May 26, 2022

Winnipeg
23° C, A few clouds

Full Forecast

Contact Us Subscribe Manage Subscription Chat with us
Log in Create Free Account Help Chat with us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • My Account
    • Manage my Subscription
    • Change Password

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
    • Log in
    • Create Free Account
    • Help

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
  • Coronavirus Coverage
  • Replica E-Edition
    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West
  • Above the Fold
  • Front page
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Book Club
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Canada
  • Local
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • World
  • The Star
  • Reader BridgeNEW
  • WFP EventsNEW
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Archives
  • Free Press Community Review
    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Classifieds
  • Contests
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • LifestylesNEW
    • All Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Homes
    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Newsletters
  • Obituaries
  • Puzzles
  • Photo and Book store
  • More

©2022 FP Newspaper Inc.

Close
  • Quick Links

    • Coronavirus Coverage
    • Federal Election
    • Above the Fold
    • Home
    • Local
    • Canada
    • World
    • Classifieds
    • Special Coverage
    • Newsletters
    • Obituaries
    • Photo and Book store
    • Archives
    • Contests
    • Publications
    • Sponsored Content
    • Privacy Policy

    Ways to support us

    • Pay it Forward program
    • Subscribe
    • Day Pass
    • Support Faith coverage
    • Support Arts coverage
  • Replica E-Edition

    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West

    Business

    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
  • Arts & Life

    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Sports

    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • Opinion

    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor

    Media

    • All Media
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos

    Homes

    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Canstar Community News

    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Coupons

    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • About Us

    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
The Free Press
Articles Read
Your Balance +tax
Day Pass Till
Day Pass
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Report an Error
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
    • Staff Biographies
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • Log in
    • Create Account
    • Help
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
    • My Account
    • Manage My Subscription
    • Change Password
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
Log in Create Account Contact Us
Contact Us Manage Subscription
  • Sections
  • Local
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Diversions
    • Environment
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Health
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Soccer
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • E-Edition
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Automotive
    • Careers
    • Garage Sales
    • Merchandise
    • Pets
    • Real Estate
    • Rentals
    • Services
  • Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Manitoba’s Top Employers
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print
    • Ripley's Aquariums
    • The Bay
    • Staples Canada
    • Altitude Sports
    • Nike
    • Tuango
    • Ebay Canada
    • Sport Chek
    • Roots
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe$1.50 for 5 months
Home Arts & Life Arts & Entertainment Music

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Loud, proud, no polkas allowed

Aggressive Winnipeg ethno-fusion band Zrada is celebrating Ukrainian New Year, and they don't take requests

By: Alison Mayes
Posted: 1:00 AM CST Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Save to Read Later

They've got the traditional accordion, violin and sopilka (shepherd's flute).

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/1/2010 (4517 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They've got the traditional accordion, violin and sopilka (shepherd's flute).

Their names are Andriy, Taras, Mikhas, Andrijko, Dobryan and Nick.

Aggressive Winnipeg ethno-fusion band Zrada is celebrating Ukrainian New Year, and they don’t take requests.

Aggressive Winnipeg ethno-fusion band Zrada is celebrating Ukrainian New Year, and they don’t take requests.

But if, after a few shots of vodka, you go staggering up to this young local band and request a song typically played at Ukrainian socials -- like the rollicking polka Fly Kozak! or the novelty tune It's Fun to be Ukrainian -- they'll tell you to go suck a cabbage roll.

Don't bother asking them to turn down the volume, either.

"It's not a wedding band," declares drummer Nick Luchak of the band Zrada.

The group's six members were all born in Canada, but grew up steeped in Ukrainian culture, language and religion in Winnipeg's northern neighbourhoods. Two of them, violinist Mikhas Chabluk and bassist Taras Babiak, are members of the red-booted Rusalka dance troupe.

Zrada is a loud, aggressive ethno-fusion act that melds Slavic and Balkan melodies and Ukrainian lyrics with rock, punk, reggae and ska.

It performs a few traditional folk songs, but it also does a Uke-punk version of Waltzing Matilda.

"We're a folk-rock band," says main songwriter, lead singer and trumpet player Andriy Michalchyshyn, 26, who is more apt to perform in sloppy camouflage shorts than Cossack gear.

