In Ukrainian the word korchma means “tavern”. If you attended one of last year’s extended Capital Ukrainian Festival late-night line-ups, however, you could just as easily think the word translates into “party like it’s the last night on Earth!” These gatherings filled up fast in 2017 with people who somehow still had some energy left over after the fest’s mainstage shows. For folks with that kinda’ gusto not just any kind of entertainment will do. They want to stomp, hoot, holler and wail along to a group that’s just as intense –maybe even more so—than they are.
Do you want that kind of party?
Do you want to raise your spirit to maximum?
Well sharpie up that calendar with a few exclamation points on July 20TH. Then brace yourself for some psychobilly/ska Ukrainian-style because Kyiv legends the Mad Heads are ready to test the speed limits and borderlines of just how far Ottawa is willing to go when they unleash their wild-style-anything-can-happen-and-it-probably-will-blazin’-bash on a one night only show for Korchma 2018! At only $20 per ticket, I defy you to find a better floor stompin’, wall shakin’, window rattlin’, lock up the kids, cats and dogs because the parents wanna’ party kinda’ workout that Vadym Krasnooky and his band of merry men will unshackle this night.
Since their debut album Psycholula introduced them with a gut-punch to the psychobilly (think rockabilly smashing into punk) scene, the Mad Heads have developed the perfect rabid cult following for their frenzied “Mad Heads Boogie”. Though the group has gone through many musical transformations and touring adventures, the core vibe remains as stuck to ‘em as their fanbase. They’ve released 8 studio albums, 27 videos, and slide onto some choice TV/movie soundtracks, but if you’ve been in the crowd for one of their over 1000 shows in 12 countries you’ll know those live gigs really put the “mad” in the Mad Heads. It’s a kind of beautiful insanity! They became even more cherished in their homeland when they became one of the first bands to support the people of Ukraine when the Orange Revolution started and again during Maidan, a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest which began in 2013 with public protests in Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti (“Independence Square”).
Tunes like “Nadiya Yea” and “A ya na mori” may be sung by people all over Ukraine but Canadians have been joining the choruses too at packed shows in Toronto, Manitoba, Montreal and, soon, Ottawa! Before they make Korchma 2018 one of the highlights of festival season, we chat with Krasnooky about the band’s history, unmistakeable sound and unhinged concerts.
Andre Gagne: Now before we get into your initial psychobilly spin on Ukrainian traditional music, I want to ask what your personal introduction was to the vibrant and often wild style of the music of Ukraine?
Vadym Krasnooky: My personal introduction was through Ukrainian folk songs. I wasn’t really paying attention when I was a kid. At home, my father would listen to classical music and jazz, while TV and radio were ruled by Soviet popular music. But folk songs were so naturally mixed into everyday life. People, especially the older generation, would sing them at friend and family gatherings. Many years later, when I was working on our all-folk album UkrainSKA, I was listening to huge amounts of recorded folk music and I was so surprised to discover that I actually knew many of these songs already. That album was released in the time of the Yanukovych government, when the nation was quite depressed and patriotism wasn’t a trend at all. But we decided to do it, anyway. As with all our other records, we did all the production and promotion at the band’s own costs just because we believed it was our mission to do so. We believed that Ukrainians would need this music sometime in the future.
As we started to play those songs live, I was surprised to discover two things. First was how many people knew those songs already. Second, that the national patriotic spirit was actually on the rise. People felt so united at those concerts, so proud and motivated. Just from the experience of playing Ukrainian folk songs I knew that Yanukovych wouldn’t last long and something big was coming. It was like being on tour promoting Maidan long before it actually happened. When Maidan actually started, Mad Heads performed there many times. They would also play some of our tracks every hour, so we just happened to be recording Maidan’s soundtrack without knowing it.
What are some of the more unique facets of Ukrainian music you feel those not familiar with it should listen for?
Well, the modern Ukrainian scene has become very diverse in styles and genres in the last 10-15 years. There’s all kinds of stuff, and many interesting artists to check out, depending on what you really like. Listen to DakhaBrakha, Joriy Kloc and Vroda – just a few examples of heavily folk influenced modern music, all very unique and different, creative and professional. There are much more. It’s really happening right now. My latest great impression would be Alina Pash. And there are many new artists who don’t have any evident folk influences, but still are very good and original.
The band formed in Kyiv. With those traditional roots all around you, what went into developing the signature sound the Mad Heads would be known for?
It was really an unbelievable mix of different roots and cultures. It was Ukrainian folk, Balkan gypsy punk, ska punk, reggae, Latin alternative and some rockabilly flavour from the band’s early days. Probably you can hear more influences, as the idea was to go way beyond existing genres. But that all was just music-wise, while I am sure that sound gets influences from the vibes and energies of the places and the people. Mad Heads traveled a lot around Europe since the 90s, our early CDs were released by a German label, then we became Ukrainian rock stars and a decade of extensive homeland touring followed. The band played over a 1000 shows, and I am sure it is all preserved in the music. Kyiv has a very special vibe and charm, and almost all our band members were born there (which is rare to the Ukranian scene). The band was Kyiv-based most of the time, so I would say the magic of this great city is all through our music.
