KOZAK SYSTEM

KOZAK ROCK KOZAK ROCK KOZAK ROCK

HAYDAMAKY is a Kozak-Rock band! A well known Ukrainian band through whose artwork you can hear and feel a great mixture of traditional motifs and modern musical trends. As one critic said: "Haydamakys music is the Europe we do not yet know".


"Our objective is to make contemporary Ukrainian culture "cool", trendy, fashionable, and something to be adopted into other world cultures. What we want to achieve for our young Ukraine is the widest possible recognition throughout the world." - O. Yarmola, HAYDAMAKY.

The band has been performing under the name HAYDAMAKY since 2001, but it began touring Europe in the early 1990s and continues to do so today. Very different from other popular Ukrainian musicians who mostly work under the cliché of soviet style music, or those who just copy and paste Western European and American stars, HAYDAMAKY demonstrate elements of traditional Ukrainian music through a mixture influenced and also made up of different cultures coupled with modern musical styles. The band has its own alternative identity a genuine base stemming from Kozak roots and a distinct social message. The bands cultural impact and social position has drawn strong attention and camaraderie from Eastern and Central European intellectual elite artists such as Emir Kusturica, Hubert Von Goisern and Jurij Andruchovic. HAYDAMAKY have set the new Ukrainian trend of "KOZAK ROCK" on the European music scene.

HAYDAMAKYs music is strongly rooted in Ukrainian Kozak culture and inspired by the ethnic sounds from different regions of Ukraine such as Polissya, Bukovyna and the Carpathian mountains, with slight compliments from the vibes of Jamaican reggae, Irish ethno-punk-rock and hot sounds from the Balkans and Moldova. A blend of traditional sounds with the heavy groove of a punky rhythm section presents HAYDAMAKYs cultural message to the highest potential degree.

The band was formed in a time of world-changing events and the emergence of a Ukrainian national consciousness. HAYDAMAKY's audience grew from random passers-by in the streets of Berlin to crowds counted in the thousands at some of the world's largest music and film festivals such as Lowlands, Eurosonic, Mundial, Berlinale, Kustendorf, the Sziget Festival and Przystanek Woodstock.

HAYDAMAKY are well known across Europe. Their concert landscape spreads from the Black Sea to the Norwegian Sea covering Baltic and Roman-Germanic countries, bringing together the minds and ideas of people from all over the world. And HAYDAMAKYs geography continues to grow.

We can freely and openly state that HAYDAMAKY are the only Ukrainian band touring Europe and not only performing where Ukrainian communities are found, but also playing for progressive European youth, especially those who are lovers of the LIVE! sound.

During the last couple of years HAYDAMAKY have performed at many famous European festivals. Their songs have been on various well known music charts and have been accordingly awarded. During their first month of sales HAYDAMAKYs albums Ukraine Calling and Kobzar became one of the best albums on the World Music Chart Europe. The song Za Nashov Stodolov (from the Ukraine Calling album) made it onto Charlie Gillett's The Sound of the World" on the BBC Radio playlist. One of the most honourable accomplishments for HAYDAMAKY was the award presented to the EastBlock Music label at WOMEX 2006 for the nomination of Top Label Award Winner 2006 for HAYDAMAKY's album Ukraine Calling.

HAYDAMAKY is a group of individuals whose talent and creativity are bringing a part of Ukraine to Europe and part of Europe to Ukraine.

HAYDAMAKY are now working on their fifth album and a brand new Kozak Rock live show, touring non-stop from Kyiv to Lisbon, from Amsterdam to Ljubljana, performing more and more...

Discography

1. Haydamaky -- 2002, COMP Music/EMI, Ukraine
2. Boguslav -- 2004, COMP Music/EMI, Ukraine
3. Perverziya -- 2005, COMP Music/EMI, Ukraine
4. Ukraine Calling -- 2006, EastBlok Music, Germany
5. Kobzar - 2008, EastBlok Music, Germany
6. VooVoo I Haydamaky 2009, AGORA, Poland

Contacts:
HAYDAMAKY
haydamaky@ukr.net