Interview with Corn Wave: The Sound of Music of the New Ukrainian Generation

中文版在此：《访问Corn Wave：乌克兰新生代音乐之声》 - https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/BTpoxfthkmcD6WTkb0UGnw

Interview with Corn Wave: The Sound of Music of the New Ukrainian Generation

written by Patrick Po Kei Lam

photoed by Patrick Po Kei Lam

Thanks for the support and assistance of Piggy Records.

Author's note/

I once saw a video from an interview conducted by Radio and Television of Ireland in the 1970s with the punk crowd that was present in Ireland at the time. The presenter of the programme asked a punk if he espoused violence; and the punk gave the answer, "Actually, we were surrounded by violence because a lot of the people on the sidelines treated us in a more violent way ...... People mistakenly thought that we were deliberately trying to avoid the crowd, when the opposite was true. " In a well-known context, four very young musicians started their musical activities in Kyiv, Ukraine under the name "Corn Wave".

I can't remember exactly when I heard of the band Corn Wave, maybe it was in late 22, maybe early 23 - it was probably when I swiped their masterpiece "Mango Nektar" on bilibili. I was instantly drawn to the band's brisk tempo; like Debussy's music, my understanding of Debussy's work is that everything green and blue unfolds in my mind's eye as soon as I press play; their use of a four-four beat and a D major chord playing the intro seemed to communicate the golden hue and sweet taste of the mango's skin directly through the sonic waves into my nerve centre. Corn Wave's music was a refreshing change of pace for me. The music of Corn Wave was a refreshing experience for me - as I was in the midst of Joy Division, Motorama, Sea Power and The Strokes, this band gave me a feeling that was similar to, but not identical with, the music of these bands. I've since added Corn Wave songs to my internet streaming list; around 2022, Doomer literature and post-punk music was imported from overseas to China, and became so popular with the Chinese teenage crowd that I remember driving around on New Year's Day in early 2023 and hearing DJs on local radio stations in the Pearl River Delta playing Motorama songs. Perhaps it was the similarities to other Eastern European post-punk music that was popular at the time, or the fact that the band members were so young that their work struck a chord with a large number of Chinese students (so much so that a good portion of the audience at the shows were high school students), this new band quickly attracted a lot of attention from fellow youths who were able to relate to Molchat Doma's lyrics and get involved in the 21st Century's post-punk movement. The new band quickly caught the attention of the young people who could relate to Molchat Doma's lyrics and participate in the post-punk movement of the 21st century.

When Corn Wave announced that they would be coming to China in May for their first overseas tour, I bought tickets to their show as soon as I could, and after seeing Motorama in Nanjing on the 24th of May, I flew back to Guangdong to see Corn Wave. In the early hours of 26th May, I had a brainwave and thought, "Maybe this is a good opportunity to introduce Corn Wave to everyone; everyone loves Corn Wave nowadays, but we don't know much about them, so why not do an interview with them? It was also a good opportunity to learn for my own band, Royal Air Force, and to communicate our experience together. With this in mind and after much searching, I found the contact details of Vladyslav, the lead singer of Corn Wave, and asked him for an interview; he gladly agreed and said he could talk to me backstage at the venue when he arrived in Shenzhen. I prepared a few questions urgently and was the first to arrive at the venue that day - arguably while one of the bands playing before them was still playing - and when Corn Wave arrived at the venue at around 4pm on the 26th, I was able to meet Vladyslav and the others without any problems, and we met backstage at the venue. I met Vladyslav and the others without any problems, and then we talked for about 40 minutes backstage at the venue. After talking to Vlad, I learnt that he has a very deep musical knowledge and creative musical inspiration, which I have to admire. For this reason, I would like to share with you the content of my conversation with Vlad.

Vlad is used to refer to Corn Wave frontman Vladyslav Pidhorny in the following conversation, and the interview was conducted in English throughout.

Me: Erm ...... is what I was going to ask, can I buy you guys a beer after the show?

Vlad: I don't drink alcohol, I think tea would be better.

Me: So, let's start now then.

Vlad: Okay. But I want to make it clear that we're rather tired at the moment, that is, we just performed yesterday, so you can sense that I'm not in a very good state of mind at the moment, and I'm going to be slightly slower to answer.

