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Onuka
Mariia Sorokina, Nata Zhyzhchenko and Daryna Sert
Background information
Origin	Ukraine
Genres	Experimental electronic chillwave Folktronica Synth-pop
Years active	2013 (2013)–present
Labels	Vidlik
Members	Nata Zhyzhchenko Eugene Filatov Daryna Sert Mariya Sorokina Yevhen Yovenko Andriy Voichuk Serhiy Kashyn Mykola Blokshyn Vitaliy Baklazhenko Oleksandr Lisun Taras Dovhopol Vladyslav Petrenko
Website	onuka.ua

Onuka ("granddaughter" in Ukrainian) is a Ukrainian electro-folk band. The project was created in 2013 by Yevhen Filatov and Nata Zhyzhchenko. Other group members are Daryna Sert (keyboardist and backing vocalist), Mariia Sorokina (percussionist) and Yevhen Yovenko (banduryst). The band's instrumentation includes electronic drums, trombones, French horns and Ukrainian folk instruments bandura and sopilka.

History

The Ukrainian word onuka (Онукa) translates to "granddaughter", a tribute to lead singer Zhyzhchenko's grandfather and folk music instrument maker Oleksandr Shlionchyk. Zhyzhchenko started her music career as a member of the band Tomato Jaws, a band that she started with her brother. Tomato Jaws were active for 11 years. Several of its songs were remixed by Filatov's band The Maneken, ultimately leading to the creation of Onuka. Lead singer Nata Zhyzhchenko believes that she can revitalize old traditions and classic folk instruments (such as the bandura and sopilka), which disappeared in the Soviet times.

2014: Beginnings, Look and ONUKA

Onuka presented their first EP Look on 15 May 2014. It includes four original songs and one mix. After release it immidietaly debuted at #1 in iTunes Ukraine.

Later on 15 October of the following year Onuka released their debut album ONUKA, it became the best-selling record of the month in Ukraine's iTunes. The album contains 10 tracks (8 in English, the other 2 in Ukrainian), four of which were included in their first EP. ONUKA took first place in the iTunes Ukraine online store, surpassing then-popular Okean Elzy. The album is filled with traditional Ukrainian sound motifs performed on the flute, bandura and trembita, all harmoniously combined with an electronic arrangement. Onuka presented the album at a concert in Kyiv at "Sentrum" on 17 October.

Immediately after that, the single "Zavtra" with a Ukrainian song of the same name was released on the American label Most Addictive Records. In December, Cultprostir ranked the band's debut album as "the best album of the year", and the band itself became "the debut of the year".

2015–2016: VIDLIK

In May 2015, Onuka won the selection among Ukrainian bands to participate in the Hungarian Sziget festival, where they performed on August 11 at the British Knights Europe Stage.

Onuka's second EP, VIDLIK, which means a new beginning or countdown in Ukrainian, released on 8 February 2016. Zhyzhchenko cites the Chernobyl disaster and its impact on Ukraine as a major influence on the album. Its concert presentation took place in April 2016, just before the 30th anniversary of the incident.

The EP contains four songs: two in Ukrainian and two in English. The first track "Svitanok" is written based on a poem by the Kyiv street artist Jerzy Konopie. The second track "Vidlik" combines the voice of Google Translate with buhai. The third track "Other" was recorded back in March 2015, with the Merited Artist of Ukraine Andriy Voychuk playing the cymbal part in it. The last track, "1986", is dedicated to the incident on 26 April 1986, which contains a real recording of the negotiations of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant controllers on the day of the disaster, with Nata performing a small excerpt on the theremin in the track. The music from it was used in the documentary film about the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on the Ukrainian TV channel 1+1.

2017–2020: MOZAЇKA

Onuka was featured in an interval act at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, performing with the NAONI folk orchestra.

On 7 July 2017 Onuka released the first song "Vsesvit" from the band's new album MOZAЇKA as a single. The founder of the French band Deep Forest Éric Mouquet participated in the recording. Later on 7 November they released another single "Guns Don't Shoot".

The new album continues and develops the ideas of the project’s two previous releases. According to Nata Zhyzhchenko, MOZAЇKA (meaning mosaics in English) is "a story about a series of amazing coincidences, circumstances and symbols." It is a solid canvas assembled from hundreds of small parts and fragments. There are two main leitmotifs running through the entire album: the first is Nata’s personal story, her experiences, feelings, memories, dedications to a loved one and grandmother, true friends and musical idols of childhood. The second leitmotif is Nata’s reaction to surrounding events and phenomena, such as the Chernobyl disaster. Also the album features the anti-war manifesto track "GUNS DON’T SHOOT": it’s not the weapon that shoot, it’s the man who shoots. The album was named the best Ukrainian album of the year at the APrize 2019 awards.

2021–present: KOLIR

With the assistance of the Embassy of Ukraine in the People's Republic of China, the band represented Ukraine at the 21st annual International Festival "Meet in Beijing", one of the largest artistic events traditionally held at the National Performing Arts Center, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, the State Film and Television Administration of the People's Republic of China, the People's Government of Beijing and the China Arts and Entertainment Group.

The third album of the project KOLIR on 18 June 2021. It includes 10 songs, including the already released "XASHI", "ZENIT", "SEANS" and "UYAVY" with the participation of the band DakhaBraha.

