© 2025
The new Ukrainian grunge band HLAM released their debut single "Teplyy asfalʹt" on June 10. The song was released in collaboration with musician Dmytro Kozyrenko. The band's leader is Andriy Vorsin from Dnipro. He currently lives and creates music in Kyiv. The war has made its own adjustments not only in terms of safe living, but also in the musician's work: with the outbreak of full-scale warfare, the singer stopped writing Russian-language lyrics. Despite some difficulties caused by his lack of practical experience in writing Ukrainian-language songs, Andriy has reached the point where he is now able to freely create lyrics without the need for translation. Find out more about Ukrainian concerts in the context of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, upcoming tracks and the debut single "Teplyy asfalʹt" on Drive Music Media.
MEANING OF THE NAME OF THE BAND "HLAM" AND WRITTING OF UKRAINIAN-LANGUAGE TEXTS
The band's leader, Andriy Vorsin, chose the name by accident before one of the literary evenings during which he read his poems. And then the name stuck with the musician's grunge band. The name itself means "junk," and it has no hidden meanings. Nevertheless, the musician is happy with his choice and continues to create new compositions under this stage name.
With the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the musician stopped writing songs in Russian. At first it was hard, but Andriy set himself the goal of writing only in Ukrainian, so he tried to translate the songs of his favorite artists into Ukrainian and created his own lyrics. As the author himself notes, at first the lyrics were not very sincere, because to write a lyric in a certain language, you need to think in it, and translation skills are not enough.
ON CHOOSING A GENRE IN MUSIC, UNCOMING SINGLE AND PARTICIPAITING IN CONCERTS
According to the musician, he chose this genre because it best shows naked human emotions. Grunge is one of the most emotional genres, in which the author turns himself inside out in front of the listener. The musician follows this genre in literature, and he wants to continue his musical journey in it.
In the fall, HLAM plans to release their second single. It will be different in that it will be more punk, but there will be some grunge in it. The musician has not yet chosen which of the tracks will become a studio track, but he is sure that it will be one of the tracks on the list of the concert to be held at the Teplyy Lampoviy art club in Kyiv on June 14. During the acoustic set, the musician will perform 8 tracks: "Dude with a Shovel", "Monologues to the Walls", "A Smirk on a Pack of Cigarettes".
ABOUT THE SINGLE "TEPLIY ASFAL'T": FROM CREATION TO RELEASE
Andriy always starts with the lyrics. This lyric was written unconsciously, and according to the lead singer, this doesn't happen to him often. But this song was written in one go, and the musician did not make any changes to it. The melody also came about by accident, as Andriy was sitting and playing the guitar, and the melody came to him. Then came the process of preparing for the release. After he sent the acoustic version to the arranger, they started working together on the release.
The song was released on June 10, 2024. And now they continue to work on the next ones.
The main idea of the song is to make people realize that if you immerse yourself in everyday life, you can lose your humanity and empathy. The track is written in a metaphorical and schizophasic style and aims to show the all-encompassing ignorance of people who are always in a hurry and let the everyday life consume them. The idea of the cover was created by Andriy Vorsin. The cover artwork for the single was created by Ivan Dogil.
The artist will present his track during an acoustic set at the Tepliy Lampoviy art club on June 14.
The photos were provided by the band HLAM
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.
Watson Rose is a Canadian actress, screenwriter, and writer who portrayed one of the strongest characters in the series The Way Home – Susanna Augustin – a woman who longed for more freedom and to be who she wanted to be, but was born in the wrong time. The actress believes that despite some changes, the world still continues to dictate and punish people for their self-expression. In addition to her dramatic role as Susanna, Watson is closely connected to the world of comedy – she performed in the improvised musical comedy theater The 11 O’clock Number, which played a significant role in her development not only as an actress but also as a person. Improvisation helped her become a more confident actress and individual. In the future, Watson envisions herself not only as an actress but also as a screenwriter – she has completed work on the script for her own feature film and has already begun collaborating with a producer on its production. Watson candidly shared with Drive Music Media about her acting journey, the roles she would never portray on screen, the role of improvisation in acting, her part in The Way Home, and her work on her own film script.