Ukrainian artist Alex Ashtaui talks about his post-punk band Morwan + a new event series Büro Siebzig at Tresor Berlin.

Upon his upcoming live show for Büro Siebzig at Tresor we met the artist Alex Ashtaui for a conversation + all dates, line up and info about the nine-week summer programme, Büro Neunzig.

Jul 13, 2026

Photos by Yaroslav Rashevskyi

Ukrainian musician and painter Alex Ashtaui discusses his work as Morwan, his band he now shares with Stefan Shtuchenko. Starting out as a one-man band, he is an evolving creative who is expanding into more languages, styles and genres, instruments and different set-ups letting his music grow with him. With his place in this world he explores ideas of post-punk in his music that become never-ending circles. Drums, rhythms, percussions and a loop of the same lyrics.

”I think tribal and folk, ethno music, have naked emotions.” “Sometimes, for example, live, some tracks are played twice as long as the studio version, because when you like the rhythm, you want more, and you go into some trance.”

By creating a sense of chaotic primitive dance for the audience he becomes both human and nature.

Morwan is performing live this Wednesday (17 July 2026) at Tresor’s Globus in Berlin. Read more about the event at the bottom of this page.

The interview has been edited for clarity.

Interview by Sophie Kuebler

Photos by Tania Horbatiuk

S: I love punk rock and noisy stuff, and it’s tactile — I feel a different energy. So I was really intrigued and really interested in doing something about your music and your work. When I listen to music like yours, there is intensity, friction, a space to release a type of energy, you know — it is kind of like head-banging, being alive and music you have to really let yourself fall into, and then start to dance. And the more you dance to it, the more you get into the energy. I was wondering, as an artist, or the person that creates that music — what is the energy that you’re putting into it? And, you know, what are you releasing by doing this?

A: I guess the main idea of my music — it’s not typical post-punk, it’s more folk and ethno-like elements, but the basic is post-punk. So I take the post-punk idea and put in some Arabic and Slavic inspiration — instruments, some flutes, and a rhythm section, percussion — and make, how do you say it in English, a never-ending circle. You put in the rhythm and you listen, listen, listen — it’s repetitive. All my songs are quite long, like five, six, seven minutes, even longer. Sometimes, for example, live, some tracks are played twice as long as the studio version, because when you like the rhythm, you want more, and you go into some trance or something like this — like shamanism or something. And you’re going, going up, never-ending — every time you add one more element, one more percussion, one more guitar, one more synthesizer, and by the end of the track you’re catching yourself like you’re in some, I don’t know, ritual. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what you sing, because with some songs I just repeat one sentence every time, like a hundred times in the song, so it’s really a ritual.

S: And what do you sing about?

A: I mean, it’s usually very abstract. I’m not singing about anything in particular. It’s always about — for example, the first couple of albums, the first and second, it’s more about nature, your place in nature. Not a friendly nature, it’s more like you’re just a small man in the big world, and around you, mountains, rivers, and all those things were before you. And you’re just here right now, and not for so long, because your life is short, but nature — this place — stays here forever. When I lived in Ukraine, I liked to take a walk in fields, forests. We have a lot of nature. And I like this idea when you come into the forest and understand this forest was here a thousand years before you — like all your family, combined — it’s abstract and metaphoric. And I guess I can’t translate it into English because it’s very specific in the Ukrainian language. We have some sentence structures that aren’t typical for English. I can’t even translate it.

The third album was about the war, not about specific events, like battles or something. I think about man and his place. My place in this world, what I’m feeling, what I need to do, and what I see. And the fourth album — I mean, in every album I have one idea, and actually every song is about the same thing, just in different words. But the fourth album is a bit more thematic — more about my experience in Berlin, a new place, when you have to leave your place for a long time and live in a new place, and you rebuild yourself from the start, starting to live again, and you have, I don’t know, a mental breakdown, some problems, and you don’t understand exactly what happened, or where you are right now, because in your head you have one life — what you lived before — but your reality right now is in an absolutely different context. It’s about the transformation of a human in general. I think about events, remembering memories, nostalgia.

