“MAZEPA” — a band that has recently burst into the Ukrainian cultural space, but has already managed to captivate many listeners. The band’s philosophical and romantic songs captivate any audience, and the live sound of their songs is always a stream of positive energy and emotions.
The band includes:
Andriy Mazepa — frontman;
Andriy “Mukha” Samoilo — guitarist;
Vladimir Kostyk— drummer;
Kostya Mukhin— keyboardist;
Pavlo Nadal— saxophonist.
- To begin with: how did the “Mazepa band” appear, where did it all start?
Vladimir: We have known each other since birth.
Andriy M: That’s true, because Vova and I have really known each other for a very long time.
Kostya: I have also known the guys for a long time. Andriy since the 8th grade of school, then I bought a xylophone from him when I entered a music school. In principle, since then fate has constantly brought us together. I went to study drums with Vovchyk and it was at the studio in
Andriy. Once we played in twos, then in threes, and then it all kind of went away. We just realized that we had fun. And we decided — we do it if it’s fun.
Andriy S: And I saw that they had fun and decided that I also wanted to be in this “two-piece”. I haven’t known these guys for so long, so I don’t know what to expect from them yet (laughs)
Andriy M: The passion that unites us very much — we like to play music live. We originally got together to record tracks in the studio, but as soon as we started playing live, everything… We realized that from now on we will play only like this. We immediately “took our positions” and started making music. Our group, with the exception of various curious additions, has not changed its composition much since its founding. (laughs) For example, we have a guy who sometimes replaces Vova.
Volodymyr: I haven’t seen him.
Kostya: I haven’t seen him either
- Is this a phantom member of your band?
Kostya: He’s not a person. The drums are playing, but he’s not there…
Andriy M: We used magic at some of our concerts, people call it playback. (laughing)
Volodymyr: It all started when I couldn’t return from Romania on time. In short, I got “stuck” somewhere, so the guys had to get out of the way and substitute my drum parts from the previous concert.
Andriy M: Timur — this is the flash drive that replaced Vova then. Now she always travels with us.
- Describe the music that “MAZEPA” plays and why do you position yourself as Ukrainian baroque?
Andriy M: This genre can be considered relatively new in musical terms.
Andriy S: Vibe
Everyone: Oh, that’s right.
Andriy M: We are all academic men, with a musical education. We really like it when music is free of dirt and the “cleaner” the creativity, the more we enjoy it. I think that’s why the embodiment of such music for us is Ukrainian Baroque. You could say that this style chose us..
- How long does it take from the moment the idea for a track comes to life to its full realization and what stages of this process bring the most satisfaction? Is there a special song?
Andriy S: Sometimes someone brings an idea, and sometimes it just comes to you. We play for our own pleasure and don’t think about the plan for creating the track.
Kostya: I have a track that I like to play the most— “Explain”. I just get high.
Volodymyr: And I just like music, and not only our group.
Andriy M: If we talk about a special song, then it is worth mentioning the one that is not completely ours. We are talking about the song “Who are you”! It is special and very much felt by all of us. It was written by the artist KOMA KOMA. This track is not entirely characteristic of his work, but it turned out to be very characteristic of ours. The song itself found us. By the way, I think that the term “Ukrainian baroque” was first used by this guy. Therefore, if we talk about where it all came from, then it was he who analyzed our music and described it that way, and we recorded this thought.
- Regarding concerts in different cities. What difficulties did you encounter during the performances? Do you organize everything yourself?
Andriy S: Great, for example, I don’t organize concerts (laughs).
Andriy M: Concerts arise when someone has an impulse, a desire for us to perform. Behind each concert is a separate organizational story. Today’s institution — “Bunkermuz”, its managers — Rulya and Vika themselves suggested organizing our concert. And in general, despite the difficulties of today, we choose to talk about opportunities. Everyone helps and supports everyone, such is the uniqueness of this time, there was no such thing before. Actually, because of this, all concerts have become more heartfelt now, people come and enjoy themselves. It seems to me that this is a feature of concerts now, and in the future all this will only scale up.
- So what is in your band “Kozhen Sam Sobi Rishaye”?
Andriy M: If it’s an important decision, I once decided to spread my eyebrows apart and since then they have hardly moved.
Kostya: I decide for myself what depends on me.
Volodymyr and Andriy S: We completely agree with the guys (laughing).
- What dream would you like to realize together as a band?
Andriy S: “Madison Square Garden”
Andriy M: Oh, that’s great! I think I can add another dream. I’ll quote our saxophonist Pavlo Nadal, who couldn’t join us today. He once told me after one of the concerts: “I dream of having only one band and not doing anything else in my life!” This is a really cool dream! I think each of us has one.
Tetiana Panchenko
