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Ukrainian rock (Ukrainian:Український рок,romanized: Ukrayinsʹkyy rok) isrock music from Ukraine.
Ukrainian contemporary music, including rock, emerged from theVIA music scene of the 1970s and 1980s. This controlled form of music, was a response to theRock and roll infiltrating from the outside of theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. An important role in the popularization of rock music in Ukraine was played by theChervona Rutamusic festival.
The most popular modern Ukrainian bands includeBoomBox,Braty Hadiukiny,Druha Rika,Haydamaky,Komu Vnyz,Lama,Mad Heads XL,Mandry,Mertvyi Piven, Okean Elzy,Plach Yeremiyi,S.K.A.Y.,Taras Petrynenko,Tartak,TNMK,Viy,Vopli Vidoplyasova and others. Famous Ukrainianheavy metal bands include Fleshgore, Firelake,Nokturnal Mortum,Astrofaes,Drudkh, andHate Forest. Metal Heads Mission is the biggest metal festival in Ukraine and ex-USSR countries.
The history of rock music in Ukraine started in the second half of the 1950s with the spread ofbeat music among the youth in countries which were then part of theSoviet Union. This process resulted in the emergence ofVIA youth collectives, which were a form of compromise between the official ban on "bourgeois" Western music by Soviet authorities and increased demand for modern entertainment during theKhrushchev Thaw era.
Government pressure and frequent bans forced many musicians of that era to performunderground, and theIron Curtain combined withcensorship limited the possibilities of bands to adopt new musical styles. As a result, musical compositions tended to be eclectic and used elements of different styles in a selective manner. VIA songs lacked the traditionalprotest elements, and their topics were limited to lyrical and romantic images. At the same time, close connections withbard music, as well as the wish of young performers to underline their national identity, led to the integration offolkloric motives into Ukrainian rock music, which showed parallels to thefolk revival trends in the West.[1]
Among the first music collectives to perform modern popular music inUkrainian language were bands such as Berezen', Dzvony,Druhe Dykhannia [uk], Chervoni Dyiavoliata (all fromKyiv), Lysy, Prometey, Bliky (all fromLviv),Hutsuly [uk] (Kosiv). They usually identified their musical style as "beat", which in the Soviet Union became synonymous withrock'n'roll. Many Ukrainian bands of that time usedfolk instruments such assopilka,tsymbaly andbandura, adopting elements offolk andjazz rock.[2][1] During the 1960s and 1970s several popular Ukrainian bands developed acult following, most prominentlyLevko Dutkivskiy'sSmerichka [uk], as well asKobza,Eney,Chervona Ruta,Vatra (Ukrainian band) [uk] andSvitiaz (band) [uk].
On 1 January 1966 Ukraine's first beat music festival took place inKharkiv. In the same yearSerhiy Korotkov [uk] started publishing asamizdat magazine calledBeat-Echo, which became the first Ukrainian publication dedicated to rock'n'roll music. In 1967 around 30 bands took part in a beat music festival in Kyiv, and next year the city'sCentral Post Office became the venue of the first all-Union big beat contest, which involved performers from Kyiv, Lviv and Kharkiv, as well as guests from other parts of the USSR. However, after theSoviet invasion of Czechoslovakia authorities started a wave of repressions against those musical collectives whom they deemed to be too free-minded. During that time television and press were used by the state to create an image of rock musicians as "wreckers" and to depict their music as dangerous. Numerous musicians were blacklisted and not allowed to perform anymore.[2]
After the government crackdown onbig beat collectives, early 1970s saw the rise of the new type of musical bands known as VIA (vocal-instrumental ensemble). Unlike their predecessors, they were required to get an official registration from authorities and performed at philharmonic halls,palaces of culture or factories. Their repertoire was limited, as their compositions usually had to be created by professional musicians and poets who were members of theUnion of Composers andWriters' Union of Ukrainian SSR. The outward appearance of performers was also strictly regulated: their clothes had to be formal, including elements offolk clothing,military uniform etc., and all members of a band had to be dressed in the same style; moving around the scene during performance was not approved. On the other hand, unlike the earlier beat collectives, which frequently had to improvise in order to obtain musical instruments, members of VIA bands were provided with professional quality equipment. Despite government censorship, Ukrainian performers of that era managed to introduce fashionable Western trends of that time to their audience, using elements of styles such asfunk andfusion, and their compositions preserved a distinct Ukrainian identity.[2]
During the 1970s one of the centres of artistic resistance to the Soviet regime in Ukraine was Lviv. This made rock music popular among the local youth and led to the creation of thehard rock bandSuper Vujky [uk]. The idea to create the band first appeared in 1974 and next year it started its performances, which became popular among Lviv'shippies. Super Vujky's original members were three local musicians and an immigrant fromArgentina, and throughout their existence only one of their performers was a professional musician. The band initially performed covers on the songs of popular Western bands, most of them from Great Britain, such asFocus (band),Rainbow (rock band),Deep Purple,Led Zeppelin,Nazareth (band) etc. Later the band also created a number of their own original compositions. Due to increasing pressure of the Communist government, in 1981 Super Vujky were forced to cease their performances. However, the band eventually reunited 30 years later and in 2014 issued its first album.[3]
