A Load of Hot Air!

Take a balloon ride and see Ukraine from a different perspective

Being witness to the crazy sounds coming from the I Am Techno party held out at the Kyiv Expo Plaza last weekend, What’s On spotted a highly professional young man behind the turntable. Going in for a closer look, turns out that DJ Sender’s real name is Eugene Evtukhov, and getting him over on the sofa for a little R&R, we get the goods on all of the messages DJ Sender is sending out to his fans.

“I was 11 years old when I got into my first nightclub,” Eugene Evtukhov starts out, quite proud of himself. “At the time, my father was working as Magic Radio’s General Producer in Dnipropetrovsk. He was doing a sound check for a local DJ, who would be playing a set that night, and so I thought I’d tag along. We got there and I knew at that exact moment that this was what I wanted to do.”

Stumbling across a rather debonair figure in the Kyiv business community, What’s On sat down with Konstyantyn Loskutnikov – better known as Baron von Bossner. Famous the world over as an incredible cigar manufacturer, this Russian expat is now living in Germany, and coming to Kyiv for the Cigar Club’s Summer Big Smoke, that’s exactly where we found him.

“Trading my Komsomol pins for sticks of chewing gum were my very first business deals,” laughs Konstyantyn Loskutnikov, as we sit down and start talking about all the things that have made him the man he is today. “It was back in 1964, and the police caught me. My parents were not amused, and I was punished. But once I realised that their punishment was because I’d been caught, and not for my ‘business deal’, I began realising a great many more things as well.”

Oleksandr Tsekalo is one of the most recognised figures on Russian and Ukrainian television today. The list of things he has done in his life goes on so long that it is probably easier to talk of some of the things he hasn’t done instead. At the risk of going on a bit, however, some of the things found on his resume include TV host, comedian, singer, actor, musician, director... And talking with this multitalented man, What’s On learns more about how he finds time for all his activities, about his latest project and about who can and cannot joke about him.

DJ Tommy Slim is a young and talented Kyiv DJ who plays some driving house mixing it up with a little back stacking beat vocals. Two years ago, he was playing twice a month in and amidst the Kyiv clubs. Today, he’s often invited six or more times a week to mix it up, and is frequently seen in places like Baby Face DJ Bar, Barskiy, Salminskiy, Prime, UA Beach Club and DJ FM. What got him here is what we’re about to find out, so get yourself comfortable, ‘cause we’ve got Tommy Slim on the sofa.

Getting his start in 2006, Ihor Gudym just sort of fell into his professional name attributing it to his love for the films Guy Ritchie puts out. 

I have known this lady for a number of years, but it was only when I started doing a little background on her did I realise just how significant she is in Ukraine’s celebrity circles. She has worked with groups like Okean Elzy, solo acts Sofia Rotaru, Ani Lorak and Andriy Danilko (better known as Serduchka), and even movie directors like Semen Gorov. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was the girl next door. I do know better, however, and getting Angela Lisitsa down on the sofa, What’s On gets the goods on one of Ukraine’s behind-the-scenes personalities.

Upon checking out a couple of extraordinary videos by the band Kamon, the What’s On team thought it might be a good idea to sit them down for a chat. Talking about the ideas behind the music and the misunderstandings their lyrics sometimes cause, we get sisters Alisa and Ksenia revved up to offer you the goods.

Sisters Alisa and Ksenia Kosmos (no relation to our space cadet mayor) have not been in the biz for long. They have, however, been making the most out of the time afforded them, neither of them expecting anything this grand would ever happen to them: “When we sent our demo into Lavina Music, we never thought anything would come of it! We did it just for fun, and came out with a contract and everything! It was a miracle!”

In 2007, the Ukrainian music world added another great name to its already pulsating music chart – Kryhitka. Actually it was a bit of a reincarnation more so than a birth, as a tragic event in the history of Kryhitka Tsakhes, the death of the band’s guitarist that same year, put a full stop to the original band’s activities. Fortunately for their fans, the group still had something to give, and so shortening their name to symbolise a new start, they have been into and out of the studio and are ready to play.

Getting together with one of the most spirited individuals I have ever met, this actor, MC, radio broadcaster, TV presenter and former diplomat was more than willing to find a few moments to chat. With a composure I have only ever seen from those who walk the big screen, he tells me about his own red carpet experiences in an almost perfect English. He is educated, he is also down to earth, and perhaps because of this demeanour, his past endeavours certainly ensure a very promising future. He is Andriy Djedjula.
“I have been on the air for 16 years and TV for ten,” he tells me as soon as we sit down. And while that is very impressive for a man who looks so young, his real ambition as he was growing up was to become an actor.

Comprised of three – sister and brother Nata and Sasha Zhyzhchenko along with friend Pavlo Lenchenko aka Playone – they are Tomato Jaws and they play some exquisite electro. While the band has been around for ten years already, they’ve only just managed to come up from the underground, and with their most recent album Feel Me released just last month, What’s On caught up with this soon-to-turn instrumental band to talk music and talk shop.

Having accidently dropped in one night where Alena Vinnytskaya was playing live, the solid sound and lively energy that was coming out of this woman impressed me so much that when I got home that night, I had to do a little research on her. Turns out she’s a pretty interesting personality, and so more than happy to get her on the sofa, we talk a lot about music. And more specifically about why she turned her back on ViaGra to pursue something a little more hard-hitting and heavy.

In addition to being exposed to a fairly progressive rock culture in her early years, Alena Vinnytskaya was also a great fan of the Russian rock legend Kino, and so it wouldn’t take long before her own rock band, The Last Unicorn, was formed.