Mavka is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

band combining

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

themes with

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

and

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

music. The band was formed in 2013 by a theater

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

Iryna Lazer (

lead-singer The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art object ...

) and Oleksiy Mikriukov (composer) under the initial name Crossworlds. Collaborating exclusively on-line they managed to release the first

mini-album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short vinyl record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A ...

''Ivana Kupala Night'' in 2014. The full-length ''Day and Night'' album was released a year later in 2015. Since then Iryna Lazer began performing live using loop-station, vocal pedals and

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

creating

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

compositions in Ukrainian and her own invented '

Mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

' language. In 2015 another musician joined the band due to the growing amount of live performances and the band's name was changed to Mavka. In 2016 Mavka appeared on a number of festivals including

GogolFest GOGOLFEST ( uk, Гогольфест) is an annual multidisciplinary international festival of contemporary art and cinema in Kyiv, Ukraine, dedicated to the famous writer Mykola Gogol. The festival showcases theater, music, film, literature, ...

and The Day of Street Music. The band also played on Hi5 studio and performed for the plays in Zoloti Vorota Theater. In 2017 members of Mavka wrote

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

and acted in the movie 'The Tale of Money'. Later the band released music video of the official soundtrack 'Night Shadow'. In 2018 the band started collaborating with the сhildren's сhoir ''Dyvo'' (conductor Tetiana Nadolinska). The band and the choir produced ethnic-electronica compositions and some interpretations of the Ukrainian folk songs. Together they gave the concert '

Horovod The khorovod or horovod ( rus, хорово́д, p=xərɐˈvot, uk, хоровод, translit=khorovod or uk, коло, translit=kolo, label=none, be, карагод , bg, хоро, pl, korowód) is an East Slavic and pagan art form and on ...

under the stars' on May 27 on the stage of

Kyiv Planetarium Kyiv Planetarium (previously ''Republican Planetarium''; uk, Київський планетарій) in Kyiv, Ukraine is one of the largest planetaria A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presen ...

. In 2018 band's leader Iryna Lazer recorded vocals for the vinyl LP album ''Femininho'' by King Imagine. On December 25, 2018, the band presented an exclusive

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

concert "

Carols A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with Christian church worship, and sometimes accompanied by a dance. A caroller (or caroler) is someone who sings carols, and is said to be carolling (or caroling). T ...

with the looper" in the cultural center Master Class. The main idea of the concert was for the vocalist to create and perform live the polyphonic carols by herself using only the loop-station. In 2019 the band created an original version of the song ' Hej Sokoly' for a documentary movie 'The Borderline. Hrubieszów operation' which premiered on May, 28, at the

Kyiv International Film Festival "Molodist" Kyiv International Film Festival "Molodist", also known as the Molodist International Film Festival ( uk, Київський Міжнародний Кінофестиваль "Молодість") is an international film festival which takes place ...

. In June 2019 the band started collaborating with the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

Véronique Langlott and created the music for her

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...

research ''Folkstrance''. The artists presented the performance on July 1 at the cultural platform Izolyatsia. In August 2019 the band re-released the album
Day and Night
' with the "Mavka" band's name. The band's music is used as a background in plays 'Sasha, throw out the trash' of

Kyiv Academic Young Theatre The Kyiv National Academic Molodyy Theatre ( uk, Київський національний академічний Молодий театр) is a theatre in Kyiv in Ukraine. It was founded in 1979 and first played on 26 April 1980, with a focus ...

and in "The People Are Singing" of

Royal Exchange Theatre The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal ...

Name

The band is named after Ukrainian mythological female long-haired figure

Mavka ''Mavka'' ( uk, Мавка) is a type of female spirit in Ukrainian folklore and mythology. She is a long-haired figure, sometimes naked, who may be dangerous to young men. Terminology There is variation in the names and spelling, including uk ...

that was believed to live in forests, lakes or rivers and appeared only on special holidays during the year.Словарь української мови / Упор. з дод. влас. матеріалу Б. Грінченко : в 4-х т. — К. : Вид-во Академії наук Української РСР, 1958. Том 2, ст. 395.
/ref> Mavkas could entice or seduce young men to later tickle their victims to death.

Style and languages

The majority of songs is written and performed in the

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...

. They are whether interpretations of Ukrainian

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

compositions or original contemporary pieces. The band is also working on an album with the songs written in 'mermaid'

glossolalia Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...

as the lead-singer calls it.

Discography

Mavka

* 2019: ''Day and Night'' ( LP) * 2021: ''Spy'' * 2021: ''Гей, соколи'' (single) * 2022: ''Gagilka. Die Verwandlung''

Crossworlds (2013-2015)

In 2013-2015 still performing under the band's name 'Crossworlds' the musicians produced two albums independently from any record label. Later on the releases were

pirated Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

and published on the music streaming platforms without the knowledge or approval of the copyright holders. In January 2020 after the band submitted multiple copyright claims the infringing content was removed from most of the sites. The only site the releases can be found at is the group's official Bandcamp page: * 2014: ''Ivana Kupala Night'' ( EP) * 2015: ''Day and Night'' ( LP)

Official pages

FacebookBandCampSpotifyInstagramYouTubeApple MusicGoogle PlaySoundCloudYouTube MusicDeezerNapsterTidal

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mavka Ukrainian folk music Ukrainian musical groups Ukrainian electronic musicians