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Ukrainian rock band comes to Athens for a show September 4, 2007

Post Soviet-era act Okean Elzy, a top seller in its region, set for Lycabettus show on September 24

‘We all started listening to whatever we felt like listening to… Things that were previously outlawed gained acceptance. Of course, this wind of change brought with it both good and bad things,’ says frontman Svyatoslav Vakarchuk of the post-Soviet era in Ukraine.

Local concertgoers will have a rare opportunity to get a taste of Ukrainian rock music, an unknown quantity for most in this country, later this month with a performance by Okean Elzy, an extremely popular outfit domestically, in Russia, and other former Soviet regions. Okean Elzy are scheduled to perform at the open-air Lycabettus Theater on September 24. This show in Greece, whose Russian-speaking community is estimated at over 500,000, will launch the pop-rock band’s world tour, “Ya yidu do domu” or “Returning Home”.

Okean Elzy were formed in 1994 in Lviv, Ukraine, and have since released 10 albums, most of which have gone platinum. Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, the band’s vocalist who studied physics, is considered one of Ukraine’s most successful musicians. The current line-up of Okean Elzy also includes Petro Cherniavsky on guitar, Denys Dudko on bass, Milos on piano and Denys Hlinin on drums.

Vakarchuk gives an insight into the Ukrainian band’s course ahead of its first ever show in Greece.

«We were brought together by our love for music. All of us liked the Beatles and old, good English rock music. We never made plans but simply played because it’s what we liked to do,» said Vakarchuk. «We lived to play. We’d experiment, argue, and play at some club in the evenings. None of us ever wondered about tomorrow, for the band.»

Besides the rock sounds from the West absorbed by the band during its development, Vakarchuk said traditional Ukrainian music was also a deep and fundamental influence for Okean Elzy. «Its various shades in style cannot be described or compared with anything,» said Vakarchuk.

Vakarchuk, who was born in 1975, all the band’s members were born in the 70s, and remembers the days of Soviet rule very well. As a youngster, he said, he listened to banned music from the West, but these restrictions suddenly vanished following the demise of the USSR in 1991.

«We all started listening to whatever we felt like listening to. Some focused on the Soviet music market, others turned to the West, and others combined the two,» recalled Vakarchuk. «We desired this wind of change. Things that were previously outlawed gained acceptance. Of course, this wind brought with it both good and bad things. So, gradually, the different types and styles of music began to expand.»

As for Okean Elzy’s approach to music, Vakarchuk said the band never felt concerns about where its material was headed. «We never thought too much about the style of music we were playing, but if it’s important to give it a name, then call it Ukrainian Rock,» remarked Vakarchuk. «Of course, much has changed since 1994. We were younger, understood less, and dived into it blindly. Since then, we’ve not only learned to listen to sounds but silence as well.»

The band’s lyrics, Vakarchuk responded when asked, were as important as the act’s music. «I think that for Okean Elzy the lyrics and music are one. The subject matter of all our songs is about simple things in life. Like scenes from a movie,» the frontman said.

Galina Kakos, a Ukrainian news correspondent based and married in Greece, who, like the band, hails from Lviv, described Okean Elzy as «a symbol of contemporary, independent Ukraine.» Kakos, who heads a society here called Greek-Ukrainian Thought, explained that: «Up until 1991, culture in the Soviet Union was a mosaic formed by many different cultures of various countries. Anybody who wanted to pursue an artistic career would go to Moscow, the center. After 1991, these other Soviet states, like Ukraine, were decapitated.»

Amid this sudden void created by the newly found independence, various artists gradually began articulating their feelings and views. Okean Elzy were a part of this wave of artists. The band uses the Ukrainian language for its lyrics, a decision that runs counter to career-minded acts in the former Soviet Union, which tend to opt for Russian, instead. Despite Okean Elzy’s language decision, the band became a hit in Russia, too, where it has managed to fill a 40,000-capacity stadium in central Moscow.

Vakarchuk is on the ballot for upcoming early national elections, scheduled for September 30, a week after his band’s show in Athens.

Another Okean Elzy fan, Lena Sartory, a Russian literature graduate who is currently based here for a PhD on a Greek literature magazine of the 1930s, “To Trito Mati” or  “The Third Eye”, knows the Ukrainian scene well.

«There was an explosion of rock bands in Ukraine in the 90s that are popular in Russia as well, even though they sing in Ukrainian,» said Sartory, who singled out Okean Elzy and another band, Vopli Zidopliasova, as her favorites. «Both emerged almost simultaneously. The difference between the two is that Okean Elzy are more mainstream and are influenced by British pop, both in their music and video clips. Vopli Zidopliasova are more artistic. They’ve searched more. But both are liked very much in Russia and other former Soviet countries.»