No small feat: Rhythm Büro is the beloved Kyiv party pushing on through wartime

Functions is our interview series profiling parties from across the world. This time we meet: Rhythm Büro

When Kyiv-based party Rhythm Büro began in 2015, its founders could not have expected the many obstacles both they and the club night would face over the coming decade. Launched in the wake of the Euromaidan Revolution, a period of change for the Ukrainian people who fought for closer ties with Europe and to overthrow the country's then-President, it was a time of hope for those living in Kyiv. But a swift response from Russian-backed separatist groups launching  an invasion in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine in 2014 marked an ominous counterpoint. 

Rhythm Büro gave its attendees a sanctuary in these troubling times. It became a space for dance music fans who longed for deep, driving techno out of the mainstream consciousness, in settings that distract from the escalation of anguish that has come with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine since February, 2022.

After hosting its very first event inside a small disused warehouse, Rhythm Büro’s later editions would take over industrial sites, art spaces, and a forest location where the party’s off-shoot festival Natura was held for a short, successful few years. With a thriving record label arm and a tried-and-tested festival under its belt, Rhythm Büro was fast to become a Kyiv underground staple.

"We always try to tie the music programming to the environment," explains co-founder Igor Glushko, who also regularly performs as a DJ at Rhythm Büro parties. "When you're at a great party, everything works together: the venue, its architecture, the lights, the soundsystem, the running order."

Read this next: The evolution of Ukraine's dance music scene, decade by decade

Just over 10 years since it began, Rhythm Büro has welcomed the likes of Actress, Donato Dozzy, Cinthie, Marco Shuttle and many more to perform at its hallowed party, and has since shifted from a club night into a bi-annual day party following war-imposed curfews. We sat down with Rhythm Büro’s Igor Glushko to find out more about the long-running Kyiv party – check it out below.

How did Rhythm Büro originate? Who are the brains behind it?

Rhythm Büro was launched in 2015 by three people: Igor Glushko, Vera Logdanidi, and Oleksandr Pavlenko (aka Na Nich). Before that, all three of us had been involved in other projects in different capacities and with varying degrees of success. Then everything clicked into place.

This was shortly after the Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine, a time when most of the major players on the local scene were just starting to emerge. Our goal was to shine a light on the music we were passionate about that wasn't really represented in Kyiv at the time – deep techno, for lack of a better term. 

Over the years, the project has grown a lot. More people have come on board, our events have gotten bigger, and our sound has become more diverse. We've also started throwing events outside of Kyiv and even beyond Ukraine, and launched our record label of the same name back in 2016.

Do you remember your first party? What was that like?

The first party took place in March 2015. We rented a small warehouse that was home to a photo studio at the time. Since we had no idea whether there'd be demand for something like this, we wanted to keep it relatively small but interesting. We also kept the location secret on purpose – that was always meant to be part of the experience. In the end, it paid off. Zadig from France was our first international guest, and we ended up hosting 250 people that night, which was a solid success by any measure.

What kind of sounds and atmosphere can people expect when they go to a Rhythm Büro party?

It depends on the specific event – sometimes there's more than one dancefloor and the programming is more diverse. But generally speaking, people can expect quality underground music somewhere along the ambient-house-techno axis. I know that sounds like a fairly generic description, but the point is that we would never book big festival names we don't actually care about musically. If we were in this for the money, we would've taken a very different route a long time ago – there's more to this, for us, than that.

In terms of atmosphere, we always try to tie the music programming to the environment. When you're at a great party, everything works together: the venue, its architecture, the lights, the soundsystem, the running order. We work closely with our long-time partners at BLCK BOX, who handle the lighting setup, and more recently we've been collaborating with Masiks Prod, who are hands down the best event decorators in Kyiv for this kind of thing.

This probably isn't the most glamorous example, but just to give you a sense of how we think: for our latest event, we spent €4,000 on curtains around the perimeter of the dancefloor. By Ukrainian standards, that's a serious amount of money. Most partygoers probably wouldn't think of that as an essential, but it let us create a blackout effect on the floor so the lighting design could really shine. I think that kind of attention to detail - alongside the music programming - is what our crowd values most about Rhythm Büro.

Your events are often hosted in secret, unique locations across Kyiv. Can you tell us about that – why mystery venues? Have you had any favourites over the years?

We don't always go that route, but it's definitely the model we started with, and it serves two main purposes. First, it gives people an extra reason to show up – the prospect of missing out on something mysterious is a pretty reliable way to generate FOMO. Second, it's useful from a security standpoint, since it keeps a lower profile around the kind of event that can still carry a stigma in wider society. That said, I think everyone's all-time favourite was still the forest location we used for the Natura festival, our most successful event series to date, and honestly nothing else has quite topped it.

