«Krykhitka» is a Ukrainian indie pop-rock band from Kyiv, one of the most interesting and unconventional bands in Ukraine. The band «Krykhitka» became the continuation of the band «Krykhitka Tsakhes», which ceased to exist after the death of guitarist Mykhailo Hychan.

Despite the “tiny” name and the small number of releases, each musical expression of the band is a contribution to Ukrainian culture.

 

UkraineForever managed to talk to the frontwoman of the band — Sasha Koltsova. Member of the board of UA: Public broadcasting, public figure and one of the most recognizable female voices in Ukrainian music.

We are glad to see you, you organized a mini-tour of Ukraine. Tell us what your goal is on the tour and how you manage to work in today’s conditions?

  • We have such an intermittent career, let’s put it this way. We joke about ourselves that we are a weekend group, but that’s how it is. The guys have careers in companies, their own or not. I really wanted to see the cities. It’s a pity that because of this weather I can’t take a walk and see all the beauty of the city. Feel it, what it lives for. In my opinion, now everyone has decided not to postpone life for later. So we decided not to postpone the tour for “another” life.
  • Everyone now has their own direction of volunteering, for example, I make a brooch in the form of cotton, and then organize an online auction. In Lviv, such a brooch was bought for 15,000 hryvnias. We will send these funds and a third of what we earn to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The brutal war changed many lives, changed the values ​​of many of us. How did it change you?

  • We may not notice these changes, but they are definitely there. We have become more irritable and emotional. We have learned to live for today, for me, returning to more active musical activity is also not putting it off for later. So now we are in the period of recording an album and new songs.

 

For more than half a year, a full-scale invasion has been going on. What story of ordinary Ukrainian heroism has impressed you personally?

  • Now a girl came to mind – a fifteen-year-old teenager. With a leg injury, she took people out of Chernihiv. In general, we encounter Ukrainian heroism every day. People, having their own problems, put them aside and help each other. This is an extraordinary society. We now have extraordinary contact, when they understand you with half a word, with half a “g”. Every Ukrainian has their own unique story, now it is part of our everyday life. It is very sad to be a war generation, but only now do you understand how cool everything was before. They killed this childish carefreeness and trust in the world in us — it’s very unfortunate.

Recently, together with a German band, you presented the song “What’s Behind the Doors”. Share your impressions of working together and are there any more collaborations planned?

We had an offer from the band “Trümmer” and Alina Kuchma, their good friend from Ukraine, organized everything. Actually, you could say that it was her idea and initiative as a cultural manager. When Alina wrote to us that there was a band that composed a song even before the war, which exposes the falsity of nationalist movements in Germany. So we were offered to make an adaptation into Ukrainian. I love experiments and for me it was a creative challenge. I didn’t feel like writing at the beginning of the war, we were all too tense, so we didn’t feel like being creative. We coped with the task quite quickly. This is a punk song, and the music of “Krykhitka” is much softer, we are still indie pop. It was unusual, but I liked it. I think that this song will not become a big hit in Ukraine, because we are used to other music. And the lyrics are a little through the prism of a Western listener and his vision. Very European, cautious lyrics about – “Don’t you think that Russia is similar to fascism?” They are so cautious, because they have not yet encountered this evil.

How do you see the Ukrainian music industry after the war? How, in your opinion, will the attitude towards it change in Ukraine and the world?

  • I am sorry that tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens had to die in order for Ukrainian music to appear on the radio and television. In 2005, I received refusals from media executives, they did not broadcast our music because it was in Ukrainian. Today, such a situation is unacceptable and fantastic. We understand that these are the same people who could have made the right decision then, because then there was Ukrainian music and there could have been many times more of it. How much had to happen in real history for everyone to start taking culture seriously. People did not understand for a long time that culture is a weapon! I hope our population has woken up from all the insanity that was instilled. It is a shame that we have to go through a tragedy to turn into a real Ukraine!

From the height of your authority, what do you think is the phenomenon of Ukrainian music?

