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YEEZHAK is a Philly-based rock group, which performs in Ukrainian and English. Musical influences include American indie, kiwi-rock, alternative noise and classic Stones.
The Ukrainian-langauge texts featured in YEEZHAK songs come from poems written by contemporary Ukrainian poets as well as from Ukrainian folklore.
YEEZHAK
Mark Andryczyk – guitars, vocals
Yaryna Yakubyak – keyboards, vocals, percussion
Roger Bodine – bass
Christian Hayes – drums
YEEZHAK in 2022 is part of an Ukrainian-American music project, which has existed for over 25 years, uniting musicians in the US and Ukraine in creative collaborations.
History
Phase 1
YEEZHAK was formed by Mark Andryczyk (Raze, Underraga, Kavune) in 1995 as a project involving musicians from Philly and Lviv, Ukraine. In 1996 Andryczyk recorded the Album Sveter (Sweater) at Galvox Studios in Lviv together with musicians from the legendary Lviv rock groups Mertvyi Piven (Dead Rooster [Oleh “John” Suk, Yaryna Yakubyak, Roman Chaika, Misko Barbara, Liubko Futorskyi]) and Plach Yeremii (Jeremiah’s Cry [Taras Chubai, Sashko Kamenetskyi]). Music for the album was written by Mark Andryczyk while the words belong to contemporary Ukrainian poets Viktor Neborak and Yuri Andrukhovych, as well as 1930s poet Bohdan-Ihor Antonych, among others. The laregly acoustic album, prominently featuring viola and sopilka (fife), was presented at live performances in Ukraine.
In 1998 the second Yeezhak album Vulkanizatsiia (Vulcanization), presenting a harder, noisier sound, was recorded at Lviv’s Studio Leva with the support of the Dzyga Art Association. Featuring the same musicians as on the Sveter recording, plus Vulkanizatsiia’s producer Andriy Piatakov on drums for one track, and the poetry of Ivan Malkovych, Kostiantyn Moskalets, Ihor Rymaruk, Yuri Tarnawsky (The New York Group) and Ivan Franko, the album was launched with several concerts in Ukraine.
Phase 2
Mark Andryczyk and Yaryna Yakubyak married in 1999 and moved to Toronto leading to a break in YEEZHAK’s activity for several years. In the summer of 2005 Andrycyzk gathers YEEZHAKs’ past members and, with the addition of drummer Andriy Nadolskyi (Plach Yeremii), records the EP KhmariPara (CloudSteamPair) at Studio Leva in Lviv and at Taras Chubai’s studio in Kyiv. Guitarist Marian Prystupa (Faino) performed with YEEZHAK at shows in Ukraine that year.
Phase 3
In 2007, Mark and Yaryna moved back to Philly and began playing with Mark’s former bandmates Roger Bodine (Doomed to Obscurity, Underraga, Grisly Fiction) and Christian Hayes (Kavune, Father Jack and His Idle Hours, Nature Films). The new YEEZHAK line-up premiered at a 2008 show at the Ukrainian League of Philadelphia.
YEEZHAK performed acoustically at a poetry event for Viktor Neborak (2005), an evening memorializing the poet Ihor Rymaruk (Shevchenko Scientific Society, NYC, 2008) and at a gathering of prominent Ukrainian-American writers and musicians (Cornelia Street Cafe, NYC, 2009). YEEZHAK also perfomed acoustically at presentations of Mark Andryczyk’s monograph at Dzyga (Lviv, 2015) and at the Ukrainian Museum (NYC, 2015 ).
This latest line-up of YEEZHAK perfomed in 2012 in Philly (with Dora Shoturma of Maiden Creek Lodge lending vocals) and then set off to Ukraine for a concert at the Dzyga Art Association in Lviv in July 20012. Original YEEZHAK member Taras Chubai joined the band on stage at the Dzyga show, playing viola.