Members

Below is a list of members and their instruments:

• Nata Zhyzhchenko: vocals, sopilka, percussion, dream-drum, sampler, omnichord;
• Darina Sert: keyboards, sampler, backing vocals;
• Maria Sorokina: drums;
• Evgeniy Yovenko: bandura, bugay, sampler, calf;
• Andrey Voychuk: dulcimer, drymba, harp;
• Sergey Kashin: trombone, trembita;
• Nikolay Bloshkin: trombone, trembita;
• Vitaly Baklazhenko: trombone;
• Alexander Lisun: trombone;
• Taras Dovgopol: horn, Cossack trumpet;
• Vladislav Petrenko: horn.

Onuka also have a costume designer Lesya Patoka and a hairdresser Andriy Krupchynskyi.

Previous members

• Taras Stoliar: bandura

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

EPs

Singles

Recognition

Onuka was nominated for the Ukrainian Yuna Music Awards in the Discovery of the Year category.

References

1. Petrenko, Victoria (5 March 2015). "Entertainment Guide March 3 - March 17". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
2. "Onuka". Retrieved 3 August 2015.
3. Maurice, Loulou. "ONUKA". Justemagazine. Juste Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
4. "Onuka USA & Canada Tour Announce". 23 June 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
5. Demskaya, Aleksandra (27 April 2015). "ONUKA: Ukraine's electronic miracle". EMPR. EMPR. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
6. "Discover Onuka, Ukraine's electronic wonder". Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016 – via PressReader.
7. "Lyricism under Pressure: Naadya, Onuka, The Cancel, and KSKY". Far From Moscow. Far From Moscow. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
8. ^ Romanyshyn, Yuliana (3 April 2015). "Discover Onuka, Ukraine's electronic wonder". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
9. "Дебютний міні-альбом українського проекту ONUKA посів перше місце в iTunes". Inspired (in Ukrainian). 15 May 2014. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
10. Zaxid.net. "Дебютний альбом ONUKA випередив "Океан Ельзи" на iTunes". ZAXID.NET (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
11. "Новий альбом ONUKA з'явився в мережі". Inspired (in Ukrainian). 15 October 2014. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
12. ONUKA презентувала дебютний альбом (слухати онлайн) Archived 2015-03-15 at the Wayback Machine // itop.fm — 15 жовтня 2014
13. "ONUKA вийшла на лейблі США та зайняла перше місце в iTunes". Inspired (in Ukrainian). 22 October 2014. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
14. "cultprostir.com.ua". cultprostir.com.ua. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
15. "ONUKA на фестивалі Sziget: "Здається, ми пройшли тест"". Inspired (in Ukrainian). 19 August 2015. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
16. "Vidlik". Beatport. Beatport, LLC. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
17. "VIDLIK". RateYourMusic. RateYourMusic. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
18. "ONUKA оспівала проблему Чорнобиля в новому альбомі". TSN. TSN. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
19. ONUKA. Презентація альбому «Vidlik» // Радіо «Аристократи», 08.02.2016.
20. ""1+1" знімає фільм про Чорнобильську трагедію із музикою гурту ONUKA". ТСН.ua (in Ukrainian). 9 February 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
21. "ONUKA & NAONI - Interval Act at Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final 2017". 14 May 2017 – via YouTube.
22. "Музика. Слухайте нову пісню ONUKA – Guns Don't Shoot". The Village Україна. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
23. "«MOZAЇKA — це історія про низку дивних збігів, обставин і символів. Все склалося» – Ната Жижченко". @onukamusic. Twitter. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
24. ""Я устала от глобальной ненависти". ONUKA о новом сингле и будущем альбоме Mozaïka". ФОКУС. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
25. "Найкращий український альбом року". 28 February 2019. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
26. "Архівована копія". Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021. Archived 2021-04-14 at the Wayback Machine
27. "KOLIR — новий альбом ONUKA про материнство та контрасти. Слухайте". СЛУХ — онлайн-медіа про музику та все, що навколо неї. 18 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
28. Катерина Сметана. Наталья Жижченко: «Українська музика в стилі „етно“ дуже популярна в Європі» Archived 2015-01-13 at the Wayback Machine // Golos.ua, 08.11.2014.
29. "ONUKA интервью. Я делаю то, что чувствую — 05.04.2014 | Soulplay Radio — интернет-радио в стиле indie, disco, new wave, 80s (инди, диско, синтипоп))". Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
30. "Svitanok": "Top 40 Radio Airplay". fdr.com.ua. FDR. 25 April 2016. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. "Khashchi": "Top 100 Ukraine Radio Hits". tophit.ua. Tophit. 24 December 2018. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021. "Zenit": "Top 100 Ukraine Radio Hits". tophit.ua. Tophit. 12 August 2019. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021. "Seans": "Top 100 Ukraine Radio Hits". tophit.ua. Tophit. 30 October 2020. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.

External links

• Official website
• Onuka's channel on YouTube

• Musical groups established in 2013
• English-language musical groups from Ukraine
• 2013 establishments in Ukraine
• Ukrainian electronic music groups
• Ukrainian experimental musical groups
• Ukrainian folk music groups