Me: Okay, so let's get started like that. Firstly I'd like you to introduce yourselves.

Vlad: Okay. My name is Vladyslav, you can just call me Vlad, and Corn Wave is a music project of mine. All the music is written and composed by me, and I've been working on the project in question since 2018, when my parents just bought me a second-hand bad guitar. All of us met at different times, I've been with Ellie for over three years now, she's our bass player and my girlfriend, Andrew Fox (hereafter Fox), you can call him Fox, is our guitarist, and then this is Andrew Four (hereafter Andy), just call him Andrew, he's our drummer. You can see him napping.

Me: They're all called Andrew?

Vlad: Right, two Andrews with the same name.

Me: And how do you tell them apart?

Vlad: One plays guitar and one plays drums, Fox on guitar and Andy on drums.

Me: So they're brothers of sorts since they both have such similar names.

Vlad: Yeah, between the two of them they're great friends.

Me: So I was wondering how old are you currently? Born in 01 like me?

Vlad: I'm 21 if I'm this year. Ellie is 20 and soon to be 21; Fox is 23 and Andy is 21.

Me: So this is your introduction. I wanted to ask you guys how you felt about leaving Ukraine for your first tour abroad.

Vlad: We felt great, none of us had ever experienced anything like that before, we were so thankful for our fans and their enthusiasm and generosity, after our show they gave us a lot of gifts and we loved it. Those gifts were piled up like such big chairs, I've never experienced such a level of generosity and enthusiasm from fans. I mean, even in Ukraine, there are not so many fans.

Me: That means our enthusiasm very much surprised you.

Vlad: Yes, it was a positive surprise, I hadn't seen it coming.

Me: Well ...... So where did it all start for you guys? Who started the band first?

Vlad: As I told you earlier, I wrote and recorded all the songs individually, it's my solo project first and foremost, and when it comes to performing with the guys, the whole team was put together and rehearsed for the China tour, which started at the beginning of this year. We've been friends for a long time, and I just knew that Fox played guitar, Andy played drums and my girlfriend played bass, and I said to them, "Guys, let's start rehearsing, and then we'll go to China together and play some music for the public.

Me: Is that when you were told that China was inviting you?

Vlad: Yeah, I was approached by a lot of organisations in China, big and small, and we were shown some contracts, and then I chose Piggy Records, and the guy in charge of the label is sitting there, and he’s getting ready for the show. Because he was the first one to offer me a deal and said "Hey, here's a contract" and I looked at it and it is a good deal, so why not come? It was a great decision and our manager is a great guy and we're good friends now.

Me: Okay. So I guess it must have been a long journey from Kyiv to Guangdong, and it must have been difficult for you in the current situation. Well, for us of course we want all of you to be in a safe condition, but it's still rather surprising for you as lads that you haven't been drafted by the army in the context of the situation today.

Vlad: Yes, the situation is very complicated, and in Ukraine the situation on the front is very tense every day; male citizens are obliged to join the army. Now it's because we are students - we used to be students, so the authorities didn't put us on the draft list. The journey was still difficult because we had to prepare the relevant documents to leave Ukraine, and at the moment we're not allowed to leave Ukraine in a wartime situation, and the only way to do that is to contact the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, so we contacted them, and we said, "Hello, we're Corn Wave, a young music group from Kyiv, and we'd like to go on a tour to China, so please allow us to go to China, and we'd like to go on a tour. We want to tour in China, so please allow us to leave the country"; but the process was still very complicated, they told us that they could help us, but they needed us to provide proof of this and that, including proof from your university, proof from your municipality ......

Me: Including the street office?

Vlad: Yes. My first thought was, we've still got to do it, it's a pain in the arse, but we've got to try it, and what happens when you try it is that it becomes a success.

Me: Okay. What artists do you feel have inspired you to create?

Vlad: I think different artists have inspired me at different times. From the beginning I think it was some shoegazing bands like Slowdive and some post-punk bands, but that's in the past...... A lot of people think we're post-punk, but I don't really think so, we don't really belong to that genre; nowadays I think my favourite band is Duster (an American alternative indie rock band). band is Duster (an American alternative indie rock band).