"We're not taking requests, we're playing our music," adds the tall, dark-haired vocalist. "Ukrainian music is typecast as, like, polkas and perogies... We're going against what people expect Ukrainian music to be. It's not traditional. It's much more in-your-face."

Zrada is set to perform Thursday night -- Ukrainian New Year's Day, based on the Julian calendar -- at the King's Head pub. The show is a casual Malanka, a New Year's celebration that can take place any time around mid-January.

It will include a midnight countdown, at which time Zrada promises to play a mashup of Auld Lang Syne and an age-old Ukrainian song that proclaims "The old year is passing."

On Jan. 23, the band plays a more formal Malanka in Toronto. Michalchyshyn admits he was amazed to get that gig, because such dinner-dance fêtes usually employ conventional wedding-style bands.

"We never expected to be invited to play at a Malanka," he says. "I spent a good half-hour on the phone going, 'Are you sure? Have you heard our music?'"

It turned out that the organizers, a Ukrainian youth association, had seen Zrada at Toronto's Ukrainian Bloor Street Festival this past September and knew what to expect.

Zrada formed in 2005, but didn't solidify its current lineup until last year.

It's a part-time pursuit, since the six, ranging in age from early 20s to early 30s, all have "straight" lives. Michalchyshyn is a high school teacher. Luchak is an aspiring graphic designer. Babiak and guitarist Dobryan Tracz are scientists, Chabluk is a pharmacy student and accordionist Andrijko Semaniuk is a commerce student.

In October, Zrada released its debut independent CD, which earned four stars out of five from Free Press reviewer Jeff Monk. The self-titled, 16-song disc, available at Into the Music, War On Music or www.cdbaby.com, has earned stylistic comparisons to a British band called The Ukrainians and to New York Gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello.

In September at the Garrick Theatre, the Zrada boys got to open for a famous ensemble from Ukraine that they greatly admire, the "Carpathian ska" band Haydamaky. One of that band's albums is called Ukraine Calling, presumably a reference to the seminal punk album London Calling by The Clash.

The two bands hung out and talked about the dream of Zrada touring Ukraine and playing European festivals. "They were encouraging, but they gave us a lot of constructive criticism," says Michalchyshyn.

Haydamaky is named after 18th-century Cossack and peasant rebels. Zrada's name also expresses rebellion. It means "treason" or "betrayal."

"It's a very strong word," says the singer. "It's showing that we're different. It's not a happy-go-lucky polka-band name."

The album cover of London Calling may have depicted The Clash's bassist smashing his instrument against the stage, but Zrada's CD art includes "a demented Kozak smashing a bandura (Ukrainian lute) over his head."

Reactions to Zrada's local shows have been mixed. Some elderly members of the tight-knit Ukrainian community have walked out "because it's not their bag and it's loud," says Michalchyshyn.

On the other hand, "some older people are very pleased that we're doing something in Ukrainian."

As a child, Michalchyshyn says, "I probably knew Ukrainian before I knew English." His songs, with titles such as Dark Skies and Winter, often employ nature imagery, which is inescapable in traditional Ukrainian lyrics and poetry. He is often asked why he doesn't write in English.

"To me, (Ukrainian) is more poetic," he says.

"When your culture is so ingrained, so deep, there are so many emotions there. It's impossible to ignore. If you can connect that to something creative, it's so fulfilling. It's the ultimate expression of who you are."

The Free Press | Newsletter

Winnipeg Gardener

What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. A monthly email from the Free Press with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing.

Sign up for Winnipeg Gardener
Sign Up

 

alison.mayes@freepress.mb.ca

Music Preview

Malanka Pub Night with Zrada, at the King's Head

Thursday at 9:30 p.m.

$5 at the door

If you value coverage of Manitoba’s arts scene, help us do more.
Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism.
BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

  • Report Error
  • Submit a Tip
  • Refund
  • The Free Press is certified by

The Winnipeg Free Press invites you to share your opinion on this story in a letter to the editor. A selection of letters to the editor are published daily.

To submit a letter:
• fill out the form on this page, or
• email letters@freepress.mb.ca, or
• mail Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2X 3B6.

Letters must include the writer’s full name, address, and a daytime phone number. Letters are edited for length and clarity.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Top