Resonance Interview | Angus MacRae and Natalia Tsupryk

London-based composer Angus MacRae and Ukrainian composer Natalia Tsupryk speak with Hollie Kenniff following the release of their new LP Inventions

Inventions brings together your earlier EPs from the past five years, along with new material, into a full album. When did that idea take shape, and what inspired it?

Natalia: We’d discussed releasing a full album several times in the past, but it wasn’t until Autumn (right?) last year that we actually began recording new material for it. As for what inspired it, in my view, our shared musical taste and language make this collaboration very creative and quite liberating, encouraging us to make more music together.

Angus: As Natalia said it was last Autumn that we decided to push forward with pulling all our music into a full album for the first time. The two EPs we’d made were really well received and it felt like a nice opportunity to make some more music. Ultimately a complete album felt like a strong statement of our shared music making, which started as a very incidental process and had grown into something more intentional and purposeful over time.

You come from very different worlds, a small island and Ukraine. How do those landscapes meet in your music?

Natalia: It’s an interesting one because, clearly, coming from different backgrounds often creates something very unique that wouldn’t exist if we came from the same place.

Angus: I totally agree with Natalia - our music seems to represent the language that we share and I don’t think either of us overthink what makes it work. I think we have increasingly leaned into a shared heritage of folk music, Natalia from the Ukrainian side and me from my Scottish heritage. Those two influences seem to pair remarkably well.

Angus: How did being raised on the small island of Guernsey and your early training as a pianist inform your musical voice and path as a composer?

Other than a music education, I think the island’s strongest influence on me came from its landscapes, particularly the winter storms that used to roll in. My family’s approach was to always get out in those storms, reveling in the power of nature and see those huge seas roll over the cliffs. I think a sense of wonder and magic in nature has always underpinned my work, tinged with a hint of our own insignificance!

Angus: You’ve spoken about a kind of “magic” that happens when you and Natalia make music together, especially through spontaneous, long-distance exchanges. What do you think creates that sense of connection and unpredictability?

It’s hard to pin down. Natalia is the only other musician I’ve collaborated with where something just seems to click and the process feels really effortless. I think first and foremost we have a shared respect for each others’ process. There is a lot of crossover in taste but a difference in approach that means we seem to be endlessly inspired by each others ideas.

Natalia: You’ve described your recent album Vil’na as your most personal work, reflecting your experience of the war in Ukraine since 2022, and you’ve said that all art is and should be political. How did that belief shape your approach to the album?

Natalia: This is an equal collaboration, where each of us, I think, brings something personal to the project. In my case, it’s often things related to Ukraine (including a track from the very first EP Angus and I recorded in early 2021, inspired by a Ukrainian folk song in which a mother says goodbye to her fallen soldier son). That song first became important to me during the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine in 2013-2014, when the police were killing the protestors. Russia then invaded Ukraine in late February 2014, after the pro-Russian regime was overthrown by the people and fled (to Russia, of course...)

Natalia: Are there any Ukrainian artists who have particularly inspired you?

I really like Ukrainian 20th-century classical composers, like Lyatoshynsky and, more modern, Silvestrov. They, and all the others, were so unknown worldwide until 2022... I’m very much inspired by Ukrainian folk, too, as you can probably tell!

What feels different or unique about a friendship that grows through musical collaboration, compared to a more typical friendship?

Natalia: I feel like the music we make is the very essence of this collaboration and friendship, and we are just like tools being used to create something (hopefully) beautiful. Is that too weird? I feel very inspired by the material Angus sends me. I think I would never have been able to come up with something like that, and I wouldn’t have been able to come up with what I’m sending in return either, had I not received his material first. And when it’s my turn to start an idea (as we alternate), I’m always amazed by his response, like, oh wow, now it’s sounding so good!

When you’re not making music, what do you enjoy spending your time on?

Natalia: I am a boring person who likes to spend time with the people I like, eat good food (my husband is an excellent cook!) and watch old movies...

Angus: I love cooking - there are a lot of similarities with making music, but with a really tangible and rewarding short term goal! I’ve always loved photography too, particularly film photography at the moment. I love the way it forces you to stop and engage with your surroundings. The challenge of bottling a feeling towards a place or person in a single image is a challenge I find endlessly inspiring.

Was there a defining moment when you knew you wanted to become a musician, and if not, what path do you think you might have taken?

Natalia: I’ve always been a musician, so there wasn’t much choice at first... I guess I’ve always wanted to make my own music, though, and I’m not sure what else I would be good at. Embarrassing!

Angus: I was always surrounded by music and I think deep down I always knew it was the path I wanted to follow. But when I was a teenager I wanted to be an underwater cameraman. Turns out I’m not a big fan of deep water so that might not have turned out so well.

What’s next for you?

Natalia: I’m starting a film score in a week or so. Let’s see what happens next!

Angus: I’m writing a bunch of scores for theatre this summer - some really interesting and varied projects. I like how scores force you to flex other creative muscles. But I also have an album in the works - a retrospective of piano music from the last 10 years or so. I’m really excited to have that out in the world.

Natalia: Are there any films or books that have inspired you?

I’m trying to keep up with contemporary Ukrainian literature (mainly fiction) - it’s really good!

Angus: Which albums or artists have you been loving lately?

A lot of duos, coincidentally! There’s an album by Erik Sigurd and Sam Becker called Studies in Translucence that I’ve been really enjoying. I also came across a duo called del Gesù whose work I really love. It’s a bit strange and eerie but also really melancholic. That’s the kind of combination I’m always drawn to. Finally an album called Lontano by Anja Lechner and Francois Couturier which is a really beautiful pairing of jazz inflected piano and cello.

Find Natalia Tsupryk on:

Website / Instagram / Amazon Music / Apple Music / Spotify

Angus MacRae:

Website / Spotify / Apple Music / Bandcamp / Newsletter