Zrada isn’t your typical Ukrainian band. While they merge modern music with Ukrainian folk music, the sound is all their own. The Winnipeg-based band describes their music the best: “Ancestral sounds explode within an amplified soundscape full of joy, anger, melancholy, and madness.”

We talked with Andriy Michalchyshyn from Zrada. He plays trumpet and guitar and sings vocals for the band, plus writes a lot of their music. He joined us to talk about Zrada’s latest release, The Old Ways.

What Else You’ll Hear

- Zrada’s origin story, what inspired the band’s all-their-own sound, and how the band has evolved

- The inspiration behind songs and how the band writes in the style of traditional folk songs yet puts it to modern music

- How you can make Ukrainian folklore your own

- What keeps the band motivated to celebrate Ukrainian culture

- A sneak peek at one of their newest songs

Resources

- Listen to The Old Ways: Spotify, Bandcamp

- Stay up to date with Zrada: Instagram, Facebook, Website

- Buy tickets to Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg on February 23 to see Zrada perform at the event’s first-ever Ukrainian night!

- Check out more work by Mariya Khymynets, the artist who did the cover art for The Old Ways

Music

- A big thanks to Zrada for letting us use “Wedding,” off of The Old Ways, as Vsi’s intro song this episode!