In the environment where one-band performances were increasingly being banned by authorities, an especially important role in the promotion of popular music in the Soviet Union was played by festivals, both local and all-Union ones. In 1971 and 1972 "Chervona Ruta" and "Vodohray", two songs written by Ukrainian songwriter and composerVolodymyr Ivasiuk, became the winners of thePesnya godamusic television festival inMoscow. As a result, Ivasiuk, a medical doctor by profession, became a star not only in Ukraine, but around the whole USSR. This met strong opposition from both officials, who were bothered by the national motifs presented in his songs, and professional composers, who were envious of his success. The campaign of pressure against Ivasiuk ended with his death in 1979, which took place under suspicious circumstances. The composer's funeral turned into a demonstration of defiance against Soviet authorities, and many of its participants were later questioned by theKGB. The death of Ivasiuk coincided with the general decrease of VIA's popularity. The emergence ofelectronic music,disco,new wave andsoft rock forced many musical bands to dissolve or to change their formats.[2]
A partial relaxation of government pressure against rock music in the USSR took place in the period immediately before the1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, as Soviet authorities attempted to create an illusion of cultural freedom in the country in order to attract foreign visitors. One of the important musical events during that time was theTbilisi Rock Festival (1980). However, starting from 1983 a new wave of persecution against rock musicians began, aiming to disrupt performances byunderground bands. In the following yearsshow trials against musicians who performed unofficially became a norm in the Soviet Union. Only with the beginning ofGorbachev'sperestroika in 1985 did the pressure start to decrease.[2]
The rise of rock music in Ukraine in the middle 1980s was inspired by thedoctrinals ofglasnost anduskoreniye. During that period Ukrainian rock developed under the influence ofpunk,post-punk andalternative rock and adopted protest elements covertly directed against the Soviet system.[1] Compositions of notable Ukrainian performers of the new generation, among themViktor Morozov,Eduard Drach,Maria Burmaka,Sestrychka Vika,Braty Hadiukiny andKomu Vnyz, were influenced bycounterculture genres including punk andmetal. In 1986 Ukraine's first official rock club "Kuznia" was created in Kyiv; later similar spaces appeared in other cities, including Kharkiv, Lviv andOdesa. Rock clubs allowed local bands to openly perform, rehearse and use quality equipment, and also promoted contacts, discussions and exchange of experiences between musicians from different collectives. Many independent rock bands appeared in Ukraine during that time, with most prominent of them beingEdem,Kvartyra 50 [uk],Kollezhskiy Asessor andVopli Vidopliassova.
During 1986-1987 a number of rock concerts were held in Kyiv, and their participants' songs were even advertized in the local press. In 1988 the capital also housed Ukraine's first international rock festival, which involved bands from the Soviet Union,Poland,Hungary and theNetherlands. In 1987-1990 rock festivals also took place inDonetsk,Lutsk,Simferopol,Dniprodzerzhynsk andBerdiansk. In Lviv the first officially sanctioned rock concert was organized in January 1988. The most prominent event which influenced the development of Ukrainian rock and Ukrainian music in general was theChervona Rutamusic festival, dedicated to the memory of Volodymyr Ivasiuk and held for the first time inChernivtsi in 1989 with the participation of exclusivelyUkrainophone performers. Among the 30 participants of the festival's rock section were Vopli Vidopliassova, Komy Vnyz, Braty Hadiukiny, Zymovyi Sad, Sestrychka Vika.[2]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s a new generation of Ukrainian rock artists emerged, represented among others byOpalnyi Prynz, perhaps the most influential rock band of that period, followed by its predecessor Loony Pelen.[4] An important event in the history of Ukrainian music during the last years of Soviet rule was theVyvykh [uk] festival, whose first edition took place in Lviv in 1990. Among performers who played at the event were rock bandsMertvyi Piven,Plach Yeremiyi,Tabula Rasa (Ukrainian band) [uk],Banita Bayda [uk], as well as future members ofSkryabin. Duringthat period music festivals became a vivid expression of protest against the Soviet regime and played an important role in the Ukrainian independence movement.[2]
Another important event in Ukrainian rock was theNew Ukrainian Wave 92 ("Пісенний Вернісаж") a festival of the best Ukrainian folk/pop/rock bands produced byRostyslav-show, which took place in 1992. Among the most popular Ukrainian rock performers whose careers started in the 1990s areOkean Elzy, featuringSvyatoslav Vakarchuk, which has long been among the most popular pop-rock bands in Ukraine and abroad, as well asMandry, known for their fusion of traditional Ukrainian music with rock,blues,reggae andchanson. Famous pop-singerRuslana also uses some elements of rock in her work.
Early 2000s saw the blooming of music festival scene in Ukraine, promoting both traditional Ukrainian culture and modern international music. Among the most prominent events of this type was theKraina Mriy festival, founded by rock musicianOleh Skrypka of Vopli Vidopliassova and named afterone of the band's albums. Other important rock music festivals in Ukraine during that period wereTrypilske kolo,Faine Misto [uk] (named after a song by Braty Hadiukiny),Zaxidfest, andStare Misto, as well as ethno-rock festivals inPidkamin andSvirzh.
With the beginning of theRusso-Ukrainian War music events have started to play not only a cultural, but also an important social role, mobilizing the society to support theArmed Forces. Many performances have become charity events, gathering help forrefugees and wounded soldiers. In addition, Ukrainian music, including rock, plays an important part in the information war, using art as a means of communication, countering propaganda and popularizingUkrainian culture.[2]
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