You’ve also been hosting events during the war, how has that impacted how you throw parties? 

The ways war affects everything around you are hard to explain to people who haven't lived through it. Beyond the obvious – compromised safety, night-time curfews – there's a lot more going on beneath the surface. Your audience shifts: some people have left the country, some are serving in the army, some are simply too anxious to go out. That means you're essentially dealing with a different crowd, one that calls for a whole different marketing approach. And then there's the momentum problem: when you go on pause, as we did after the full-scale invasion began, other promoters move into your space, and clawing that back isn't easy. On top of all that, with the Ukrainian economy in the state it's in, just keeping the operation financially viable is a serious challenge. We're still doing it, just not at the same pace as before. Our core team is now spread across different locations, which adds another layer of difficulty.

We do try to maintain the same standards, though. Since the full-scale war began, we've brought in artists like Anthony Linell, Shoal, Zadig, Marco Shuttle, Desirée Falessi, Garçon, Timnah, Feral, Blind Observatory, and Kaspiann. Getting artists to come and perform in Ukraine during an active war is no small feat – but we keep pushing.

Many Kyiv parties have moved to become daytime events with a night-time curfew, has that changed the way people party and socialise today?

Long parties are no longer an option. With daytime shows, you can open the doors at 2:PM, but most people won't actually show up until 5 or 6. So even if the event is nominally eight-hours-long, you're really only looking at four or five hours of actual dancing. For context: before the [full-scale invasion], our events ran for at least nine hours, and people would come right from the start.

There's a deeper issue too. A lot of Ukrainians have other priorities now, and understandably so. Most of the population is dealing with some form of PTSD, whether they'd call it that or not. In that kind of headspace, going out to a party is not exactly top of mind. We know plenty of people who've stopped going out altogether, or only do it very occasionally. That feeling of counting down the days to a rave, of building it up for weeks in advance – that seems to have largely disappeared. These days, people tend to make last minute decisions about whether to go anywhere at all. It's hard to fault them for it.

You launched a festival named Natura several years ago, do you have any plans to bring that back or create something similar?

Honestly, we don't think Natura is ever coming back. The 2021 edition, which turned out to be the last, drew 4,000 people, and yet it still had this genuinely underground feel to it. We essentially took over a forest outside Kyiv and turned it into a little party town for the weekend. But with the war ongoing, and even once it ends, we can't imagine returning to that spot or finding anything similar in the area. We don't know which parts of the surrounding land are mined, and there's likely military infrastructure nearby – air defense positions and the like. From a basic safety standpoint, attempting something like that anytime soon just isn't realistic. It's a real loss for us, but that's where we are.

The 2022 edition was meant to be our biggest ever. It never happened. We had to cancel the whole thing and pull the plug on bookings for a lot of artists we were genuinely excited about – the line-up was supposed to include Forest Drive West, Shackleton, Fred P, upsammy, Konduku, Steve O'Sullivan, John Beltran, Aril Brikha, and many more. It still stings. But sometimes you have to let go of something and focus on building what comes next.

You’ve expanded to run events outside of Kyiv. How do you ensure you curate and bring the Rhythm Büro atmosphere to other locations around the world?

There are a few things that really matter here. First and foremost, you need to work with promoters who share your values – that's been true for us both at home and abroad. Back in 2018, we started reaching out to promoters across Ukraine, bringing the Funktion-One soundsystem and lighting setup with us to some of those shows. The programming is just as important – we always try to involve as many like-minded artists as possible. So far, we've taken our showcases to some great spots: Berlin, Tbilisi, Paris and others.

You’ve hosted artists like Actress and Donato Dozzy over the years, who’s next on the cards? Who are your dream headliners?

We don't really have dream headliners as such. But if there's one booking we've tried to make happen and haven't managed to pull off yet, it would have to be Autechre. As for what's next – we're currently in the planning phase and expect to be announcing shows for both 2026 and 2027 soon.

Can you talk us through some of your most memorable parties over the last decade?

Every edition of Natura holds a special place for us. As for indoor events, the one that stands out most is our Season Closing rave in November 2018 – we had Regis, Sebastian Mullaert, and Steve Bicknell on the bill that night. I also have a soft spot for the experimental outdoor event with Actress back in 2016, which, funnily enough, was also a daytime affair. And our first Rhythm Büro showcase at Bassiani is definitely worth a mention too.

What’s next for Rhythm Büro?

We'll keep operating at a pace of at least two events in Kyiv per year. Our events take serious planning, so we need at least three to four months of prep time for each one. The most recent, back in April, drew close to 2,000 people.

On the label side, we're focused on the next releases – a very special double LP V/A compilation and a remix EP for Vera's debut album, both of which we're really excited about.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Instagram