| Greenjolly will represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest. The final of the Ukrainian national qualification contest took place on 27 February in a live broadcast on the First National TV channel. Over 2,200 viewers voted for the song ‘Razom Nas Bahato’ (‘Together We Are Many’). The band fought off 18 participants for the right to represent Ukraine.
Greenjolly have said that they will change the lyrics of their song for the Eurovision Song Contest. According to the band member Roman Kalyn, the English version of ‘Together We Are Many’ will become the “anthem of free people all over the world”.
‘Razom Nas Bahato’ is not a political song Greenjolly and Ukrainian Records are working on the international version of the song which they say will not be political. The lyrics will soon be translated into English, and the political slogans will be removed.
There are special songs for all of the key events in human life. Lullabies are sung to a little child for it to grow healthy and strong. When people get married, we sing songs wishing them happiness. There are songs to bid farewell to a passing year or to welcome spring. And there are also anthems – songs that boost morale or that unite people for the sake of an important goal. They are written to keep people’s hopes alive and to help them to overcome obstacles. Every country has an anthem, in which the main aspirations of a nation, are embodied. And every revolution has its own anthem – an incarnation of a common objective, that reminds us of this memorable event.
The Orange Revolution, which took place at the end of 2004 in the Ukraine, also had its anthem. ‘Together We Are Many, We Can't Be Defeated!’ was the main slogan that sounded out for several weeks on the main squares of the Ukraine’s cities and towns. It was the slogan of a great awakening of the Ukrainian people and has inspired musicians to compose an accompanying song for the most prominent event in the recent history of our country. The band from Ivano-Frankivsk had composed a song, which became a soundtrack to the famous autumn events. It is even called the same: ‘Razom Nas Bahato – Nas Ne Podolaty!’ (‘Together We Are Many, We Can't Be Defeated!’)
“The song came about from mass meetings, which started all over the Ukraine, where Ukrainian people stood up for their democratic rights and for freedom,” say band members Roman Kalyn and Roman Kostyuk. “The very first meeting in our native Ivano-Frankivsk inspired us to create the song, which people are now calling the anthem of the Orange Revolution. We call it the Freedom Song.”
The story of the anthem’s creation calls to mind the way other epic ballads have been created. After the first meeting in Ivano-Frankivsk, the band members became so caught up with the idea of liberation that they immediately went to the studio and recorded the song in four hours. In this song they speak for everyone who no longer wants to suffer neglect and who began protesting against the tyranny.
“The lyrics of this song are the slogans of the Ukrainian people which sounded all over the Ukraine", say the members of the band. "But the music is ours". It was composed by Greenjolly.
Immediately after composing the song, musicians performed it on the main square of Ivano-Frankivsk to the great acclaim of their compatriots. And a few days later the song was being played on Maydan Nezalezhnosti square (the Independence Square in Kyiv). The musicians can’t say exactly how their song has got to Kyiv – they didn’t make a special effort to do this. They suspect that someone downloaded the song from the Internet and passed it onto Maydan. Somehow or other, the anthem was being played on Maydan, on car stereos, on TV channels. The little-known band Greenjolly had become one of the most famous groups in the Ukraine. Their anthem of the Orange Revolution had become one of the symbols of the Ukraine. And in a few days Greenjolly had became musical heroes.
Foreign mass media showed plenty of interest in the musicians, Greenjolly answered journalists’ questions from various native and foreign media, including The Financial Times, BBС, СNN, Reuters, The Times, TV ASAHI (Japan) and Canal+ (France).
Ukrainian Records Company signed an agreement with the band to release the revolutionary song ‘Razom Nas Bahato – Nas Ne Podolaty!’ The single also included remixes by Ukrainian DJs: Max Chorny, DJ Lunizz, Molotov 20, Serge_D. It also featured a new song by the ‘Pora’ band, dedicated to the victory of democracy in the Ukraine.