S: And when you refer to the folkloric, which is a spiritual too, is there some answers that come from the music, or just from the energy it releases when you sing.

A: I guess it’s more questions. You never have answers. Every time you question something, you make a statement, but you never have an answer to your question. And yeah, you said spiritual and tribal, but it’s also post-punk and tribal, because I think tribal and folk, ethno music, have — I don’t know — naked emotions. You’re just a man who’s here on this earth right now, and no matter where you are — Berlin, Kyiv, Ukraine, a field, a forest — this is always you, because you have this long story before you. No matter who you are right now, you’re part of human culture, because all of history is part of this spiritual, tribal thing. No matter how civilized you are, how you live in the city, how good your job is … in one moment you just come back to your roots as a man, as, I don’t know, a monkey in the trees. You just need some rhythm, and to not think about anything.

S: Can you remember a moment or a gig where you really felt this tribal thing?

A: I guess it was one of the first gigs I ever played, because in Ukraine I didn’t have many gigs — two gigs in four years, just test gigs. And when I moved to Berlin, many people around Europe started inviting me — “hey man, we have a festival, we have a club, come do something.” It was the second gig I played in Europe, in Berlin — I moved with my girlfriend, and I went to a festival near Marseille, a super small, local festival in Provence, like three hours from Marseille, already near Spain, in the middle of nowhere. It was a super small city — a village, really, maybe 400 or 4,000 people — and the festival had camping, and fields of grapes. It was outside, the weather was super hot, 43 degrees, and we were camping — lakes, hills. And I played on the second day, in the middle of the night, maybe around two in the morning. And these guys — I’d never seen them before, I don’t know who they were, we just met but they put so much energy into my music, and so it became tribal, spiritual, like a ritual, because you’re in the middle of nowhere, just random people, hearing my music for the first time, at night, and the sky. It was actually one of my favorite gigs. And after that — nothing compares, because the place where you play matters a lot. In a club, it doesn’t have as much power as when you’re just in a field, where everybody feels super chill and open.

S: And do you improvise — when you feel that response to your music, and you’re responding to it too — do you improvise and just keep going?

A: Yes, yes, sometimes, more with the guitar, because usually I play guitar. And when I feel people need more, I do more — one minute longer, two minutes longer, something like this.

S: So when people need more, do you as an artist, on a gig, sometimes want to just go deeper and explore it further as well?

A: Yeah, yeah, sometimes it’s not possible, because you have like 45 minutes for your set, and that’s all — and if you continue one song for three minutes more, you have to shorten the next song. So it doesn’t always work, but now we’re building a new setup, which we tested at Tresor, where you can change everything in the moment — if you feel the audience needs more, you just go again.

S: That’s cool. The gig at Tresor, was that also through friends?

A: I’m currently working with Swamp Booking — a European booking agency, they book a lot of post-punk, goth, punk, metal music. We’ve worked together for about two years now, and they got me the Tresor gig.

S: To go back to the roots. I read that you started as a one-man band, but now you’ve changed. Why did that change happen?

A: Because it’s quite hard to manage everything alone, and it’s a completely different experience playing alone on stage versus with a band. Even when I’m not planning to, I go to clubs and see a solo guy or girl playing — it’s quite good, but every time I think, this guy needs a band, because it sounds so huge, so many instruments, and he can’t control everything, she can’t control everything. And that’s why I delegate some things. I can’t do everything myself, because it’s hard.

S: Yeah, I was also wondering — you said your first two gigs were in Ukraine, and then you got into the Berlin scene — how did you start making music, or support yourself while touring, becoming an artist? I don’t know if that’s your main job, or something you do alongside other things.

A: I’m full-time music now, yes. I also paint — I’m a painter, because I studied at the Ukrainian art academy, so that’s also my thing.