  • Our folklore component, which is in “Onuka” “DakhaBrakha”, “Go_A” and a few other performers, finally worked. In the late 90s, when “Chervona Ruta” was there, “Tanok na Maidani Kongo”, “Tartak” and many other cool Ukrainian bands appeared. Our first album was released in 2005, so we were fans of them and wanted to “surpass” them at the time. It was an intra-Ukrainian trend. Now it has returned, but already on the international arena and it looks super cool, in my opinion. The war “heated up” curiosity, but we always had this peculiar element. Our music really “rocks” and everyone said: “Oh, there really is something in this Ukraine. It turns out that this is not Balkan music, they are different. They have their own instruments”. That is, when we talk about folklore or processed folklore, it is really a phenomenon. If we talk about ordinary pop music, then we sound like any music from any country. That is, there is no such breakthrough as the Ukrainian sound, yet. I rely a lot on Jamala, I think she will have very interesting collaborations. Maybe Beyoncé is not as far away as we think.

What do you strive to convey in your compositions today? What do you see as your creative mission in difficult times for Ukraine?

  • We “Krykhitka” are a small group. We have 20-30 thousand listenings per month on Spotify. I have 50 thousand followers on Twitter and almost 10 thousand on Instagram, I know my audience. These are smart people, with higher education, 25-45 years old, I know that they buy books, go to the cinema and support Ukrainian. That is, we know our audience very well. I also know that teenagers do not listen to us. They either listen to other Ukrainian music, or Russian, which is more likely given recent studies. We will have “cotton” grandparents, because this is how it has turned out historically. There is also a great risk that a generation of children who are now 5+ years old will find the return of the Russian narrative. Sooner or later, we will have to come to terms with a defeated country, have a common border. I think that Russification cannot be stopped. Therefore, the creative task of “Krykhitka” is to create content that will hold our listener and our listener’s children in this Ukrainian context. The clearer and more understandable we will “pack” the emotions of our generation into music, the less they will invest them in “ooh, battery”. Therefore, we work in depth, not in width, like my colleagues from the pop industry. I really hope that connoisseurs of our music will stay with it. It’s like frozen berries, people listening to our music can recreate that taste, youth and maturity. Now our listeners are 35 years old, they are fighting for Ukraine and creating Ukraine! I am very happy that we are involved in the formation of this generation.

Do you feel the process of the revival of Ukrainian culture now? What would you like to see it in the future? 

  • Everyone loved “Chervona Kalyna”, great. After all, before it could have been any other Ukrainian folk song, let’s say. Now an unknown layer of songs is returning, Streletski, UPA and others. People have begun to be interested in their history. It seems to me that now we are getting acquainted with everything pop, then we will get to less pop things, for example, the Narbut fonts, which were founded by Ukrainians. We will have to know history well and constantly form a pantheon of our Ukrainian heroes.
  • For about 10 years, when I give interviews, I always ask: “Do you know Ukrainian ballerinas, opera singers?”, and they answer me “No”. Then I ask: “And Russian ones?”, to which I hear “Yes”. The time will come when we will not know the heroes of a foreign state, especially a state that wants to destroy us. We need to immerse ourselves in our cultural environment. Culture should become one of the state’s priority areas.

As a public figure, what do you think about the activities of cultural media in our country, or from what angle do they cover cultural life in Ukraine?

  • I am glad that more and more cultural media have begun to appear. This is very good. If before the cultural media told what cool bands were performing in Moscow, now the history of the development of Ukrainian punk rock. This is a huge victory and joy. I can’t say right or wrong, let them cover it. We need to support and encourage people who are involved in culture. It seems that music criticism in the next 5-10 years should be more lenient. We already see all the shortcomings or peculiarities.

What path do you see for the development of your musical activity? Share your creative plans

  • This is a serious question. The group “Krykhitka” is very unsystematic in its music. Almost all of our songs find their listeners, there are very few “random” compositions. After all, when we get together, we WILL GET TOGETHER! We know that we lack the media component and visualization, which is certainly a mortal sin now. But we are preparing a new album and will correct all managerial mistakes. We will simply do what a Ukrainian rock band should do!

What song will you sing after the victory?

  • I think I’ll just run and howl happily like a siren. I think we’ll all scream happily for a few days, and after the euphoria there will be a recovery. The main thing is that we “sing” together, and not start to cringe from pain, disappointment and difficulties. Being together is our ultimate goal, we must be one country. Unite around love for our country and our future.

Tetyana Panchenko