The band shot a video for the song ‘Razom Nas Bahato – Nas Ne Podolaty!’ Vitaliy Kokoshko (Kinematograf Company) was the director. The video included unique documentary shots of the Orange Revolution: a chronicle of events that had been broadcast by the 5 channels, shots from the tent town, artists’ performances on Maydan Nezalezhnosti, the ‘orange’ march through the streets of Kyiv. The video is a record of the stormy events of the autumn 2004 and is on rotation on many Ukrainian channels.
The cooperation between Greenjolly and Polish musicians was the next step in their creative work. Twelve of the most famous Polish hip-hop artists, inspired by the struggle for democracy in the Ukraine, recorded their own version of the anthem. Polish artists, who had attentively followed the course of the events in the Ukraine, held several concerts dedicated to the victory of democratic forces.
Later, the idea of performing the anthem of the Orange Revolution occurred to other musicians. The first to express the idea of recording a new version of the song were the musicians of a Polish UMC label, who specialised in hip-hop music. Famous TV host, musical critic and producer Robert Liashchynskyi, who hosted concerts in Poland with the help of the Centre of civil organizations of Volyn ‘Nasha sprava’ (‘Our cause’), contacted Greenjolly and the Ukrainian Records company.
They released a CD that included the band’s revolutionary single. As a result, the song gained a second wind: Polish hip-hop stars wrote their own lyrics about the right of every person to make his own choice, and Greenjolly sang the chorus. The track is still on rotation on Polish radio stations where the single will soon be released.
A celebratory event for Greenjolly took place on 25 February: on behalf of Viktor Yushchenko, President of the Ukraine, the band was awarded a memorable merit that recognized them as Honorary Participants of the Revolution.
At the moment, the musicians are recording an album which is expected to be released this spring.
The band’s history
Before becoming members of the Greenjolly band, the two Romans met in 1992. Roman Kostyuk, serving a military training in Ivano-Frankivsk, met Roman Kalyn at the Officers House. They had some common musical interests. Roman Kostyuk was fond of playing guitar and Roman Kalyn, who had graduated from music school on the accordion, already played in the band called Zakhid (West).
After developing a fruitful creative friendship, the guys became members of the Nemamarli (No Marley) band – a name which says something about the music they played. They played upbeat reggae with touches of Ukrainian music. Later, the musicians changed their music ideology and began to play more serious or ‘heavy’ music: rock ballads.
In 1997 they created a band of their own – Greenjolly (by the way, this word means wooden sledge in Hutsul dialect). Greenjolly frequently played in Ivano-Frankivsk and other Ukrainian cities and took part in various festivals. In 1998, they came second at ‘The Future of Ukraine’ festival. The same year they won a second prize at ‘The Melody’ festival and the next year they won another one at ‘The Pearls of a Season’ festival. Today, these two Romans have their own recording studio Roma Record. Roman Kostyuk works as a sound producer on Zakhidnyi Polyus radio station and Roman Kalyn is an announcer at the local television channel Tretya Studia, where he hosts two shows
The third band member, Andriy Pisetskyi (keyboards and saxophone) is an old mutual friend and recently has joined the band. The first performance of the band in full strength took place in February 2005.
The Greenjolly band – biographies
Roman Kalyn
Roman Kalyn was born on 17 April, 1968 in Ivano-Frankivsk. His mother Natalia Vasylivna Kalyn had worked all her life in the ‘Mebli’ regional furniture firm, where she had risen from being a common economist to the general accountant. She has now retired.
His father Igor Yevstakhovych Kalyn has worked in several different sectors – he has been a director of a food company, a warehouseman, a steward. He died on 19 July, 1994.
Like other children Roman started school at the age of 7. His favourite number, by the way is 17: he was born on the 17th, he had been studied at school number 17, he lived in apartment number 107 (almost 17)!. Because he loved music, while studying in the 5th grade, Roman entered music school specialising in the accordion and he graduated from it with the highest grades. At the same time he learned to play the guitar as well.
In the 8th grade, Roman started a band called Vizyt (Visit), in which he played bass guitar. The band performed on the school parties.
In 1985, after graduating from school, Roman entered Ivano-Frankivsk Oil and Gas Institute. After finishing the first year of study, Roman was taken to the ranks of the USSR army. Roman served in the army in Germany for two years, as a member of a military band. That is where Roman improved his mastery of the trumpet, bass guitar, drum kit and keyboards.
