Kalush releases "Stefania (Kalush Orchestra)

In times of crisis, it is a natural reaction to withdraw from everyday life, reevaluate new priorities, focus on basic survival, even to bury your head in the sand. All of that is perfectly okay to do and more than understandable. But then there are those, who find inspiration even in the darkest of times, those who keep going, driven by an urge to make change and/or to bring forth something good from all the pain and misery. In the case of the Ukrainian band KALUSH, it is just that: within a matter of weeks, their mission as artists grew from simply entertaining and representing their home country at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), to becoming the face and the voice of a nation currently undergoing excruciating times. Amidst a war that has the entire world holding its breath and suffering vicariously, KALUSH have decided that it is now more important than ever to stand their ground, hold onto their dreams, and fight for what they believe in.

KALUSH, whose name is inspired by the small industrial hometown of front man and band leader Oleh Psiuk, aka The Psiuchyi Son, was formed in 2019, when the members Igor Didenchuk and MC CarpetMan (KylymMen) responded to Oleh’s Facebook post through which he was searching for band mates. And so the band was born, creating a unique mix of rap with folk motifs and Ukrainian authenticity – or as they like to call it: folk and groove. For a bigger setup, KALUSH transforms into the KALUSH Orchestra, gaining the power of two additional multi-instrumentalists: Tymofii Muzychuk and Vitaliy Duzhyk. Their first single “Shtomber Womber” was released in December of 2021.

With their newest track “Stefania”, KALUSH Orchestra has won over the hearts of a global audience at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, both with their incredibly one-of-a-kind music as well as with their important message. The song, consisting of a mix of rap verses plus a folk chorus and captivating hip hop beats, is dedicated to each one of the KALUSH Orchestra’s member’s mothers. Like all other works of KALUSH and KALUSH Orchestra, it is based on true life experiences.

“It's a song about my mother,” front man Oleh Psiuk explains, and continues openly: “I've never dedicated a song to her, and I'm not at all sure whether our relationship has been particularly close in the past, but I know she definitely deserves this song. This is the best thing I've ever done for her”.

As a special surprise, the organizers of the Ukrainian National Selection for the ESC 2022 (“Vidbir”), had invited his mother to the final, where she heard the song dedicated to her for the first time.

About KALUSH Orchestra’s decision to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, they explain: “It was a collective decision. The desire arose right around the time we wrote our first track as KALUSH Orchestra. We thought ‘this music should be heard in Europe.’ Like in every music competition, all participants take part in order to gain new experiences and to compete for the first place. Why do we need that victory you ask? Well ... Throughout the entire Eurovision history, we have never heard of a rap song winning the contest. Also, Eurovision is all about experiments – and new things are often very successful. We want to show that rap combined with Ukrainian folk is extremely cool!”

Beyond the sonic influences of their home country, KALUSH Orchestra also showcase their Ukrainian origin through their outfits, wearing traditional ‘Hutsul keptar’ vests, a pink bucket hat tailored in a typical Ukrainian style, or dressed up as Hutsul molfars (molfar = magicians, shamans, and healers among the Hutsul people of Western Ukraine). Each band member’s outfit includes black and red colored elements. As they explain in their own words: “Red, on the one hand, is a symbol of love, and on the other hand – it’s a symbol of suffering. Black is a symbol of darkness and fertility of the earth.”

KALUSH Orchestra has provided an additional, personal statement about the current situation in Ukraine, and how they are experiencing it:

“February 24 was supposed to be the worst day of our lives, but the longer the war lasts, the more terrible the days become, as they are filled with more pain, blood, death, and destruction. Every new day is a story, a story of joy, when we hear the voice of parents and friends and a story of pain, when we look out the window or read the news of aerial bombardment, the entry of enemy tanks and the shooting of civilians queuing for bread.

We read in the textbooks about the terrible times of wars and genocides that were committed against the Ukrainian nation, but we could never imagine that all this would happen to us again. Over the last year we had concerts in every regional city of Ukraine and in most district centers, I remember a lot of eyes standing in front of the stage and it's scary to imagine that many of them closed forever. It's scary when your girlfriend helps to strengthen positions during the shelling, and you don't know if you'll hear her voice again. It's scary not to see a smile on the faces of our band’s guys, because everyone is in a different area and all that can happen. It's scary to open messages and to read that your friend died defending Kherson.

All this is scary, but when you read about everything from the stories or the interviews, it's one thing, and when you're at the center of it, it's another thing completely. You do not think about fear, because you are overwhelmed by love for everyone around you, for the native language, streets, buildings, and land. Therefore, Ukrainians have no fear, they have a great love for their nation and country.

Initially, Eurovision was for us a song contest through which we can show our talent to Europe and declare our identity as European artists. But now, Europe and the competition are the biggest platform for us, where we cannot just talk about the war, but stand there as eyewitnesses as people who came from the shelling and people who will return to there after the competition ends. For us, Eurovision is now a mouthpiece through which we can convey to the average European just listening to the music that soon, the artists from his or her playlist may simply not exist anymore, because Russia is dropping bombs every day and firing bullets, targeting all citizens of the Ukraine. Also, to us it’ll be like every Ukrainian will be on stage and performing with us in Turin. After all, every victory is extremely important for our country now!”