VINOK is not just another indie-rock band, it’s a statement of authenticity and social change to create a new culture of justice in a land of the unknown. Giving a voice for the marginalized and bluntly bringing to attention crucial problems of a global society is what the band is all about. Their topics range from disability rights to feminism, politics and religion. 

Vinok’s sound is an unusual mix of alternative rock and indie art-pop spiced with notes of garage punk, pulp grunge and even hip-hop.

The track is at the core about relationships, not only between individual people but society as a whole. Fundamentally, the band tries to raise issues of injustice. Their messages are to hold people accountable for their actions and also shed light on the difficulties of life with a spark of hope.

Co-founders, Nathalie and Ilya, met back in 2009 in the USA while studying. The two were co-founders of another band called Sphingidae for some years but when this project took another turn Ilya and Nathalie began to start something of their own. They formed Vinok and started writing music in 2016, then Anton joined the band in late 2017. 

That year, the three met in Kyiv to unite all of their musical talents as well as passion for justice and societal change so that their music has a social impact. The three spent 2018 mainly writing music and started to conquer the music scene in 2019 onward. 

Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” was when Nathalie knew she wanted to sing for all to hear. Her voice carries vibes of inspiration, strength, purity and revolution. She believes that music has the power to promote change and healing in this world. 

“We all have a story, music has the innate ability to tell those stories that connect us to one another as human beings” (Nathalie). 

Ilya’s diverse background is evident in Vinok. Playing drums in a Ukrainian punk-rock band in post-Soviet schools, he later went on to play in a New York jazz band, an Illinois orchestra and played at various venues in Massachusetts. 

The band’s bassist Anton is a musical virtuoso and has been playing in bands since he picked up a bass guitar at what some might consider too late — at the age of 19. Anton broke all expectations and is one of Ukraine’s best bassists. One of his all-time favorites is Rage Against the Machine, the influence of which one can definitely hear in his guitar-like style of playing on the bass. “Music is my salvation,” says Anton. 

“We aspire, as much as possible, to be a live authentic band; meaning that we make an emphasis on using real instruments and keeping the electronics to a minimum. We want that live energy to be presented in our tracks. We’ve been also looking for less popular rhythms and song structures. Also, this album is with heavier tunes as rock seems to be dying these days. We want to have the full freedom to breathe and experiment with sounds and song structures” (Ilya). 

Though the band started back only in February 2019, they already graced some of the biggest festivals in eastern Europe such as Ukraine’s Respublica Festival and Poland’s Slot Festival. The band’s music was mixed by sound producer and engineer PDub Walton who worked with legends such as Bjork, U2, Madonna, Massive Attack, and The Cure, and mastere Jon Astley who worked with The Who, U2, ABBA, The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.

What is your relationship with music? 

Music is in some sense an escape from what is going on in the world and allows us to process what we are going through in a very unique and healthy way. We also love the fact that we all can be honest with each other. It really provides inspiration for us like no other art process. It’s very relational. Being in the studio chatting, drinking coffee, and creating new music together is always extremely inspiring for us — we could do that for days in a row! 

Who are your all time musical icons? 

Arcade Fire 

The Cranberries 

Queen 

What is your creative process like? 

“It really depends on the circumstance and the song. Some songs are thought through and take ample time to create, whereas others can be structurally created during one rehearsal. No matter what the process is, we also spend a ton of hours on polishing each song to get the message that we are looking for. We are very specific, careful and critical of what we do musically but at the same time make sure that our initial emotions and ideas don’t get lost during the process” (Ilya). 

“Sometimes one of us could be walking outside and observing life and a melody comes to mind (voice memos are great for this). Other times we are just jamming in the studio and one of us will come up with something kind of groovy (beat, a key, a bassline, etc.) and we keep building on that. Then there are times when it starts with a story, a lyric, or a topic that strongly needs addressing” (Nathalie). 

What inspires your lyrics? 

We are inspired by much literature, just living life and work experiences, people we have encountered, but one big influence for “Holy Fool” was American-novelist Flannery O’Connor’s work. One of our favorite quotes of her’s is, “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” O’Connor’s southern gothic writing uses a lot of striking attention-grabbing symbolism with deep meaning. We also use a lot of symbolism to convey the messages in our music and lyrics. 

Tell us about your latest release and how it came about? 

‘HOLY FOOL’ is our first full album as a Ukrainian-American band and has been in the works over the last two years. What is in the name? Throughout history some have been called ‘holy fools’. 

Traditionally, this is a person who reveals truths in a provocative way and is not afraid of doing so,even if this behavior collides with the social norms. “Our musical endeavors in this album are a pathway to reveal the insanity of the world in a creatively insane manner” (Nathalie). 

Similar to our previous releases, ‘Holy Fool’ is at the core about relationships, not only between individual people but society as a whole. Fundamentally, we aim to raise issues of injustice. Our messages are to hold people accountable for their actions and also shed light on the difficulties of life with a spark of hope. 

Do you have any peculiar pre or post show rituals as a band? 

We normally have a little band ‘huddle’ literally minutes before going on stage; we form a circle and put our hands in the middle yelling “vinok, vinok, vinok, vinok, vinok” and then raise our hands to the sky to break. This pumps us up for the show and we typically say something like, “just keep it real guys and have fun!” Post the show we normally hug one another and thank each other for the opportunity to perform. 

Who inspires your style and aesthetics? 

We all have different styles but somehow we have been able to merge them into one that all are comfortable with. Nathalie loves anything vintage (‘Stevie Nicks’ style). If you don’t know where to find Nathalie, she is probably in some vintage/second-hand shop exploring! That said, we admire the raw and simple appearance, as we feel that best represents our music.

What is your advice for aspiring artists that want to achieve what you achieved? 

Any artform should be honest, authentic, and not give in to the trends just for the sake of fame. Make art with a purpose, art that matters! 

We would also say, don’t idealize your music to the point that it never actually gets heard or even released. As long as you believe in what you are putting out there and are passionate about it – show it! 

How do you think the music industry can be improved today? 

If we could change something about the music/entertainment industry, we would say make it a level playing field. We don’t play for fame but we would love for our music and message to at least stand a chance of being heard. In a perfect world, the entertainment industry would not be based solely on what sells and gives into the trends of today just because it is going to make big money. 

On one hand, with all of the new musical online platforms popping up, there are opportunities for bands like at no other time. On the other hand, since there is so much out there that is still not established it’s really easy to get lured into wasting your energy, time and money. Social media is also now really dictating how musicians should act and tends to mold bands into being hyper-extroverted all of the time. It also creates this false picture that everyone is always perfect and successful. It’s unnatural, it’s not how humans are. 

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