Anton Slepakov and Andriy Sokolov, one of the leading musical poets of modern Ukraine, and members of the VGNVZ musical band, have been in Kyiv since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and now they are visiting various cities of Ukraine to support volunteers. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the band members started shaping their own and common feelings into a unified artistic experience, which later received the title “Warнякання”, an artistic method of documenting reality and therapy.
The project was created in March 2022. Since then, the musicians have released 15 tracks-reflections on the war. These are Anton Slepakov’s monologues to the electronic sound by Andriy Sokolov. Each song addresses a different aspect of the war: habituation to air raid sirens, the shooting of civilians by the Russian military, rallies in Kherson, Irpin, PTSD, etc.
“This is our way of documenting and therapy, as well as an opportunity to remain a human being. Not to drown in the black stream of hatred, not to go crazy, seeing what these inhumans are doing to our country,” Anton Slepakov said at the beginning of the project.
During the year, the band gave many charity gigs throughout Ukraine and had a charity tour of de-occupied or front-line cities (Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv, etc.). Impressive detailed descriptions of the stories convey the almost biblical vulnerability of the human body during the war.
In a way, Anton Slepakov’s calmness can even be called prophetic if we see behind the prophet a sober analysis and modeling of possible options for developing a particular situation. The weight of his word has the power of healing and reconciliation. Anton Slepakov broadcasts emotions and big thoughts through everyday images and feelings close to everyone.
“The war in the country is not over, which means the album is not over either, our thoughts have no conclusions. Let’s think further…”.