Me: It sounds like you are very confused about being treated as a post-punk musician. So what genre do you think your music belongs to?

Vlad: I think the songs I write fall more into the indie rock category, or maybe Midwestemo (a digital rock genre that originated in the Midwest). And maybe a little bit of experimental music as well, which is what our latest album presents.

Me: Do you like Viktor Choi (the godfather of Soviet rock)?

Vlad: Choi's words were particularly popular with me as a kid. As you know, I was born in Ukraine, a former constituent country of the USSR, and the guys loved Viktor Choi, who was the leading Soviet musician before and after the collapse of the USSR. My father was very fond of Viktor Choi, and for me he was more like a thing from the past, and I used to play his songs when I was a kid, when I was just starting to learn the guitar, and his compositions were the first things I practiced.

Me: Which songs?

Vlad: It's his masterpiece, right?

Me: Gruppa Krovi?

Vlad: Yeah, Blood Type, Cuckoo, Pitch Black, those.

Me: That sounds pretty interesting. You know, I like playing music myself, and I personally prefer Joy Division and The Smiths.

Vlad: Oh ...... The Smiths are great too, and for Joy Division, I even purchased one of their culture shirts when I was 16.

Me: Well ...... as well as that is, are your parents supportive of your music career, even with the current situation at home and abroad?

Vlad: Sure, why not? They understand, after all it's my life and I can do everything I want to do, especially if they see that I'm starting to succeed in this business, they'll be happy for me. But then, now that I'm abroad, I won't see them for a long time and they'll feel sad.

Me: Do they worry?

Vlad: It's not like I'm worried, I'm just going to be sad. We met a lot of nice people and good friends in China, but they miss me and I miss them.

Me: Just like my family. Since we're the same age then I reckon you're an only child.

Vlad: Yes.

Me: The guys are pretty much the same. (Laughs) Maybe I'll be heading to Europe at the end of this year as well and will be doing events there with my band.

Vlad: I also have a friend who is mixed German and French.

Me: Do you know the band DDT?

Vlad: Yes I know them, although I haven't heard much of them, it's all ages on my side, my parents listened to them a lot, back in the nineties.

Me: Well, I have friends who really like their songs, but according to him, it seems that their lead singer has now been arrested in Russia.

Vlad: ah ...... That's kinda sad.

Me: Is there a conflict between school and music career for you? How do you deal with that?

Vlad: There used to be, about a year or two ago, but not anymore, I'm not a student anymore. I've left university so I don't have any doubts about these things, I can say that I chose music over computer science. I mean actually I was nearing the end of my course at university, I'd finished all my classes and only had to complete a final project, and I was wanting to do a project similar to Bandcamp (an American online music exchange community). You know Bandcamp, right?

Me: Yes, I know.

Vlad: My graduation project requirement at the time was to make a Bandcamp-like website just for me, but it was really hard. I was like, "What the fuck, why am I doing this? So I gave up.

Me: I'm pretty much the same, and I'm getting close to graduating and leaving school. After four years, I'll start to wonder what I've really learnt at this place.

Vlad: Me too.

Me: By the way, incidentally, I studied European Literature at school. Where were you able to get your inspiration for your musical compositions?

Vlad: I think the place for creative inspiration would be nature. For a few of us, the thing we do the most is to climb mountains, and I also like to stay in my country house, which has a very beautiful Ukrainian landscape. It's very close to Kyiv and we'll drive there and we'll have tea, watch films, play games, and I think the main source is still nature, which connects me to the world around me.

Me: As a musician from Eastern Europe, I find a big difference between your music and bands like Molchat Doma, Super Besse from the same region. The two bands I mentioned earlier have a very deep emotion in their music, like despair, coldness, insanity and darkness. But in your music, even though there is a certain melancholic tone lyrically, there is still some romance and optimism about life, like a sunset reflected in a pond, and not just a brutalist building in the middle of a snowstorm. I'm curious, how do you get your inspiration in a more brutal environment? I mean, if it were me, if I had to deal with war and people being generally unhappy and living in poverty, it would be harder for me to do that in such an environment; but how do you manage to differentiate yourself from a band like Molchat Doma?