In June 2017 this latest line-up of YEEZHAK performed at a concert with Kharkiv, Ukraine’s Serhiy Zhadan and Sobaky v Kosmosi (Dogs in Outerspace) at the Ukrainian League of Philadelphia. Later that summer, on August 18th, YEEZHAK performed at the Slavic Block Party at the Maas Building in Philly, joined by Taras Chubai on viola. In 2019, Mark and Yaryna performed acoustic sets entitled YEEZHAK: Holky Unplugged at concerts in Ukraine (August 18th at Khrystofor in Lviv and August 21st at Vagabundo in Ivano-Frankivsk). At concerts in 2012 and beyond, YEEZHAK performs songs from all three YEEZHAK recordings as well as new songs that will be part of a (hopefully) future album entitled Crossing Dunai.
N.B. Past YEEZHAK members are known to occasionally participate, unannounced, at YEEZHAK concerts worldwide.
Светер (Sweater)
1. У Собі (Within Myself)
2. … іншому (…to somebody else)
3. Музі (For the Muse)
4. Усвідомлення (Realization)
5. Зелені Звуки (Green Sounds)
6. Легше Для Серця (Easier on the Heart)
7. Ембер (для Ореста Василціва) (Ember {for Orest Vasyltsiv})
8. Тюльпани Два (Two Tulips)
9. і те, і те… (and that, and that…)
10. Музей Старожитностей (The Museum of Antiquities)
Music – Mark Andryczyk
Words – Viktor Neborak (1, 2, 5); Miletii Kichura (3); Volodymyr Pavliv (4); Mykhailo Rudnytskyi (6); Mark Andryczyk (7); Bohdan-Ihor Antonych (8); Mykola Vinhranovskyi (9); Yuri Andrukhovych (10)
Mark Andryczyk – Lead vocals, Acoustic guitar
Oleh (Dzhon) Suk – Bass
Sashko Kamenetskyi – Drums
Taras Chubai – Viola, Percussion, Back Vocals
Yaryna Yakubyak – Back Vocals, Percussion
Misko Barbara – Sopilka, Back Vocals
Roman Chaika – Acoustic and electric guitars (1, 8)
Liubko Futorskyi – Electric guitar (10)
Recorded at GalVox Sudios – Lviv, Ukraine, 1996
Tape Case Design by Mark Halaway
Вулканізація (Vulkanization)
1. Біжить Їжак (Hedgehog Running)
2. Вона Танцює (She Dances)
3. З Народних Мотивів (Based On Folk Motives)
4. Краплі (Drops)
5. Темні Легкі Сніги (Dark Airy Snows)
6. Пісенька Про Черешню (A Tune About A Cherry Tree)
7. Climb
8. Один (One)
9. Savior
10. Музика, що пішла… (The Music That Went Away)
Music – Mark Andryczyk
Words – Kostiantyn Moskalets (1, 2); Ivan Malkovych (3, 6, 10); Ivan Franko (4); Ihor Rymaruk (5); Mark Andryczyk (7, 9); Yuri Tarnawsky (8)
Mark Andryczyk – Lead vocals, Electric and Acoustic guitars
Oleh (Dzhon) Suk – Bass
Sashko Kamenetskyi – Drums
Taras Chubai – Viola, Back Vocals
Yaryna Yakubyak – Lead and Back Vocals, Percussion
Roman Chaika – Electric guitar
Misko Barbara – Sopilka, Back Vocals
Andriy Piatkov – Drums (4)
Liubko Futorskyi – Back Vocals
Recorded at Studio Leva – Lviv, Ukraine, 1998
Tape Case Design by Mark Halaway
ХмаріПара (CloudSteamPair)
1. ВінДа-Он так (VinDa- On Tak)
2. Slow
3. Весільний Подарунок (A Wedding Present)
4. Втеча (The Escape)
5. Wolke
Music – Mark Andryczyk
Words – Mark Andryczyk (1, 2, 3, 5); Ihor Rymaruk (4)
Mark Andryczyk – Lead vocals, Electric and Acoustic guitars
Oleh (Dzhon) Suk – Bass
Andriy Nadolskyi – Drums
Yaryna Yakubyak – Lead and Back Vocals, Percussion
Taras Chubai – Viola, Electric Guitar, Keyboards
Liubko Futorskyi – Lead and Back Vocals
Recorded at Studio Leva – Lviv, Ukraine and Studio Tarasa Chubaia – Kyiv, Ukraine, 2005
Videos
YEEZHAK – Tokyo (live)
YEEZHAK – Втеча (escape)
