Komy Vnyz, once in the vanguard, is back with new release (12/14/97)

Komy Vnyz, once in the vanguard, is back with new release

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - They first made a big splash in Ukraine in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Along with bands like Braty Hadiukyny, Vika and V.V., and with songs that thinly veiled criticisms of the Soviet Union and evoked feelings of national identity, Komu Vnyz became part of a vanguard of artists and youth that forged a democratic movement as communism fell apart. After Ukraine's independence and with the reality of life in the post-Soviet transition period setting in, they disappeared. Now, with the release of their new compact disc, "In Kastus," Komy Vnyz is back.

"At the beginning of the '90s there was this movement of extreme romanticism with the collapse of the Soviet Union," said Andrii Sereda, the front man for the band. "There was this exaltation. You performed often. Everything was very open. But you suspected that it could only go so far."

As the daily drudgery of life in a country in severe economic collapse set in, the music that had so affected their fans began to seem much less important, said Mr. Sereda. That, combined with the takeover of the music scene by clans and corrupt businessmen, made working as a musician difficult. "For many of us, not just members of the group, it was difficult. We were able to perform only at small clubs, only on certain television stations," Mr. Sereda explained.

The band's projects were put on hold, including the "In Kastus" recording on which they had begun working in 1993. Besides the economic climate, the band felt that studio technology in Ukraine was not at the level they desired for their new productions, and they refused to record in Moscow. "We needed time for the technology to get here," explained Mr. Sereda.

This year Komy Vnyz, which consists of Mr. Sereda on vocals and keyboards, Serhii Stepanenko on bass guitar, Vladyslav Makarov on guitar, Vladyslav Maliukhin, guitar, vocals, and Yevhen Razin, drums, decided that the technology had arrived.

Another important item on hand for the completion of their album was financing. OmniSphere Productions, headed by Ihor Fedorowycz, a U.S. expatriate from Detroit who lives in Kyiv, offered to finance the completion of the recording and to produce a compact disc.

The CD is a series of 20 songs heavily indulgent in national and historic themes. One song, "Subotiv," refers to Bohdan Khmelnytsky, a hetman of the Ukrainian Kozak State, who signed the Pereyaslav Treaty by which Russia claimed sovereignty over Ukraine for the next 300 years. Lyrics to another song are the words from Taras Shevchenko's famous poem "Rozryta Mohyla."

In an age where every band seems to have a name for their style of rock music, so does Komu Vnyz. Their press release calls what they create "progressive" or "flash" rock. The music is hard and anthemic, in the vein of U-2, but with measures of Jethro Tull apparent. Bass guitarist Stepanenko emphasized that also present are major influences by the rock bands Yes and Pink Floyd.

The CD's title, "In Kastus," the Latin term for incest, is not meant to be taken at its literal meaning, said Mr. Sereda. He explained that the allusion is to developing a cultural progeny within one's own national and historic traditions.

The band, which began playing together in 1988 when perestroika was in full movement, has outlasted many of its counterparts, including Vika, who today lives in New York, and Braty Hadiukyny, who are only heard from sporadically. But they have yet to achieve the popularity and financial stability of one other counterpart, V.V., which has a popular following in France as well as Ukraine and released a hugely successful single this past summer titled "Vesna." As Mr. Sereda said, "Today we can't really say the music supports us; even some of our equipment is rented. But we do own our talents."

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