S: I love that.

A: Yeah, but how I supported myself — it was actually super interesting, because when I moved to Berlin, I understood I had just one bag with me. No instruments, all my studio gear was in Kyiv. Actually not even Kyiv — I lived in a small city near Kyiv at the time, which was occupied within three days. I moved out, and my house, where I lived, was immediately occupied. So I didn’t know what was happening with my apartment, my studio. And I just wrote a post on Facebook and Instagram, made a fundraiser, and said, “guys, hey, I’m in this situation — if you want to support me, you can donate, and I can buy new equipment and start writing music again.” And it was a super surprise. One day, people from all over the world, all my listeners, from Spain, Mexico, USA, just started sending me money. And one day I bought everything again. Not everything, but new guitars and other gear. And a week later, I wrote a second post: “hey guys, I’m open for gigs, if you need me, you can book me.” And it was super surprising, because immediately random guys from Italy, Sweden, Poland, all around Europe reached out. And I guess in my first year in Berlin I had like 15 gigs or something, which was super uncommon for me, because in my past four years I only had two gigs. And now I have a lot of gigs, and I guess it’s because a lot of people supported me.

S: That’s amazing!

S: Because I saw your music video (I don’t know how to say the track’s name, it’s in a different language).

A: Yeah

S: And I was thinking about visual identity — like becoming an artist, in the sense of growing into the role and building up your universe, whatever you decide to represent. Do you think about these things as well, like visual identity, making sure everything suits and works with each other? The language, the colors, the style. Is that something you think about, or does it just happen naturally?

A: Yes, usually yes. I’m always thinking about it, especially with albums. I’m super particular, because I can’t just put some random photo or thing. As an artist I have a vision and understand what works with what. Usually I’m overthinking this, because there’s always a concept. The music should work with the album cover, the cover should work with the lyrics inside, and everything should work together — not just a random photo with random tracks. I have a lot of tracks that I write — I’ll start an album with, say, 15 ideas, 15 demo tracks. But if I feel like this track sounds super good but doesn’t work for this particular album, I won’t put it on the album — even if it’s a super cool track, maybe I’ll never release it, because it just doesn’t fit with everything else.

About the music video — we’re still working on that, because it’s kind of new territory for us. Usually I just make music, visuals, I mean the cover and the art, and that’s it. Video is still hard for me to figure out: how to combine everything, build a world, a mythology, I don’t know. I still don’t understand the best way to do it. So yeah, the video we’re talking about is not the best example of what I want, it’s a good music video, but not my dream video. But we need to do something because we release something and then disappear for a year, and release something and disappear again. In the modern world that doesn’t work, because of Instagram, TikTok, short videos — if you don’t release something, you just disappear, and everybody forgets about you the next day.

S: Yeah, that’s a hard one. You have to keep producing and producing so fast.

A: It’s a lot. Right now it’s basically a second job for an artist, because it’s not enough to just write music or make a video. You also need to stay in touch with people, posting photos, videos, TikToks, and sometimes that takes more time than writing the music itself. It’s kind of weird, I guess, but it is what it is.

S: Yeah, you’ve got to play the game in a way.

S: So what do you feel like you’re missing right now as an artist, or what do you want to do next? Something that’s also reachable, you know?

A: Right now, I want to try — that’s actually my point right now. So, next for me, it’s very important to start singing in English. That’s what I’ve been thinking about.

S: And is Berlin an inspiration or an influence on all this? Or do you think you’d be doing the same thing if you were in Ukraine, sound-wise?

A: Not sure, not sure. Actually it’s a difficult question, because I’m not sure what I’d be doing in Ukraine. Nobody listened to me in Ukraine when I was in Ukraine, but when I moved to Berlin, everybody in Ukraine started listening to me. So it’s kind of weird. I’m just looking at other bands, how they work. I have a lot of musician friends, and I see how they release music, how they do it, and think, okay, maybe that’s really the right way to do it. Because sometimes I feel stuck.