Vlad: The first thing I would like to say about depression is that we are not a post-punk band. So, sadness or despair, compared to bands like Molchat Doma and those other classic post-punk bands ...... you can feel that my music is trying to share some positive feelings with people, we live in a cruel world, we have wars, conflicts... ...What the hell, we have enough negative feelings and sadness in this world, so I don't want to share that, I just want to make people feel better, even if it might only be a minute long, or a song long experience.

Me: Well ...... you remind me of a Japanese artist called Makoto Shinkai, you know? He's a Japanese animation director. For the past ten years, his work has basically been related to the 3-11 earthquake; he just wants to heal the hearts of the people who were hit by it through his work.

Vlad: I think there are indeed commonalities.

Me: I think I'll share his film with you afterwards.

Vlad: That's good.

Me: So in that case, which is your favourite film or director?

Vlad: Well ...... I guess I have different preferences at each period. Every year is different ......

Me: In terms of the present moment?

Vlad: At present ...... I haven't watched many films over the years if that. But one of the older TV shows I like more is that Dexter, which was a TV show that started at the turn of the century. The first season was a masterpiece, it was a huge hit at the turn of the century, it's really great and I'll keep watching it.

Me: As you understand, you and your group are now becoming more and more well-known amongst the huge subculture fan base in China, and along with the dramatisation of the whole contemporary global subculture movement that is going on right now, your music is also being circulated to a wider audience. As a member of Z Generation, how would you describe and evaluate the whole contemporary subculture movement?

Vlad: Honestly, I don't think I really understand this aspect of things, like concepts like something like Generation Z or something like a crucifixion ...... I think everyone is different, even if they were born in the same year, different people, different worlds... ...I think the only thing that connects us is the internet. I don't really know anything about or participate in subculture movements, I'm just a regular guy and I don't intend to crucify myself to be a leader of a movement and be whatever others see me as ...... just be yourself and then be kind to the world.

Me: Ok ...... Are you guys aware that you've been referred to as Genshin Impact in Midwestemo?

Vlad: Yes, I know the game Genshin Impact. I don't play it, but Fox does.

Me: Really?

Vlad: Really, he plays. (Fox mutters something in Russian in the background)

Me: Holy Mary Mother of God. But what I was referring to was, you know Genshin Impact is hot in China right now as a game, it's hot in Europe, so they used that as a kind of analogy, a metaphor for the fact that you guys are hot in this field.

Vlad: I don't really know. But my prediction is, you see post-punk music used to be very hot in the West, probably between the 1980s and 1990s, and China only became popular between those five years, and maybe in another five years the trend will be over. I think the relationship is like this, in my prediction I think Midwestemo will rise in China next year, just like in the western world, after the post-punk trend is over it's post-rock, and then Midwestemo, so I think maybe next year this music genre will rise in China as well.

Me: So you think the title is only temporary?

Vlad: I think so ...... You know, I love Midwestemo music because the genre can be easy or hard to play, and for me as a musician it's fun, depending on the different guitars you use, the drum kit, it's all a different experience!

Me: Okay ...... So what I'd like to ask is if the Soviet-era space sensibilities have influenced you guys in any way? There are a lot of references to planets and the universe in your songs, does this type of imagery in your songs come from some Soviet era sentiment?

Vlad: We live in a post-Soviet country, so from childhood we grew up looking at historic buildings, and they had an impact on our consciousness. My parents were born in the Soviet Union and they often talk about the past years.

Me: The Good Old Days?

Vlad: Yes, people often bring up their youth, the so-called GOOD OLD DAYS. I mean, it does have some influence, but that's only because i lived in a post-Soviet state society, that's all.

Me: What is your future creative direction?

Vlad: words for the future ...... I think because I'm not a student anymore, I have a lot of time ......

Me: Full-time rock star.

Vlad: Haha, yeah, I feel a lot of joy when I write new tunes, I think it's the best thing that's ever happened to me in my life, and that's what it feels like when I'm writing those chords and creating some variety of music for my friends. After this China tour, I think I'll start learning Chinese and writing more music. Maybe not under the name of Corn Wave, but under some other project.

