broken down SUV to be repaired – the Honda we fundraised for has been very reliable and hasn’t had any issues since we got it in March, so that part worked out really well
What they need next is a VW, and they need us in the international community to step up. That means especially those of us with US citizenship, given that our leadership seems to keep forgetting the importance of this.
The unit is currently in need of yet another car — a VW Transporter van. They are very much in demand in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (reliable, parts easy to source). It would be used both to transport personnel and equipment towards the front line, and to bring unit SUVs on a trailer to scarce service stations in the area.
We will get a used one, several generations old, but it will still run us about $8000. I am asking you, because Ukrainians have their hands full with non-stop fundraisers for other units — they are happening in Ukrainian hryvnias, where you don’t see them, and I don’t want to take money that could otherwise go to buy another car for some other unit (one, which, presumably, does not have an English-speaking soldier with 8000 followers).
If I wasn’t doing this, this van would still have to be bought urgently, and we Ukrainians would still fund it.
Timur also adds:
I’ll admit: I do not like putting out music this way!
I am simply trying to use a skill that I have and to also exploit your possible interest in it. This new piece I am offering here exists only because my comrades need a van, and while I am proud of it, there is so much more I could’ve done if Russians weren’t murdering us every day.
How to support
Here’s how to give:
- International/PayPal: “For direct messages with proof of donation of €15 or more, I will provide you a download of a 15-minute mix of my new music.” Send to ohnobject@gmail.com — no ‘j’, that’s not a typo. [I’ll update here when the fundraiser is over and provide alternate donation ideas!]
- Ukrainians: я вам дам посилання на свою нову музику за скріншот донату 400 грн на будь-який інший збір.
Here’s the original post; you can follow the latest from Kyiv there and DM Timur with your donations. (side note, if someone wants to help with wonky Instagram embeds on WP, I’m all ears — until I migrate to a better platform, probably!)
Side note: before someone mentions it, yes, this is coming the week Ukraine’s government is passing a law stripping anti-corruption measures. Those were hard-won by Ukrainians, especially during Maidan. It doesn’t fit in this context, but you can read outlets like Kyiv Independent for cogent, critical analysis. The struggle for Ukraine’s future is an internal one as well as a wartime one, and all wars put pressure on democracy — another reason to help support Ukrainians as they defend their sovereignty. They need more vans and your support.
Update: I have to include this, because it’s so succinct.
My version: 1. Follow Ukrainians. 2. Resist propaganda. 3. BUY THE VAN! 4. Listen to music. Repeat.
Stand with the defenders. This is the perfect time.
This is now on Bandcamp, too: