08/29/2022
Had a chance to interview this gem, Maryna Cher, who is headlining the Return of Tutu Tuesday, Sept 13th at UNDERGROUND SF, under her moniker Asymmetry.
Check out how it went…
Carla: Maryna, I am SO excited you said YES to the first episode of the new Tutu Tuesday at UndergroundSF! I have been following your progress as a dj and it has been a beautiful unfolding. As someone who has always had interests adjacent to Djing but never made the plunge, I wonder what drew you to it?
Maryna: My love for the curation, discovery, nerding out and sharing of music is what propelled me into DJing. If you think about home parties, road trips, laid back hangouts - everything is better with a soundtrack! And I've always loved finding the perfect soundtrack for any occasion. Friends would eventually just come to me for music and rely on me to always provide a soundscape when it was needed.
In early 2015 I met someone who showed me the ropes on the decks. They let me borrow their equipment and I practiced mixing with their music collection. That's how I learned the basics of DJing and acquired a taste for slower melodic electronic music, which set me on a course to discover and fall in love with downtempo.
Carla: Nice. I also love to curate playlists. That is cool that you were able to get your feet wet with the equipment, not to mention support in starting your endeavor. So you have been to a lot of Tutu Tuesdays in the past…is there one that was especially special for you?
Maryna: I'll first tell you about my first time at the Tutu Tuesday's sibling event that you hosted a few years back - No Pants Party. I stumbled upon this party in late 2015 when I knew only a handful of people in the city. Those few friends and I went to Harlot for a night of dancing and left our pants and skirts at the door. What a fun way to start a night!
Fast forward several hours of excellent dancing and I am chatting with the DJ who had been playing the whole night. We exchanged numbers and he gifted me a USB stick with some of his unreleased music. "How unique and personal", I thought to myself. I then proceeded to date this cool DJ (and, as luck would have it, a wonderful person), James Fish, for the next 2.5 years.
Thanks to James I met my burning man family, The Monks of Funk, the co-op where I lived for 4 beautiful years in, Agape; and some of my closest friends who changed my life. Our beloved James also taught me a lot more about DJing and helped me land my first gig.
Now back to your actual question. The reason I am sharing this backstory is because soon after we met, James became the resident DJ at Tutu Tuesday - and that's how Tutu became a massive part of my life! Every month a bunch of my campmates (Monks), various burning man friends and a growing community of locals would come together on the first (2nd?) Tuesday of the month to wear tutus, stomp our feet, hug and laugh, and have an amazing night of community and dance. And this tradition had been going strong waaaayy before I even learned about it. It was an incredible experience to join in on something so fun, so cheerful, so pure and delightful, where everyone feels like they belong ❤ I've had the opportunity to visit many a Tutu on the playa as well - and those, let me tell you, are out of this world!
Carla: Wow! Your No Pants romance with James is one of my favorites to retell. James was an awesome resident. Gotta thank Atish for recommending him. Also, it’s great to hear how all of those connections were made for you. I am always touched when people share their love connections made at these parties I have organized over the years ❤ You mentioned the playa Tutu Tuesdays…what other events are on your radar?
Maryna: Aside from Burning Man (which is not a festival yet has a lot of good dancing and opportunities to share music), I've been thoroughly enjoying NorCal festivals such as Priceless, Symbiosis, and those private ones that shall not be named 🙂
I'm looking forward to playing music festivals in Europe. Garbicz in Poland, Fusion in Germany, Strichka in Ukraine are on my radar.
Carla: Rad! That is an amazing batch of things to look forward to. What are some pivotal gigs for you that made you feel like you have arrived as an artist?
Maryna: Opening for Mira last year was a big highlight for me. I’ve seen her at Public Works before, lost my mind to her music, and blabbered "Mira, Danke Schön!" like a smitten schoolgirl when I happened to run into her backstage about 5 years prior. To then open for her on her US tour in 2021, receive compliments, hugs, and applause from her on the same stage was honestly quite a unique experience I am immensely grateful for.
This was also my debut at Public Works, the venue I've spent the most nights at in San Francisco (I just love Peter's tasteful curation and have always been a fan of their lineups). The place was packed, I was supported by numerous friends and fans, and everything just went super smoothly. So yeah; that night was kind of a pinnacle for me then.
Carla: I also love Public Works and the whole team there works really well together. Good People. Speaking of good people, you mentioned building your Burning Man community earlier. I love to hear how people conceive of such a vast and unconceivable human experiment. Care to share some of your thoughts?
Maryna: Burning Man for me is about building something from scratch with a team of people that I feel I can fully rely on. Part of it is the empowerment that comes from surviving the elements and getting by without the familiar comforts of everyday city life. But the bigger part of it for me is about opening up, flourishing, discovering new things about myself and the world, connecting with people in deeper ways, and creating unforgettable experiences for myself and others.
Burning Man is just highly concentrated awe and wonder multiplied by the vastness of perspectives and individual experiences of over 70k people! It's a container, in which people get to experience a very different way of living and interacting with others, and I see beauty in that change of perspective.
Carla: Yes, I also see it as a concentrated experience of the Present Moment. Very excited to be bringing Tutu Tuesday back around the first burn since the pandemic began. September has always been a memorable month for the tutu parties and I can hardly believe it is almost here!
There is just one more question I would like to ask about your identity as woman and a Ukrainian women, more specifically. All the best djs, like all great artists, have a point of view and something to say that comes from the heart. How do you think being a Ukrainian woman Dj impacts your voice as an creative?
Maryna: Being at the intersection of these identities, I feel that I have a unique story to tell and a different perspective to offer. Even if we focus on just the music genre/style that I play, it is rooted in my past, my history, my lived experience, and it will differ greatly from that of the majority of the people we see in the electronic music landscape.
I've always been proud of my Ukrainian identity, albeit not always knowing how to express it on stage. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I've been experiencing a range of emotions while scrambling to be helpful to family members, friends, and fellow Ukrainians alike. I've been in awe of the heroism, commitment, and purity of my people. Right now more than ever I am proud to call myself Ukrainian and to be affiliated with such a strong and beautiful nation.
Since February, I've had the hardest time performing and had to refuse several gigs because nothing seemed to matter while my country was being bombed and innocent people were getting killed. It took me a while to process the initial shock of the war and see the ways in which DJing, promoting events and having a social media platform could be contributing to the humanitarian relief efforts, military units support, and the individual crowdfunding efforts that I had been immersed in. I started posting more news, openly writing about donating my DJ fees, seeking and playing more music by Ukrainian producers, sharing the sets of Ukrainian DJs, collaborating with other folks on hosting fundraiser events here in the bay and donating the proceeds etc.
I never feel like I am doing enough, and it is too early to say how this will impact my voice in music long term . We are still very much in the thick of things as the war is ravaging my homeland, but I know that I've gained a newfound appreciation for Ukrainian culture, values, and ethos that I will keep incorporating into my music and my platform more and more.
Carla: I personally have loved seeing your beaming face lately in events supporting Ukraine and I would like to add, for all of us, that we can never do enough but we can always do something. Thanks for what you do, Maryna, and thanks for meeting with me today:)