Me: Do you mean that it's not just Corn Wave, but you'll move to other projects and change your style?

Vlad: Yeah, that's how it is with different projects, and I would change and try some new styles, maybe.

Me: What kind of style?

Vlad: As you can see, Corn Wave's style is in the Midwestemo genre, and I thought maybe I'd start some side projects, playing some slowcore, or maybe Ambient Music. You know I'm young and I have a lot of ideas in my head.

Me: Well ...... okay. But it seems like there's an important question I forgot to ask, which is how exactly did the four of you meet each other again?

Vlad: Between that and Ellie, we've known each other for about three years.

Me: In school?

Vlad: Not really, we met at a gig. We went to the same gig together, it was a staring shoe rock gig, and my friend introduced me to her, and the next day I invited her to come and hang out at my country house. We started dating after that.

Me: Very romantic.

Vlad: Yes, it is.

Me: What about between you and the guitarist and the drummer?

Vlad: With Andy, I met him in Kharkiv, a friend of mine threw an underground party there and we drank all night together, and after we have met, I felt like there's such a guy in the world, it’s a pity we met too late. With Fox, we met in 2022 at a hippie festival in the Carpathian Mountains.

Me: That was a tough time.

Vlad: That's why I chose to go for a walk in the mountains.

Me: So you met him there and discovered his talent?

Vlad: Yes, I met him there and then learnt that he plays the guitar very well and that he has been learning the guitar since childhood. He knows a lot of music theory and he plays the guitar very well.

Me: At what point did you start learning guitar?

Vlad: My first guitar was bought for me by my parents when I was 12 years old, it was a very cheap classical guitar with nylon strings.

Me: I'm pretty much the same, I started learning when I was 14.

Vlad: Cool. I practised for a week and then I couldn't do it anymore.

Me: Calluses on your hands?

Vlad: Yeah, so I put it down. By the time I was 14, I started listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers and after that I thought, I love this band so much, I'd love to play their songs on my guitar, so I started learning again.

Me: That's pretty much how it went for me. I started taking piano lessons when I was almost 4 years old, and I took lessons for almost 4 years, and I didn't continue with them until I was about 9 years old because my music teacher at the time travelled elsewhere. So I put the piano away until I heard Ryuichi Sakamoto's music when I was in high school, and I thought I'd pick up music again. In fact, Ryuichi Sakamoto had such a process, I remember that Ryuichi Sakamoto also started learning the piano as a child, and by the time he was in high school he was originally going to turn to basketball, but then he realised that he couldn't live without music, so he went back to continue with music. What else would you like to say to your fans in China?

Vlad: Be kind to yourself and everything around you. Well ...... whenever I feel bad about myself I think about the fact that everyone is going to die. Me too, my friends too, whether it's today, tomorrow, a year from now, ten years from now, it's always going to come, no one can live all the time and everyone needs to understand that. So be kind to everyone and things around you.

Me: That means don't let yourself have any regrets right?

Vlad: Yes. I think regret is actually an unhealthy reaction, and when people feel regret, it actually generally indicates that they may have some kind of childhood trauma, or maybe there's something weird in the back of their mind that's going to talk to them and say ouch, you shouldn't have done that, what's going on. If you've been consistent in the direction of your life with being kind to people, you won't feel regret.

Me: Can I understand this as an existentialist philosophy?

Vlad: You can understand it as a kind of Buddhist philosophy. It's a southern Buddhist philosophy, and I've studied a lot of Buddhist classics, some from Sri Lanka or Burma, and it's not a religion, but it's some very interesting books that tell a lot of history, and you realise that Buddha is not a god.

Me: He is not a Christ-like being.

Vlad: Right, he wasn't a Christ-like being, he was just a regular guy. Even though he lived 2,500 years ago in South Asia, his life was well documented, and the stories have been woven into the classics, big and small. Did you know that before he passed away he ate raw meat? For me it's not a disappointment, it's an encouragement, that is, you get a sense that he was just a regular guy and you understand that he was a guy just like you. It is an interesting study.

Me: Okay. I think that's all the questions I have, thanks!

Vlad: Thanks.