Two tween brothers in western Ukraine recognized for his or her hard-rock guitar performances in viral movies reposted by Metallica play their first solo present for a particular viewers.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Russia’s full-scale battle on Ukraine has disrupted the lives of Ukrainian kids however not their ambitions. Two younger rock guitarist brothers from western Ukraine have gone viral with their movies of heavy steel and grunge covers. NPR’s Hanna Palamarenko met them in Kyiv and sends us this postcard.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELECTRIC GUITAR RIFF)
HANNA PALAMARENKO, BYLINE: In an improvised stage in a big room often reserved for conferences, two pint-sized rock stars tune their electrical guitars.
DAVID: (Talking Ukrainian).
(APPLAUSE)
PALAMARENKO: “We’re rocker brothers,” says David, who’s 10 years previous. David is on stage along with his sibling, 12-year-old Sasha. They’re taking part in their first solo live performance in Kyiv. Sasha has a neat haircut and a restrained smile. David’s wavy hair flops over his eyes as he tunes his shiny inexperienced Fender reproduction.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PALAMARENKO: They open with Ukraine’s nationwide anthem.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PALAMARENKO: They’re taking part in for severely wounded troopers at a rehabilitation heart. The wounded males are in wheelchairs however insist on standing through the anthem. Others lean on crutches. One locations his prosthetic hand over his coronary heart. Many acknowledge Sasha and David, who’re form of well-known in Ukraine. The brothers have an Instagram web page the place they add movies of themselves performing songs by Ukrainian artists, in addition to Metallica.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PALAMARENKO: On this video from final 12 months, they rocked out to “Grasp Of Puppets.”
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PALAMARENKO: Metallica’s official account reposted the brothers’ movies.
SASHA: (Talking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: Sasha says he and his brother performed with plastic toy guitars once they had been preschool age. Then, they took music classes.
DAVID: (Talking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: David says acoustic guitars could also be lyrical, however electrical guitars like theirs are for rockers. The mom of the 2 boys, Olha Podliashchuk, says her sons didn’t cease taking part in after Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022.
OLHA PODLIASHCHUK: (Talking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: She says they took their guitars to a small basement, which the household used as a shelter. It turned the brothers’ rehearsal studio.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PALAMARENKO: As wartime rockers, they consider they’ve a mission.
SASHA: (Talking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: “Our guitars,” Sasha says, “are our weapons.”
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Talking Ukrainian).
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PALAMARENKO: The studio’s partitions are full of flags signed by items and patches despatched by brigades. One soldier even despatched them a bass guitar. The brothers lately discovered he went lacking in jap Ukraine.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: (Talking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: Again on the live performance, a soldier asks if he can sing alongside throughout one in every of their songs.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: (Singing in Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: It is a folk-metal track about battle. The soldier’s navy name signal is Skripal (ph), and he says he sang this track along with his comrades through the darkest instances. For the live performance finale, Sasha and David performed their first authentic composition. It is known as “Gentle Up Your Sound.”
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
DAVID AND SASHA: (Singing in Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: Even when it is darkish throughout, they sing, my sound is like hearth by way of the chilly and fatigue. I cannot hand over. I am taking part in on – taking part in on for enjoyable and the morale of Ukrainians and the troopers on the frontlines.
Hanna Palamarenko. NPR Information, Kyiv.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
DAVID AND SASHA: (Singing in Ukrainian).
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