You're reading: Lama sings, casts prophecies and dislikes Ukrainian pop scene

In ancient Sumerian culture, Lama is a goddess connecting people and gods. In modern Ukrainian culture, Lama is a singer weaving Eastern philosophies into her Ukrainian songs.

Natalia Dzenkiv, a.k.a. Lama, landed at Ukraine’s music stage with her song “Airplane” only four years ago.

But her Indian bindi, loose-fitting clothes and pop-rock songs made her stand out from the scene dominated by stilettos and short skirts.

In 2007, she beat iconic bands such as VV and Okean Elzy to MTV Europe Music Awards in Munich as the best Ukrainian artist. She writes her own lyrics and music and is a bit of a recluse when it comes to celebrity night crawls.

Meeting up with the Kyiv Post on a recent Saturday morning, Lama, 32, appeared to have more than what we see of her onstage.

My parents were shocked how I managed to get into all of this mess so fast.”

– Lama, singer.

Gypsies, vegetarianism and prophetic dreams were among many things Dzenkiv shared during an interview in a simple Japanese restaurant in the middle of Kyiv’s main street, Khrechshatyk.

“My parents were shocked how I managed to get into all of this mess so fast,” Lama said, smiling. She arrived on foot with no bodyguard or producer. It was a pleasant surprise.

Born to an artistic family, Dzenkiv was raised by her grandmother, as her parents were often touring with an Ivano-Frankivsk Hutzul band.

In music school, she studied piano and would “often make teachers laugh at her crazy improvisations of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart,” she recalled. She soon started skipping classes to play piano.

It was American singer Jon Bon Jovi’s concert in Germany that changed her life.

“I felt numb from astonishment with his music. I understood that life is too short to waste on getting scientific degrees,” Lama said.

Lama records a video for the song “Hold me” in Kyiv on March 11. (Phl)

And so she skipped high-level music schooling, opting intsead to tune into her “emotions.” Her heart, however, first took her to a gypsy camp. At 17, Dzenkiv got married.

“It was love at first sight. He was a gypsy [Roma], seven years older than me. I visited my friend in the mountains, where I met him. On the very first day we met, he proposed to me and I agreed,” Lama said.

I have my own inner philosophy, which entails Christian, Indian, Vedic and Tibetan cultures.”

– Lama, singer.

“I had a lot of long colorful concert gypsy skirts. I took all of them from home and we had a traditional gypsy wedding. We used to live in his ‘kibitka’ [nomad tent], riding through the forests and fields. It was all rock-and-roll.”

The marriage, however, lasted only a year and a half. She got tired of roaming, and he couldn’t live in the city. Lama got back to singing in her music band “Magic” in Ivano-Frankivsk.

“Magic,” however, had little star power. In 2006, Dzenkiv formed a new band “Lama” after she saw a Tibetan monk in her dream. She also took Lama as her stage name, which she said means defense.

The size of Australian Kylie Minogue, Lama does look like she may need some protection with her 154 centimeters height.

She says she gets it from various religions.

“I have my own inner philosophy, which entails Christian, Indian, Vedic and Tibetan cultures. I visit the Krishna temple in Kyiv regularly to watch their ceremonies. I’m not trying to promote either Buddhism or any other religion, but I just feel there is a God above me and it does not matter what his name is,” Lama said.

Through her original last name – Dzenkiv – Lama also claims to connects with Buddhism.

“Zen” means meditation. During concerts, she paints a bindi, or a third eye in Hinduism, on her forehead to pronounce the connection.

When something [bad] is going to happen, I see prophetic dreams.”

– Lama, singer.

Her dreams, however, seem to be her best conductors to other worlds. “Strange things happen to me daily. My grandmother, who died in 1994, comes to me in my dreams and gives advice,” Lama said.

“When something [bad] is going to happen, I see prophetic dreams.”

Lama said she dreamt the death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, whose plane crashed on April 10 in Russia.

“Four months before the tragedy, I had a dream where I found myself in an airport talking to a politician who had been late for the fatal flight. I remember him saying that his wife was there and all their government.”

Music notes also sometimes come to her at night. Working on her third album, she combines Indian tunes with Hutzul rhythms. None of that, however, seems to earn her much money unless she starts mainstream promotion and networking at glam parties.

“In Europe singers earn money by selling CDs and from touring. In Ukraine though all music is downloaded from the Internet for free, and big tours are not an easy thing to do. To earn money from private parties you have to be a partygoer, which I am definitely not. I am not going to be a clown in front of everybody. I think it is awful to come to a party just to show off your labels and pretend you are having fun,” Lama said.

And so she keeps writing and singing in Ukrainian, meditating and dancing Tantric dances bucking the mainstream trend, and yet, feeling quite happy about it.

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