Australian band headlines Ukraine’s biggest music festival | 7.30

A Band's Unexpected Connection to Ukraine [0:00]

• Australian band Breathe had long desired to play in Ukraine.
• They were invited to perform at Atlas Music Festival, Ukraine's largest music festival.
• The band's popularity in Ukraine grew organically through YouTube, where Ukraine is their number one audience, accounting for a fifth of their views.

  "Ukraine is our number one audience on YouTube. It accounts for a fifth of our views on YouTube, which is mind-blowing."

Music as Solace During Wartime [1:00]

• Ukrainians reached out to the band, sharing how their music provided comfort during attacks and in bomb shelters.
• These messages created a surreal and heartbreaking experience for the band members, realizing their music was part of people's reality amidst destruction.

  "We were getting texts at all hours of the day and night from people that were under attack in bomb shelters."

The Atlas Festival Experience [1:45]

• Atlas Music Festival is Ukraine's biggest music festival and one of the largest in Eastern Europe.
• The festival venue, Blockbuster Mall, has a large underground parking space enabling rapid evacuation into shelters during air raid alarms.

  "Blockbuster Mall has an immense, huge parking space underground. And what it means is that it enables us to evacuate the entire festival in mere minutes into the underground in case there is an air raid alarm."

Military Presence and Cultural Integration [2:30]

• Military brigades were present at the festival, reflecting the military's involvement in music and culture during wartime.
• This involvement aims to attract new recruits and showcase military operations.

  "The military is very heavily involved with music and with culture. And that means that it's not just at our festival, but at many festivals, you will now have military brigades."

Music's Deep Resonance in Ukraine [3:15]

• Breathe acknowledged their music had found a home in Ukraine, though unsure how it happened.
• They felt their music resonated deeply, providing what people needed during difficult times.

  "Our music has found a home in Ukraine. We're not sure how that happened. And we feel it's resonating here."

The Emotional Impact of Performance [3:45]

• Seeing the audience and hearing their stories profoundly changed the band's perspective on their music.
• The experience highlighted the contrast between their lives in Australia and the reality faced by Ukrainians.

  "But seeing these people and the stories they tell us, it's just completely changed for us."

Surviving Explosions and Shared Sadness [4:15]

• Despite warnings of missiles, Kyiv was considered safe at the time of the performance.
• The band witnessed the aftermath of explosions, experiencing the fear and shaking of buildings.

  "My building was shaking, really. I could feel that like... This night was really terrible, guys."

Music as a Tool for Resilience [5:00]

• Ukrainians expressed that music, especially Breathe's, helped them face difficult conditions and stay alive.
• The band felt the weight of the Ukrainians' five years of struggle compared to their one-night experience, finding it deeply saddening.

  "It's one night for us, and it's five years for you. And that's where the sadness wells up in me, because it's not to do with anything to do with us."