Between Kyiv and the Californian city of Santa Barbara there are 10,100 kilometers as the crow flies. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been raging since February 24, 2022, is far from the beach town where I am spending a year abroad and for the one here Uni radio produce a show about Eastern European music. The show is called МУЗЫКА (pronounced MUSIKA, which means music in Russian) and is loosely based on an Eastern European post-punk playlist I put together for ROLLING STONE less than a year ago.
But music from Eastern Europe has been part of my identity for much longer: I was born in Russia and grew up in Germany, and during my childhood Soviet rock music played in a continuous loop in my parents’ car. Some of my family still live in Moscow. МУЗЫКА aims to bring a piece of Eastern Europe – specifically Russia, Ukraine and Belarus – to the west coast. Until the end of February there were programs about protest music in Belarus, the revolutionary character of Soviet rock music and Eastern European hip-hop, among other things.
invasion as censorship
So, on the afternoon of February 23, 2022 California time, I’m sitting apathetically on the sofa in my flat share in California, waiting for war. Western secret services have been warning of an escalation for months, but I still think a war is unlikely until mid-February. But within a week, my perception changes, as do the predictions of the analyses, reports, and expert tweets I read obsessively. Then the Russian President announces the invasion on state television, and ten minutes later bombs are dropped on Ukrainian cities. It’s a Thursday, I’m going to have little to no sleep over the next few days, and I have a show on Eastern European music to produce by Sunday.
The war is a turning point on infinitely many levels – and of course also for МУЗЫКА: Ignoring the invasion and simply moving on is out of the question, but how to deal with all the new effects and dynamics between the Eastern European countries that are central to the radio show – for example with music by Russian artists who might support the invasion? At the same time, after a week of solidarity rallies in Santa Barbara, the war quickly became an out-of-reality event that doesn’t really affect a city with minimal Eastern European diaspora (not even enough for an Eastern European supermarket, but at least for some Ukrainian flags in solidarity) – after all, no Ukrainian refugees arrive at the train station here.
Solidarity with the Urkaine
That is why МУЗЫКА has had monthly solidarity programs for Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, where only music by Ukrainian artists, mainly in the Ukrainian language, is played. Because many people in Ukraine have deliberately stopped speaking Russian since the beginning of the war, the focus is on Ukrainian language and culture. The program also includes high-level overviews and explanations of the war – for example why the conflict is not new but has been going on since 2014, how Ukrainians are defending their country, what information warfare is, how Russian society is reacting to the invasion. The solidarity broadcasts are intended to make the war more visible to a community that is not directly affected by the conflict, but at the same time to show that Ukraine, Russia and Belarus are much more than this war.
The diversity of the Ukrainian music scene cannot be summed up in a single radio show (or text), but some of the most exciting artists from Ukraine should be highlighted here. The rapper Alyona Alyona is currently in the process of becoming one of the most well-known Ukrainian musicians internationally – on her album “Galas” she brings together a top-class selection of international features, including the German-speaking rapper Olexesh. Raised in provincial Ukraine and trained as an educator, Alyona Alyona, born Alyona Savranenko, raps precisely on topics that go beyond conventional hip-hop materialism, such as life in the country and body positivity. Since the beginning of the invasion, the artist has not only produced new music specifically themed about the war, but also volunteered at a Kyiv pharmacy.
Dream pop duo Tember Blanche usually performs softly melancholic love songs with soft guitar music. Since the invasion, the duo has released two songs in which the harmonic melodies remain central, but the lyrics are war-inspired: the song “Ненароженим”, roughly translated as “Unborn”, is dedicated to deceased children from Mariupol.
There are also all sorts of notable bands that have been part of the Eastern European post-punk revival of recent years, such as SMURNO, or The Last Passenger. Projects that combine Ukrainian folk music with contemporary music are also particularly unique, such as the rapper Alina Pash or the Kalush Orchestra, which use musical instruments from Ukrainian folklore and combine them with hip-hop melodies and lyrics on Ukrainian identity.
pop culture and war
Of course, Ukrainian pop culture has also been affected by the war. This is reflected in how Ukrainian (and also Russian) artists react to the conflict. Pop singer Khrystina Soloviy, for example, released a Ukrainian cover of the partisan song “Bella Ciao” called “Українська лють”, which means something like “Ukrainian anger”. In the song, she praises the strength of the Ukrainian army and believes in a world without Russian aggression. Punk band Бетон (Ukrainian for concrete) released the song “Kyiv Calling”, a reinterpretation of the legendary Clash song. However, the fact that Ukrainian bands are releasing songs about the war is not new – just like the Russian-Ukrainian conflict began before February 2022 (but in 2014, with Euromaidan and the annexation of Crimea). The singer Стасик, for example, who served in the Ukrainian army in Donbass after the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine in 2014, processes this experience in her music, in which she also emphasizes Ukrainian identity.
Beyond the music, both Russian and Ukrainian artists have decorated their internet presence with Ukrainian flags in solidarity. On YouTube, many have populated the image view of their music videos with messages to people in Russia that draw attention to the reality of the war – with messages like “You are killing us”. Since people in Russia now have little opportunity to find out about the invasion (the Russian state has banned all independent media, all opposition and the use of the term “war” in connection with the invasion, as well as severely restricted internet access in the country), this is a small attempt to spread information beyond Russian propaganda via other channels.
No war can be won or lost with music and radio broadcasts in California – but at least music can commemorate the war, which has now become everyday life for many, and generate solidarity. Therefore, as long as there is МУЗЫКА and this war, there will continue to be solidarity shows.