Interview for LRT.lt Ziferblat-Katarsis

The article was prepared by ZiferblatSubs | Translation by Katarsis Access

Ukrainian Eurovision contestants Ziferblat visit Vilnius: “This city has a Katarsis vibe”

The band Ziferblat, which represented Ukraine in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, is visiting the Lithuanian capital – on Wednesday evening, it will hold a concert at the Mello club in Vilnius as part of its European tour.

By Ramūnas Zilnys - LRT

The trio, who came ninth in this year's Eurovision Song Contest with their song "Bird Of Pray," are visiting our country for the first time. After concerts in Poland, the musicians arrived in Lithuania and were enchanted by Vilnius.

"The surroundings and atmosphere remind me of Kyiv, only your old town is much larger and more beautiful.

We feel at home here, of course, in the days before the war. It warms our hearts to see so many Ukrainian flags. I think Lithuania is now the country that understands Ukraine best," the band's singer Daniil Leshchynskyi told LRT.lt before the concert.

• | He formed the band a decade ago with his fraternal twin, guitarist Valentyn Leshchynskyi.

Inspired by progressive and alternative rock, the band quickly rose to fame in Ukraine, took second place in the Eurovision selection two years ago, and this year won the right to represent their country with a song that reflects the strength and hope of the Ukrainian people.

"We have mixed feelings about Eurovision – we are happy that we performed well, and this competition helped many people abroad learn about us.

When we went to perform in Poland, some of the audience were emigrants from Ukraine, but a large part were local listeners who don't even speak Ukrainian, but discovered our music through Eurovision and know our songs by heart. Believe me, the Eurovision song isn't even the most important thing for them.

On the other hand, the moments when we were waiting to see if we would make it to the final were the hardest (the Ukrainian group was the last to have its ticket to the final announced in the semi-final – Ed.). I don't know if I would want to go to Eurovision again," smiled V. Leshchynskyi.

“Never say never.” The Polish singer returned to Eurovision this year after thirty years, and performed well both times," D. Leshchynskyi shrugged.

Ziferblat's first and most important connection with Ukraine is the Lithuanian band Katarsis, with whom the Ukrainians befriended at this year's Eurovision.

Ziferblat drummer Fedir Hodakov walks around Vilnius wearing a Katarsis T-shirt. As soon as they arrived in Vilnius, the Ukrainians met with the members of Katarsis, visited a Lithuanian restaurant together, tasted šaltibarščiai and cepelinai, and went to a recording studio together.

• | There, the musicians improvised and recorded music together. Only time will tell if it will become a joint creation.

"Singer Lukas is like the Napoleon of Katarsis; he leads the group. The group's bassist Emilija and drummer Jokūbas were also there, but unfortunately, the guitarist Alanas couldn't make it because he is currently in Italy.

We had a great time together. Like Katarsis, we have a similar perspective – music is born spontaneously, we don't have any specific commercial plans for it, everything has to be natural," said the brothers.

After Eurovision, they wrote about ten songs, released a track with singer Artem Pivovarov, and will release a couple more songs this year, followed by a whole new album.

"Of course, the circumstances we live in influence our music. But we don't want to write songs with lyrics that are very directly about war.

Songs about Bayraktar or fighting on the front lines will be forgotten sooner or later, but songs about the feelings we experienced will remain," said the musicians of Ziferblat.

• | According to them, the situation they are living in today is more complicated than it was before Eurovision.

With Russia intensifying its attacks, they often have to sleep in shelters – something that, according to V. Leshchynskyi, he had not experienced in Kyiv for three years until this summer.

"We are on tour, traveling across Europe – we should be happy, but at the same time we spend all our time on Telegram channels, following the situation in our country, worrying about our loved ones there. It's complicated.

On the other hand, we can't lose our optimism. We have to believe that everything will end well. We believe in the efforts of our president and government to achieve a just peace. Just now, the US president said that Ukraine can regain its territory. He often changes his mind, but every positive statement inspires faith in the Ukrainian people," the group members reflected.

• |The news that Russian drones and planes have flown into several European countries is causing them concern.

"I am a historian by education. What is happening now seems to me like the prelude to World War III.

Lukas from Katarsis said that he has packed a backpack with everything he would need if something bad happened and he had to leave his home. We know that there is a special website in Lithuania and television reports about what should be in such a backpack.

In Ukraine, such stories appeared on the air a couple of months before the start of a large-scale war. On the other hand, let's hope that Russia's actions will remain mere provocations," said D. Leshchynskyi.

• |The musicians hope to visit Lithuania and perform there again. Especially in Vilnius, where they discovered another symbolic connection with their friends from Lithuania.

"Perhaps because we had a free evening at the beginning of the week, the center of Vilnius seemed very calm and dreamy to us, like the music of Katarsis. This city reminds us of Katarsis," laughed the musicians of Ziferblat.