Bratři unveil new single "ayra" and premiere innovative program at colours of ostrava
The electronic duo Bratři has released their latest single, "Ayra," offering a fresh perspective on their sound ahead of their September album launch. This new track is a cornerstone of their upcoming concert program, which will debut on the T-Mobile stage, the second-largest stage at the Colours of Ostrava festival, on Friday, July 19, 2024.
"Ayra" stands out for its dreamy, melodic composition and departure from Bratři’s typical techno rhythms, embracing a breakbeat style. The twins, Jiří and Ondřej Veselý, describe the single as one of their most tuneful creations, capturing a narrative that invites listeners to escape the daily rush and connect with nature. "Ayra" also introduces a unique element to their live performances: a living plant named Ayra. This plant, connected to sensors that interact with a modular synthesizer, becomes an integral part of the audio-visual show, dynamically engaging with the concert environment.
The innovative use of Ayra the plant was first showcased at the Sencity Festival in Utrecht, Netherlands. Jiří Veselý explains, "All living things have a certain energy within them, and this energy is converted into electrical impulses that Ayra triggers to control the sounds, making it the third member of our band."
Bratři began developing this program in the spring of 2023 as part of the European project Revelland, collaborating with international consultants to create an immersive experience accessible to people with visual, hearing, or mental disabilities. The program, titled "Escape the Noisy World to Nature," represents a significant evolution in their live performances, incorporating numerous changes and innovations to tell a simple yet profound story.
Following the Colours of Ostrava premiere, Bratři will bring their new program to stages across Europe, including Hungary’s Sziget Festival and Spain’s Cooltural Fest.
Your music seamlessly blends live drum beats with analogue and modular synthesizers. How do you balance these two elements during your creative process and live performances?
In live performances, we rely more on improvisation and the feel of the moment to respond to the atmosphere and energy of the audience. We can afford to work more with dynamics and build-ups. Playing live is also more enjoyable for us because it's simply live, and many things are different at each performance. In the studio, we are more constrained by arrangements and the selection of sounds. What works live is different from what works in the studio when we are creating. For us, it's important to have a human feel in the music and not quantize everything
The energy of your live shows has been widely acclaimed. What do you feel are the key elements that make your live performances so electrifying?
I think it’s the communication between the two of us. There’s a certain chemistry and telepathy in playing with a twin you’ve known since birth. Another thing we really enjoy is live drumming. The energy is so strong, more than from drum machines. We trigger sounds from Ableton, which can be live-effected while playing the drums, and that’s a lot of fun. We’ve also been used to live playing since we were kids. I think that’s another advantage when performing concerts.
"Two Minds" was your debut album released in 2021. Can you share the concept behind this album and how it represents your journey as artists?
The album "Two Minds" was completed during a very unusual time, the COVID-19 pandemic. We were quite surprised and depressed by everything because our concerts were canceled, and the cultural sector was going through very tough times. However, one advantage was that we had a lot of time for the album and could spend entire weeks in the studio. As a result, we created tracks that we had never played live and couldn't test on an audience. Overall, it was a very depressing period. I think you can hear that on the album itself. We used a lot of industrial, raw, and dark sounds. In the end, we're grateful for this period because it taught us a lot.
You’ve played at numerous festivals and showcase events across Europe. Which performance has been the most memorable for you and why?
We love playing festivals and showcases. We remember playing at The Great Festival in Brighton. There was a small garage club fully packed with people (which we absolutely didn’t expect) and there was huge sound and electrifying energy, so we had to add one more song (normally on showcases you have time, that you have to keep strictly). It was massive! From the festivals we are still buzzing from Colours of Ostrava 3 years ago. The crowd around 10k people was amazing and when we were playing a straight 4/4 rhythm it was intense pressure.
You’re incorparating plants into your shows and connecting them to your set. What inspired this idea, and how do you think it will enhance the audience's experience of your music?
Yes, we are creating a new concept of our live show called “Escape the Noisy World to Nature”. It is a simple story inspired by daily life and the natural world and its capacity to unlock happiness, and natural joy – the same too is true of raving, dancing, electronic music and partying together. We are uniting elements of AV projection, light and sound with a new feature guest - interactive plant called Ayra. We also love modular synths and the plant is connected via biofeedback module from Scottish brand Instruo. Module is called „Scion“ and the plant controls various parameters of the sound in realtime (delay, reverb and adds a little bit granular synthesis). Plant symbolises the connection between the human world and nature. It's very interesting to listen to plant playing. It is very experimental part of whole perfomance.
Your new single called 'Ayra' is just around the corner. What can fans expect from this new work in terms of sound and theme?
Track Ayra is something special for us, because this track is different than our other tracks. Maybe when we are older, we tend to make more melodic tracks, haha. In Ayra track we worked with more syncopated and organic drum part. I think we created a story, which flows through the track from start to finish with a simple but catchy synth motif, which is evolving and growing supported by big, warm synth pads and some vocal chops. For us this track is very emotional. It has a warm melodic vibe and we hope that people will like it. We can’t wait to play it live at the festivals of course.
Your nomination for the Music Moves Europe Talent Award was a significant milestone. How has this recognition impacted your career and your approach to music?
It was a very pleasant surprise to be nominated among highly talented artists. We were the only band without vocals or any frontman, and also the first Czech-nominated band ever, which certainly pleased us. Perhaps it helped us to get our music further out into the world. We ourselves are skeptical about such music awards. It's definitely a good promotion for emerging bands. However, musically, it reaffirmed to us that it's important for us as artists to make music in which we believe and which fulfills us, without succumbing to trends and creating silly content for Instagram.
And what are your plans and goals for the rest of the year?
We are going to play festival shows during the summer such as Colours of Ostrava(CZ) Sziget (H), Cooltural Festival in (ESP) and many others. At the festivals we will play a new show completely with Ayra plant and other immersive elements. We will be releasing our second album called “Escape” during the autumn. Release party will be in Prague at Palace Akropolis and it will be a very unique live audiovisual show with projections and cool light design, cameras on stage and plant "Ayra“ as well. Looking forward to preparing for this show because we work with a talented team and we can always create something very special.
Buy/Stream: https://orcd.co/ayra
Artists: https://bratri.live
