Interview: Yurko

The Big Bop is one of those places in which you’d be well advised not to lean against a wall if you like your coat. It’s dark, loud and the dйcor has a cave-like Spartan feel. But, all that feeds into the unpretentiously raw feeling you experience when you go there to hear loud music. Most young Toronto Ukrainians know the place for its wild pre-malanka events but, on December 5, Yurko (whose band name is the same as his given name) was serving up the entertainment at The Big Bop with a CD release party for his debut disc, Heavy.

NP: Tell me about growing up in a Ukrainian environment.

Y: I grew up always listening to Ukrainian music at home. My brother had a Ukrainian band that played at weddings and zabavas, and I was always tagging along at an early age. The good part for me was getting involved as a player….I found Ukrainian music ultimately influencing my Rock and Roll music.

NP: How would you describe your current album?

Y: Melodic rock.

NP: Tell me about Heavy, your new CD.

Y: This is my first solo CD. We recorded at my friend Taras Blizniuk’s studio. He engineered everything and co-produced with me. He’s a talented musician who has his own band, Zahrava. Tonight was our first show, and Taras is a big part of why this album is out.

NP: You play guitar; what other instruments do you play?

Y: On this CD I played every instrument (except the drums) bass, guitar and sang all the vocals. On the flip-side, I went to school for recording engineering and production, so that helped me out.

NP: What about your career leading up to the CD?

Y: I had a band called Seven Year Itch, which was a rock band with all Ukrainians in it [including Yar Nazarowicz and George Nakonechny]. From there I got called to go on a world tour for “Whoa Nelly.” I toured with Nelly Furtado. That was amazing because we had so many great shows. We opened up for U2, and everything from The Red Hot Chili Peppers to Destiny’s Child to Ramstein. European festivals are amazing…we went on right before Ramstein, and I thought, ‘We’re going to get beer bottles thrown at us.’ In any case, that was a great tour. Saw a lot, learned a lot. It helps in my own projects at this point.

NP: What about the other guys in the band, what are their backgrounds?

Y: Through my experiences I’ve managed to work with some amazing musicians, and all those amazing musicians are in my band right now. The drummer and the keyboard player both also toured with Nelly Furtado. Dave [Languth] is the drummer, there’s Kevin [Saulnier, keyboards/vocals], and Ron [Bechard], our guitar player, who toured with Edwin [solo act of the original I Mother Earth].  And, there's Rich Levesque on bass/vocals. Everyone has a deep musical background in terms of where they come from. We had two rehearsals to get the show together. Everyone learned everything from scratch.

      Randy Cooke recorded drums, and he’s a fine Ukrainian gentleman. There’s tons of Ukrainian involvement. He [Cooke] has recorded Alanis Morissette, Hillary Duff, and tons of other great artists. He was in Seven Year Itch as well.

NP: What are your next steps?

Y: We’ve got this CD out now and it’s just a matter of trying to book more shows. Just like with any band, we’re looking for some help from agents, management or even a small indie label that could help with distribution. That would help the project out a lot.

NP: Do you have a website?

Y: www.yurkomusic.com. Everything’s there: you can listen to the songs and buy the album– there’s American and Canadian distribution.

NP: What elements of Ukrainian Christmas are you most looking forward to?

Y: Probably how festive it is – cebrating life at the fullest and getting together with friends and family. It’s a great thing to get together with certain friends during this part of the year; it brings us all closer, reminding us who we are.

Paul Terefenko is a freelance news writer, currently with NOW Magazine, and also serves as Secretary of the New Pathway’s Board of Directors.