The band TIK may well be considered a showbiz phenomenon in Ukraine. With an overweight lead singer and mocking lyrics, they seem like an over-the-hill college act.
And yet, TIK, short for sobriety and culture, has been winning audiences across Ukraine for the last six years.
Founder and frontman Viktor Bronyuk jokingly describes their music as “wedding punk with a touch of philosophical erotica.” What he means is a jolly cocktail of trumpet, accordion, drums, and guitar that blends folk, gypsy and pop. It comes from Podillya where Bronyuk was born – a historical region occupying Ukrainian lands next to Moldova. The lyrics – a mixture of idiomatic Russian and Ukrainian words – however, are what make the band tick.
Some people accuse me of cynically ruining the Ukrainian language. We can talk about it for hours but often, with the help of slang, it’s much easier to say what you really mean. It’s not a big crime.”
– Viktor Bronyuk, founder and frontman of TIK band.
Sitting down for breakfast with the Kyiv Post, Bronyuk orders oatmeal. With a receding hairline, the 31-year old singer has none of the celebrity dust to sift through. Laid back, funny and open, Bronyuk says that he’s on a diet because “it’s really difficult to move onstage and be dynamic. Plus, my accordion adds some 20 kilos.”
He speaks in beautiful, pure Ukrainian – none of which you hear in his songs.
“Some people accuse me of cynically ruining the Ukrainian language,” he said. “We can talk about it for hours but often, with the help of slang, it’s much easier to say what you really mean. It’s not a big crime.”
Growing up in a village influenced by Jewish, gypsy and Romanian cultures, Bronyuk compares his music to the Balkan mix.
“We are trying to do what Balkan composer Goran Bregovic and director Emir Kusturica did,” said Bronyuk sitting down for breakfast with the Kyiv Post. “Many people accused them of stealing music from the Balkan Gypsies but over the years many stepped over this heritage and some were even ashamed of it. Bregovic and Kusturica changed all that showing that ‘it’s cool and it’s ours!’ We want to do the same and show that in Ukraine there is also a lot of interesting music,” Bronyuk said.
The lead singer is no stranger to experiments beyond music. Educated as an art teacher, he tried his hand in a couple of professions: from painting to political technologies. At 26 though, he decided to take his accordion playing skills to a new level as a warm-up act during another band’s show, and started performing at corporate parties and weddings.
Rising to fame in just five years, TIK still doesn’t refuse wedding gigs, although now ceremonies involve politicians and other well-off people. Bronyuk said they get hired because TIK knows what an authentic Ukrainian wedding means.
In the summer of 2008, Bronyuk organized his own nuptials in … a gym. Decorated in Ukrainian embroidered towels, it fit some 300 people in his native village of Sokolova. The video from Bronyuk’s wedding became part of the band’s video for the song “White Roses,” a cover version for the late ‘80s Russian hit.
We are trying to do what Balkan composer Goran Bregovic and director Emir Kusturica did.”– Viktor Bronyuk, founder and frontman of TIK band.
After breakfast, Bronyuk had to rush for a rehearsal before their next big gig at Kyiv’s Ukraine Palace on Feb. 21. TIK will perform together with the symphony orchestra and the choir of the Song and Dance Ensemble of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Posters around town feature Bronyuk and his band sporting garish costumes combining black classy tailcoats with traditional Ukrainian skirts and sneakers over long white socks.
Instead of kilts, musicians will wear red skirts native to the Podillya region, pointing out once again the origins of their music. Watch and listen to their music at www.tik.ua or see their concert on Feb. 21, 7 p.m., Palace Ukraina, 103 Velyka Vasylkivska (former Chervonoarmiyska), tickets: Hr 80-800.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna can be reached at [email protected]
