Favourite local band TNMK (Tanok Na Maidani Kongo) just returned from shows in Poznan, Poland, which they hit after filming a new video in Prague. Now they're getting ready to play their native Kharkiv on 14 June, the band's official birthday. They talked with us about Ukrainian music, their new album, and their summer vacation plans

Several years ago programme directors had the right to complain that Ukrainian music is of low quality, but it's not like that today," says TNMK's bearded, baby-faced frontman Fahot. "We're seeing the beginning of some healthy competition these days." "Compare it with the Polish music market," breaks in his bandmate and co-vocalist Fozzy. "WeVe got much more interesting and talented musicians, but [the Poles] are really successful at promotion and at getting access to the mass media." _-' TNMK have a reputation as the good guys on the regional music scene They're well-known for trying to help out younger and upcoming bands on the scene, and Fahot is one of those local celebrities you see all around the city, but without the pretention that characterises many other members of Kyiv's so-called VIP scene. There he is sitting at Entre-sole, for example, just hanging out, or quietly watching a movie at the Kyiv cinema. The band, which plays a mix of funk, punk, hiphop, ska, and other high-energy music, in recent years released the albums 'ReF-ormaTion 2' and 'ReFormaTion 2.2', which contain remixes and cover versions of TNMK songs, included by bands just starting out. "If we see an interesting musical idea but the band that has it lacks the money to record it, we always help out. We see that as a contribution to the development of new Ukrainian music," says Fahot. On the other hand, TNMK also collaborates with such established pop stars as Sofia Rotaru, Ani Lorak, and ViaGra. A hard outfit like TNMK would seem to clash with, say, Rotaru But, Fozzy says, "It's more interesting to work on the borders of things, and the most intense emotions come when you mix up completely different things - when you're on the frontiers between styles." Their latest collaboration resulted in a remade version of Ani Look's 'Shady Lady, the song she's playing at Euro-vision this year. They say the singer herself was pleasantly surprised by what they had done with it

 A Secret Vacation
Working together with purveyors of Eurovision-style pop, however, doesn't distract TNMK from taking part in the 'Face of Not-Pop' project - an anthology of photos of the Ukrainian rock scene presented by Anna Voitenko. "We were happy to take part in the project," Fahot says, "as we represent not-pop music But we treat pop music with tolerance, because it exists and always will exist Lots of alternative bands are jealous because pop stars earn more money. We're not among them Of course we want to be a mass phenomenon, but to us that means that the mass audience changes its tastes and learns to like our music, not that we change our music to conform to the tastes of the masses." These days the guys are putting together their new album, but there's no release date yet "One time we actually did sit on the conveyor belt in order to produce an album," Fozzy says, "and it turned out fine, but in general we don't like to hurry when it comes to such important things." Music critics have been known to whine that TNMK's too slow in putting out their records, but the band has a nice answer for them - quality takes time Besides they do it all themselves, from songwriting to production to promotion (Fahot even directed the video they just filmed in Prague.) "We can afford to make an album track by track," says Fozzy "and take as much time as we need." Summer's approaching, and the question is in the air: where are they going to take their holiday? Fahot plans to visit London in June - he's been dreaming about the city for a while. The guys also say they have a favourite Ukrainian vacation spot, but they want to keep it to themselves. Fahot shows me a picture of it on his mobile and it's clear they've found a little corner of Ukrainian heaven. "Paradise for me," says Fozzy, "is the seaside, with nobody around and a beach with wi-fl." And yet, while Fozzy and Fahot like to travel and say they feel comfortable in many places around the world, they say they dream of building huge houses in the Kyiv suburbs, with huge yards for kids and dogs and facilities for creating music. Though associated with urban music, they're lured by pastoral life. "The city is so buzzing with information and dirty that sometimes I want to walk barefoot in the grass and get rid of all the negative urban energy," says Fahot. TNMKs been around for an amazing 19 years already, and this year they plan to celebrate their band's birthday with a concert in their native Kharkiv. "We have a tradition of celebrating 14 June with our Kongo Club fan club, going out for a picnic, but this time we're inviting all our Kyiv fans to join us in Kharkiv," says Fahot.

 Kateryna Kyselyova