The Ukrainians

BIOG - 2008 Celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2008, The Ukrainians continue to mix up their winning concoction of Western punk-pop and traditional Ukrainian sounds, a blend that's always best served live. As 'Q' magazine says "Going to a Ukrainians gig is like being at the mother of all parties". The Ukrainians' most recent album, 'Live in Czeremcha' has been received as a career high. It has attracted rave reviews and huge amounts of airplay across Europe and North America. The Ukrainians have become established as the world's major exponent of a hybrid of traditional Ukrainian folk and Western rock music. As well as re-interpreting centuries’ old traditional Ukrainian folk classics, the band has become notorious for its 'Ukrainianised versions' of classic Western pop songs by T.Rex, The Sex Pistols, The Smiths and The Velvet Underground. The Ukrainians have played the Glastonbury and Womad Festivals in the UK as well as over a hundred major World Music, Folk, Indie and Rock events throughout Western, Central and Eastern Europe and North America. The Ukrainians were discovered and pioneered by the legendary BBC Radio DJ John Peel. One of their sessions for the programme was included in MOJO magazine's '20 Landmark Peel Sessions'. Here are some of The Ukrainians' other notable achievements: ·          The group's 'Oi Divchino' single was an NME Single of the Week and the video for it, shot in Kyiv was the first pop video to be produced entirely in Eastern Europe for a western band.·          Many of the band's own compositions have become absorbed into the folk repertoire in Ukraine.·          The Ukrainians recorded the soundtrack for a globally-broadcast NIKE TV ad.·          The Ukrainians toured in Ukraine as guests of Ukraine's Ministry Of Culture. The tour culminated in a performance in Kyiv's Independence Square before a crowd of 75,000 people, an internationally-televised event organised to celebrate the anniversary of Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union.·          The band's 'Pisni Iz The Smiths' EP was voted No.1 Indie Single of the Year by Berliners above Depeche Mode, Chumbawamba and Nick Cave.·          The Ukrainians are one of the only bands to be consistently written about in the parallel worlds of World Music and Rock Music, appearing equally as often in Songlines and fRoots as in MOJO and the NME. Press quotes: "A competition between the band and the audience as to who's having the most fun" - fRoots "Blows your trousers off!" - NME