motel void

I Hate Myself Because is a musical project of the Ukrainian musician Maksym Semeniuk. Maksym is best known for his just-over-a-minute-long garage rock hits, characterized by eccentric vocals and gritty guitars.

MOTEL VOID: Your songs are often just over a minute long—why do you prefer this format? Do you have any favorite musicians who also create songs of a similar length?

I HATE MYSELF BECAUSE: The album that showed me it’s okay to make songs this short in this genre is ‚I Hate Jazz‘ by Mike Krol. Almost all the songs on it are under two minutes long. There’s also a purely practical reason for this: since I do everything myself—recording the instruments, mixing, and so on—pretty quickly, everything about the song begins to annoy me. So I try to find a balance between the time I spend on a song and how complete it feels. Because of that, I often end up deleting parts I’m too lazy to properly finish.

MOTEL VOID: Can you share your songwriting and recording process? What kind of DAW do you use?

I HATE MYSELF BECAUSE: I have a fairly minimalist setup: an audio interface, a single guitar, and a dynamic microphone. My songwriting process almost always begins with a guitar riff, and then I come up with some vocals to go along with it, writing about whatever comes to mind first, which is why there are so many songs about women.

I mix as I record because I need to have a rough idea of how it will sound in the end—that determines whether I’ll even finish the song. As for my DAW, I use FL Studio.

MOTEL VOID: How do you feel about the global success of your music, with over 60 million streams on digital platforms? Did you expect this kind of response, and how has it impacted your music career?

I HATE MYSELF BECAUSE: Some initial success came unexpectedly, but at a very fitting moment in my life, when I didn’t know who I was or where I was headed in life. As soon as I gained some listeners, I started feeling a sense of responsibility for what I do, and for a while, it weighed on me.

MOTEL VOID: This September, you embarked on a European tour, including a show in Paris where you performed for nearly 500 people. What was that experience like?

I HATE MYSELF BECAUSE: It was my first serious tour, and I was really anxious about making sure everything was done right—from the shows to the logistics—which made it hard for me to relax and enjoy myself. Well, except for the show in Berlin. After that one, I got drunk and wandered around Berlin’s clubs on my own. I have no idea how I managed to get past the door policies in that state—I can only remember bits and pieces. But not partying in Berlin would’ve been a sin.

As for the shows themselves, I think we played really well. Of course, some shows were better than others, but that’s natural. Overall, I’m happy with both myself and the team. That said, next time, I’ll try to loosen up a bit.

MOTEL VOID: The war has deeply affected Ukraine’s culture, including its music scene. How challenging— and how important —is it for you and your peers to create art during this time?

I HATE MYSELF BECAUSE: Over the past three years, the Ukrainian music scene has gone through a kind of renaissance. We’ve started to appreciate our artists more, and there’s been growing interest from other countries in our culture. We have a large number of talented musicians creating despite everything, though the industry is still in the early stages of its development. This is not the first time in Ukraine’s history that our culture has been targeted for destruction, which is why Ukrainian artists are doing their best to preserve it.