Interviews

RANRAWI is a Ukrainian singer-songwriter and a contestant in Ukraine's national selection for Eurovision 2025. Originally from the city of Mariupol, she believes that music should only be released when it truly resonates with your heart. Through her songs, she processes the unresolved experiences of her past and builds entire worlds of her own. Her hometown is currently under occupation, but despite the pain, she holds on to hope and continues to create music. She believes in sharing when you feel you can be of help – when you can bring even a little more light into a world filled with pain. Her single "Anymore" was released after her performance in Ukraine’s National Eurovision Selection 2025. Currently, Ranrawi is working on a new song titled "NAHOM", a name that includes a word that exists only in the universe she’s created. Ranrawi spoke with Drive Music Media about the beginning of her musical journey, her experience in the national selection, and the unique universe she’s building through her art.

Julia Nicole Tomasone is a Canadian actress and singer, based in Toronto, best known for her role as Delilah Watson, the young version of Andie MacDowell, in the popular Hallmark Channel TV series The Way Home. The show revolves around healing oneself and one's family through time travel, with the help of a magical pond. From an early age, Julia developed a love for performance, starting with musical theater. In her view, there is something powerful about telling a story through music. In her acting career, she aims to take on roles that resonate with people and evoke genuine emotion. Each role she has played holds a special significance for her. For a long time, she couldn't watch films she had been part of due to the feeling of being frozen in time — as the camera captures you at a specific moment in your life, and it was hard for her to see the changes. Over time, this passed, and she began to separate her characters from herself, viewing her role in The Way Home as that of a completely different person. Her participation in the show helped her process her own loss and reframe many personal questions. Julia shared her thoughts with Drive Music Media on the importance of each experience, the deeper characterization of Delilah Watson, which resonates with her, and the profound story of The Way Home.

Anika Boyle is a young Scottish-Polish stage and film actress who has won several Best Actress awards. She is best known for her roles in the theatrical production Stranger Things: The First Shadow and the short film series Elementary Brilliance in the UAE. While she is cheerful and full of life in real life, she’s drawn to dramatic roles that contrast with her natural personality. These roles allow her to better understand other people’s emotions, which helps her grow as an actress. Anika is fascinated by genuine human feelings and believes that being a great actor means stopping the act and simply being yourself. She also finds it important to be involved in projects that address significant social issues. A major moment in her artistic journey came when she was invited to audition – and was ultimately cast – in a lead child role in the upcoming film Day Drinker, directed by Marc Webb and starring Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz. In her first in-depth interview, Anika shares with Drive Music Media what it felt like to be cast in Day Drinker, whether she feels more at home in film or theater, and why her challenging roles in the social campaigns Stuck and 47 Seconds were some of the most meaningful experiences of her career.

Jordan Doww is an American actor and singer-songwriter originally from Detroit who constantly challenges himself through his work, taking on roles that reflect the full arc of the human experience and push him to grow – both as an actor and as a person. In 2025, he stepped into a new chapter with the role of young Colton Landry on the hit Hallmark Channel series The Way Home. For Jordan, this role has been the greatest honor of his career. Despite being shy as a child, he pushed himself out of his comfort zone early on, and acting became a powerful catalyst for that transformation. Beyond acting, music plays a vital role in his life – a form of healing. His songs “Had Enough” and “Worst of the Worst” are particularly meaningful to him, carrying the message that it’s time to stop suffering and start making a change. Another major milestone in his career was his role in the film Ganymede, which wrapped production in the summer of 2022 and was released in the summer of 2024. Jordan shared insights with Drive Music Media about the beginnings of his acting journey, the importance of playing young Colton Landry in The Way Home, and the creative challenges he embraces to keep growing.

Yulia Doroshenko is a Ukrainian photo artist known for creating shoot concepts that often resemble paintings. Her journey into photography began after a car accident it – was then that an old camera found its way into her hands. For Yulia, the concept for a shoot usually emerges from the very first glance at a person – that's when she starts to see the entire vision come together. Yulia opened up about how she started her path in photography, the psychological challenges of working during russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, and her latest project with a fashion magazine.

INVISIBLE KIDS is a musical project by Ukrainian metal musician and cellist Vladyslav Koshyl, aimed at bringing international listeners' attention to russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, which has been lasting for over 11 years. In the spring of 2023, the musician wrote the track "IF YOU STOP FIGHTING YOU WILL DIE", marking his return to music after a long period of depression caused by the beginning of the full-scale invasion of his country. He is currently working on a new experimental EP, where he seeks to combine elements of progressive, post-, and groove metal. Vladyslav shared with Drive Music Media the story of how his musical journey began, his new projects, and his personal mission.

Annie Xander is a Ukrainian writer and author of the novel Phoenix, which is soon to be published – is convinced that you should never rely on your competitors but believe in yourself. The biggest challenge for Annie during the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine was not to give up and to keep doing what she loves. She is currently working on a short story as part of the project When Time Is Short. Annie shared with Drive Music Media the beginning of her creative path, her novel Phoenix, and her approach to building characters.

Kristina Raidence and Tim Ewald are a Ukrainian music duo and the founders of the recording studio 9STAGE, dedicated to breaking stereotypes in the Ukrainian music scene and proving that music can be unconventional and boundary-pushing. Since the studio’s launch, the duo has collaborated with numerous talented Ukrainian and international artists, including Ukrainian band O.Torvald and British group Glass Animals. On April 18, they’ll release a new single titled “Tyscha” (“Silence”), which they unexpectedly revisited after moving to Kyiv. Kristina and Tim shared with Drive Music Media about challenging the norms of Ukraine’s music industry, their upcoming release, and the meaning behind the name of their studio.

Samora Smallwood is a Canadian Screen Award winning actress, director, writer, and producer, founder of the film agency Hold One Entertainment, who continues to work on her debut series Coming Home, which is set to premiere on Bell Fibe TV1 in Spring 2025. Her goal in cinema is to break stereotypes and amplify the voices of those who are often unheard – not just to check a box, but because it truly matters. She has never believed her role in cinema is simply to become someone else, as for her, this work is about bringing her authentic self to all of the roles she inhabits. An important part of her acting career is her recurring role as Monica Hill in the series The Way Home. The actress is deeply moved by how the audience has embraced the show and her character. Samora shared with Drive Music Media her debut as a director, the easiest and hardest parts of an acting career, her role as Monica Hill in The Way Home from The Hallmark Channel, and her mission in cinema.

Natalia Tereschenko is a Ukrainian fashion designer and the founder of the KYUJOOROO brand, who uses her collections to draw attention to important social issues such as ecology, the significance of freedom from societal constraints, and more. She doesn’t limit herself in material choice – for example, one of her collections, "Priestess," was made entirely from used medical masks, some of which were never used, while others had been used and became a serious environmental issue. Natalia shared with Drive Music Media about her new collection "Mako" and her studies at the Fashion Design Institute.