In 1988 Roman returned to the institute to study. That year he met Victor Morhunov which resulted in the creation of the first rock-band in Western Ukraine – Zakhid (West). Alongside his studies and playing in the band, Roman met an amazing girl Tetyana, who became his wife in 1990. Their daughter Natalia was born soon after on 28 January, 1991; around the time that the Ukraine gained its independence.
In 1989 the Zakhid band performed for the public at ‘The Red Rue’ music festival. After this event, the Zakhid band received a number of invitations to different concerts and festivals, but unfortunately the guitarist fell ill and had to leave the band.
Serhiy Popovych was dragged into the group and offered to change the style of music and the name. The band Zakhid was transformed into Mynula Yun (Past Yun).
In 1991 the band took part in ‘The Red Rue’ music festival, held in Zaporizhya. In the Ukraine, the band was not involved in any promotion, but in Russia they were much publicized. A well-known musical critic pronounced the band ‘the best and the most interesting band of the former CIS’.
In 1996, the two friends Morhunov and Kalyn created the band Nema Marli (No Marley), which played reggae music. That is when Roman Kostyuk, who was invited by Kalyn to join the band as guitarist. Nema Marli took part in a festival ‘The Pearls of the Season – 97’.
In 1998, Kalyn and Kostyuk created a new band called Greenjolly. Two new musicians, drummer Vasya Zuz and keyboard player Drakon (Dragon), joined them. This band wrote new songs and took part in several festivals: ‘The Future of Ukraine’, where they won the second prize, ‘The Melody’, where they won the honorary second prize and ‘The Pearls of the Season’ festival where the band also took the second place. In 2001 ex-bass guitarist of the La Manche band Sashko Tokarev and ex-drummer of the Deya band Igor Ozarko joined the band. As a result the group gained a new lease of life and recorded a number of acoustic songs.
In due course, Roman Kalyn and Roman Kostyuk had the idea of establishing a recording studio which is how the Roma Records studio was created. It has produced high-quality recordings for local musicians. In 2004 the guys were invited to work with Zakhidniy Polus (Western Pole) radio station.
And on 23 November, 2004, on the square in Ivano-Frankivsk, Roman Kostyuk and Roman Kalyn performed their new song ‘We Are Many’ in a hip-hop style, which was unlike their previous work. That started a new era in the band’s life and in the history of Ukrainian music as a whole.
Roman Kostyuk
Roman believes his personality was shaped at the age of 16 when he started to learn the guitar and found out that music was the most important thing in his life. Roman says he was fortunate to have a good teacher, Valentyn Mamedov – an expert in all styles of guitar-playing. Inspired by his teacher, Roman jumped headlong into music, playing the guitar between six and eight hours a day. Because of his strong desire to become a real musician, Roman progressed very quickly.
At the age of 21 he married Lesya, to whom he is grateful for her support, patience and understanding.
At the age of 29 the ‘Greenjolly’ period of his life began. Roman began to write his first compositions. He had already written lyrics, and so he made his first attempts to create his own music.
The desire to write music never left him; on the contrary, it became a part of his life. He and Roman Kalyn have established their own recording studio in Ivano-Frankivsk, where they help local bands to create music. Roman Kostyuk considers that “God has presented us with an opportunity to become professionals through diligent work and persistence”.
Andriy Pisetskyi
Andriy Ihorovych Pisetskyi was born on 4 December, 1979, in Ivano-Frankivsk.
His mother Lenina Pisetska works in a music school, his father Ihor Pisetskyi works as an engineer on the repair and engineering works.
Andriy has a younger brother Maksym, born in 1986, who is studying in Zhytomyr Military Institute of Radio Electronics.
Andriy graduated from the music school where he learnt violin and saxophone. After school, he graduated from Ivano-Frankivsk Academy of Music where he specialised in saxophone.
Nowadays he works in a variety-symphony orchestra as a musician. He takes part in different contests and festivals and joined the Greenjolly band in January 2005. |