Your early sound has been called Psychobilly, which gets me thinking of a wacked out greaser roaming the Southern hills armed with wild eyes and a guitar. What, would you say, are the ingredients needed to toss into the psychobilly stew and who are some of the artist you’d suggest listening to as a further sample of that flavour?
I would start with the Stray Cats, as my biggest love from the early days, but also check out a bunch of very original European bands of 80s and 90s such as Batmobile, Nekromantix, Mad Sin and more. Then, it would be the Reverend Horton Heat from the US and great Australian band The Living End.
The band reached a kind of legendary status in your homeland before you set out touring the world. What’s the difference, would you say, in a typical road show to one in front of a Ukrainian audience?
Well, the audience could be very different in two different events in the same city. It is definitely not the same in other cities and countries. This is about the start of every show. But then, as people get into the vibe and energy of our music, they become more and more familiar after each song and finish up as a long-time friends by the end. Sometimes it takes more songs to feel this, sometimes less. But it comes to this every time.
I’ve seen clips of your shows on YouTube and they are wild. Where does your energy fuel come from to deliver those performances for such an amped up audience?
The energy is everywhere, it just waits to be focused and delivered. I sometimes think of it as sharing the magic, but it really is the energy. Some fuel can be used for the boost, indeed, but it is not necessary. I am actually mostly enjoying, in recent years, coming up on stage completely sober and getting high just on the power of music and energy interaction. It is such a pure delight.
In 2004, the band felt they didn’t fit into the psychobilly scene anymore. Why was that?
As any subculture genre, pscychobilly has limits and boundaries. It is all about culture and style and tradition, while for me music has to be experiment and creation. I accepted the rules and was actually enjoying it for some time, then I was pushing the limits within the genre. And then my music became so different, it just wasn’t psychobilly anymore, and I had to acknowledge that. It was especially noticed when I started to write Ukrainian lyrics for the songs. Every language sounds differently and influences the music a lot.
What is more interesting, it wasn’t just about the music anymore. When I was experimenting with the lyrics, I actually wrote some songs in Russian and Ukrainian. We had been playing some concerts in Russia back then. I couldn’t understand completely the feeling that I had from that experience, but the result was the fact that we never toured Russian since 2005. And I only wrote new songs in Ukrainian language since that time (well, there was just one exception…). I was also participating in movements promoting Ukrainian culture. Only recently, with the war broken, I have realized completely that the artist inside me was fighting for Ukrainian independence all this time.
Instead of disbanding, the Mad Heads added an XL to your name and changed up the sound. How did you find the transition into adding more members and moving into more ska mixed in with Ukrainian folk?
That happened quite naturally. We just knew that those new songs required a horn section so we invited some good musicians who we knew and it all worked even better than we expected. We just probably should have changed the name completely and started from scratch, because it was a new band, indeed. But we thought our old fans would love this new sound as much as we were enjoying it, because for us it was so natural. Well, some of them hated it, but at the same time the new following was so huge, the band became one of the top mainstream acts in just a few months.
How do you feel the larger band adds to those epic live shows?
First of all, it sounds very different from any other Ukrainian band (early Mad Heads did so as well, though). The brass section is also very bright, powerful and cheerful, very positive. And finally, while we were a 3-piece, I was too busy playing crazy guitar solos all the time and singing simultaneously. With extra musicians, I made my guitar lines mostly just rhythmical, while paying more attention to vocals and even more to the audience. This is where the magic became bigger. In recent years we also have had an extra guitar player in the band, so I can sometimes free myself completely.
You’ve been embraced by the Ukrainian community here in Canada after multiple shows in Toronto, Manitoba and, soon, Ottawa. Your fan-base here is a large one. What would you like to say to those Canadian Mad Heads fans?
Don’t forget Montreal, we have played that festival, too! Well, what can I say? Our fans in Canada are lucky ones, as there will be more shows for them in the near future. The Ukrainian community here is large, healthy and unique. I am enjoying being a part of it very much. While the primary goal of my stay in Canada is about taking my music to the next level, I am also willing to give to Ukrainians here what they love, and what I can do best – my songs, my energy, my performance.
What can we expect when the Mad Heads hit the Capital Ukrainian Festival stage come July?
First of all, it is a new Toronto based line up which consists of fantastic musicians. Most of them are young Ukrainian guys who used to listen to Mad Heads music and maybe just dreamed to become part of this band. Now those dreams are coming true and they are all very excited about it. So, it is going to be a very emotional concert. The songs will be all those best and favourites that you’d expect. It is going to be one of those best concerts, full of drive and excitement. In addition, I am going to sing a Bob Marley song. It is strange, as reggae music has been a strong influence for Mad Heads, but I have never sung any Marley songs before in my entire life. I am gonna’ do it for the first time in Ottawa.
