Slogans of solidarity with Ukraine have been painted on walls, hung from banners and sung on stages around the world.
Little has done more to capture the visceral emotion of Ukrainians fighting the war than music.
When many of the best musicians in the country left the studio to go to the front, they continued to produce and share their art.
Antytila is one of the biggest musical acts in Ukraine. After RussiaIn February, the gang enrolled in the Territorial Defense and joined the war efforts in Irpin, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Borodyanka.
While serving as a doctor at Borodyanka, Antytila frontman Taras Topolia wrote the lyrics for his verse in the collaborative song with Ed Sheeran2Step.
Taras’s bandmates filmed him on the front lines for the music video, but say they only had 20 minutes before they had to evacuate to avoid being attacked by enemy forces. A drastic change from their previous lives as regional rock stars.
Taras Topolia
Taras Topolia serving as a medic
“I can honestly say it’s not that easy, but we have to do it. We have to live this double life. Even now we are rehearsing, before we did our military duties,” says Taras, 35, from the band’s Kyiv studio.
“We are fathers and husbands. We have some dreams, we had some plans, and the war changed everything.”
In May, they performed a rendition of BB King’s Stand by Me, remixed with “Stand by Ukraine,” in military uniform with Bono. Three months later, the head of the Ukrainian army gave them permission to go and help promote culture through their art.
Now, they’re back home in Kyiv and rehearsing 2Step in the studio in preparation for a show in London on February 26. Their normal lives are still far from restored: Taras’s family is still in the US for their safety, and bandmate and keyboardist Serhii Vusuk’s family is in Wales.
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“Of course, psychologically it is very hard because relationships grow and develop when you talk and when you touch each other. When you hug your wife and children, you make jokes and talk to them,” says Taras.
“This war separated many families.”
Antitilla is not alone. One of the country’s oldest hip-hop groups, TNMK, spent the early days of the war in the National Guard in Kharkiv. Founding member Oleksandr “Fozzi” Sydorenko’s mother is still there now.
“In Kharkiv, until recently, there were three nights when there was no shelling at the beginning of the war. Of course, I go on and write and it happens that during the day there is no connection to it and the connection drops,” he said. she says.
Instead of his usual New Year’s Eve performance, Fozzi will travel to Kharkiv to be with his mother. But first, he and his bandmate Oleh Mykhailyuta “Fahot” are putting the finishing touches on the music video for their new single.
It is an informative animation that explains to young people the dangers of mines and bombardments. A danger that has been fatally felt too often.
“Many have already died. My friend’s brother, who was acting in our joint plays, died yesterday,” says Fahot.
“Ukrainians are going to defend themselves, to defend their homes, their families and they are dying. The best, the bravest, the most powerful and the most open will die.”