S: Yes, yes. And going into the gig next Wednesday, do you get nervous? Do you feel unprepared, or have some self-criticism?

A: So right now, I guess it’s our most prepared gig, because we have a new setup, with a synthesizer and everything. We prepared for a whole month for this, changing the sound especially for Tresor, building a new live set. And I guess right now we’re pretty prepared for this. But every time, there’s a chance you just fuck up on stage — it’s random. But of course I’m nervous, because the last time I played in Berlin was two years ago, and a lot of my friends will be at this gig, and it’s just a good place to play — Tresor is kind of a legendary club. And of course I’m nervous because I don’t want to mess something up, and our whole setup could get into a mess. But I guess we’re prepared.

Tresor announces return of Büro Siebzig for nine-week summer programme.

Featuring British Murder Boys, Milan W., Shackleton, Arsenal Mikebe, Nyege Nyege Festival, Hard Wax and Refuge Worldwide

Berlin, 10 July 2026

Tresor’s Büro Siebzig returns to Globus for a nine-week summer programme of live performance, artistic experimentation and community gathering.

The programme opens with a series of performances exploring the intersections of industrial music, EBM, post-punk and live electronics. July welcomes appearances from British Murder Boys, Milan W., Morwan, Rosa Damask, Sixth June, Takuya Nakamura and The Spoiled, bringing together artists whose practices continue to challenge the boundaries between club culture, performance and contemporary leftfield music.

August expands the series through collaborations with a number of influential independent cultural institutions. Arsenal Mikebe and Pö appear as part of a programme hosted by Nyege Nyege Festival, while Shackleton performs in collaboration with Hard Wax. The series concludes with a finale curated by Refuge Worldwide, reinforcing Büro Siebzig’s commitment to exchange and independent cultural programming.

Büro Siebzig is a direct response to the rise of the ‘Spectacle’ in Berlin club culture. A weekly ritual that strips back the production and puts the people back at the center. Think haunts such as Risiko Bar, Berlin. CBGB in Manhattan, NYC. and The Factory, Manchester. B70 is a social experiment that will build over time. It will evolve and adapt as audiences respond to the performances. The intimacy of the Globus stage is central to this year’s curation. How can we elicit an emotional response from what has devolved into a passive activity of consuming music? Paul Ćinske-Moulden - Tresor Club Programming & Creative

Originally launched as a platform for artistic crossover, Büro Siebzig takes its name and inspiration from Fischbüro, the experimental West Berlin art space co-founded during the 1980s by Tresor founder Dimitri Hegemann. Fischbüro fostered a DIY ethos and that spirit remains central to Büro Siebzig today.

Shaped by the unpredictability of live performance and the energy of shared creative space, the series creates opportunities for artists and audiences to engage with sound, ideas and one another beyond traditional concert formats. Moving between live electronics, industrial music, performance, rhythm and contemporary sound practice, Büro Siebzig reflects Tresor’s continued interest in presenting work that sits beyond conventional genre boundaries.

As contemporary nightlife continues to evolve, Büro Siebzig offers an alternative proposition, positioning Globus not simply as a venue, but as a dedicated listening environment. In doing so, the series continues Tresor’s long-standing commitment to supporting new artistic perspectives, cultural continuity and the future of underground music. Creating space for culture to develop on its own terms.

JULY
British Murder Boys LIVE
Milan W. LIVE
MORWAN LIVE
Rosa Damask LIVE
Sixth June LIVE
Takuya Nakamura LIVE
The Spoiled LIVE

AUGUST

Arsenal Mikebe LIVE hosted by Nyege Nyege Festival
Pö LIVE hosted by Nyege Nyege Festival
Shackleton LIVE hosted by Hard Wax
The Finale w/ dreamcastmoe LIVE hosted by Refuge Worldwide

Globus at Tresor, Berlin
Ticket holders receive access to Tresor New Faces following each concert.

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