Back to Youth: the festival of friendship, unity, and love in Kalush
Festival and concert organizers are an inevitable part of both underground and pop scenes. Now, in the crisis of the event industry, we want to support those people involved in the event organization. We’ll tell more about them so that no one had doubts that the work they do is important and hard, and that it’s vital to save their craft in current conditions. Our first interviewees in the series of alike materials are Maksym Barna and Yuriy Atamanchuk, organizers of the Back to Youth festival in Kalush.
Western Ukraine at the beginning of the 2010s could boast its unique vibe of punk gigs that impressed many visitors. Being influenced by nostalgia and trying to get all the constructive things out of it, Back to Youth creators launched the festival. This is the story about how everything has started, it’s about hopes, expectations, disappointments, hard times, and flashbacks.
We are having a conversation with the festival founder, Maksym Barna (Jean Marine), and co-founder Yuriy Atamanchuk. Besides them, the festival has around 10 co-organizers from different cities and countries, but the majority is originally from Kalush.
The founder of Maxwell Pub in Kalush and the festival organizer of Represent. Previously, he was a band member of Green Silence, Kelush & the Bastards, VIA Dzvinochok.
The architect and cultural activist.
On the music thirst
Maksym Barna (further Maks): I can outline three periods in my life:
- I was growing up with my parents' Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd records, so I don't remember the exact moment I felt passion for music.
- In junior school, thanks to my classmate, I’ve discovered Paradise Lost, Tiamat, Immortal, N.W.A, Naughty by Nature; it was around 1996.
- Then, when Fat of the Land by Prodigy was trending, the breakbeat came to my life as well as drum & bass, house, and all sorts of Bristol electronic music
Yuriy Atamanchuk (further Yura): The turning point in my life was the day when the older boys from our neighborhood took me with them to watch pepsis (a slang name for the youth who skateboards, rides bikes, etc.). Skaters, rollerbladers, and riders performed tricks in the main square of the town, and heavy music was blaring out of speakers. The boys from my neighborhood mocked at skaters. While walking home, I was enthusiastically humming some tune I heard there. I still remember one of those older boys pulling me and asking with a wild smile, "Are you nuts?"
On the band experience
Maks: I've had a lot of music projects. In my youth, I played pop rock, then switched to rap, Irish folk punk, and grindcore. But I think none of the bands was something really worthy. The only exception is VIA Dzvinochok, so I find it difficult to discuss this topic in detail.
While being in my first band in 2003, I probably just wanted to play in a band and be a rocker. At one point, the project was even commercially successful. However, when I realized that I feel more and more embarrassed to play such music, this thought forced me to leave the band. Our band had neither ideas nor the desire to say something. We only had a set of graphomaniac rhymes about nothing. Then I did music exclusively for my own pleasure without setting any high goals. I wanted to hang out and have fun, so I created Kelush & the Bastards. When I wanted to dive into sad realities, I did rap. I was rather in the music-related sphere than doing music on my own.
Back to Youth 2019
On the BTY creation
Maks: When I stopped to play all sorts of mess and came from Lviv to my hometown in early 2010, I lacked any creative fulfillment. Since it was too difficult to create a band in Kalush at that time and I didn’t have much desire to do it, I discovered the sound recording. It was more interesting to me. Then, I decided I should bring some music to Kalush and create the music world around me.
Even then I was excited about the DIY scene that became a whole new universe for me. I was surprised and pleased to meet young people from my hometown (I haven’t been there for 8 years) who had the same hobbies as I did. Some of them are co-organizers of BTY now.
I started to do the first punk gigs in Kalush for those guys and two dozen others. It was the period from 2010 till now. In 2015, when the trend of DIY punk gigs in Ukraine was over, I was nostalgically sad about what had been happening a few years ago. So I decided to make the event that will bring everyone back to 2010-2012, where we all can be young and beautiful again. That's how Back to Youth appeared. It was an open-air event outside the town. At first, it was a small festival for friends, but in 2019 we’ve decided to start growing and getting better as well as developing the festival brand.
Back to Youth
Maks: Maxwell Pub was opened in 2012. Since then and until the last year, around 200 events were held there. Because arriving bands were very different stylistically, we opened a wide range of musical genres for many locals. This fact allowed us to partially prepare the local audience.
The first three festivals (two of them we held in Maxwell) were aimed at visitors who are already into DIY events, and we didn’t look for opportunities to broaden our perspective. However, the fourth festival was a turning point. Before this one, I did all the festivals on my own. Then, I’ve decided to organize BTY 2019 with a team and expand the range of genres and concepts.
At first, BTY was just a family gig for the closest friends, and we put the emphasis on nostalgic feelings. Now, we’ve decided to show the DIY scene to a wider audience. We wanted to demonstrate our perspective of such DIY events through the prism of our town, where we actually discovered it. We’ve found the DIY scene through friendship and mutual support in our provincial local squad. And it all grew into a festival that embodies our diversity and contains everything we love. And obviously, we didn’t get rid of the initial desire to bring back the spirit of the Ukrainian DIY age at its peak. We did it so that as many people as possible could meet in one place again, just like in the times when we were going to events in different cities.
Перший Back to Youth
Yura: BTY’19 has become significant for us. Before, Maks was doing practically everything on his own, and we just helped around sometimes. But then, we gathered as a solid team for the first time. Everyone played an important role. It was vital for us to understand if we could gain the loyalty of a wider audience and if we could grow from local gigs to something bigger and more powerful.
The main goal was not to screw up our hangout vibe. I mean, we had to develop our own culture and be more open. To share knowledge, to discover and comprehend something new, to unite, and to support each other. This is how we outlined our main idea: the festival of friendship, unity, and love in Kalush.
The founder of Liniya Vtechi, the Lviv cultural agency, and the curator of TEATR. Club. The art director at Craft Beer & Vinyl Music Festival and Lviv Media Forum.
One of the organizers of Burn The Scene For Fun, Zhytomyr DIY festival held from 2011 to 2018. The co-organizer of the "раньше было лучше", festival that replaced BTSFF.
On the concert spirit of the Western Ukraine
Maks: It was just the beginning of the 2010s. People went to concerts, made friends, started collaborations between squads from different cities. Then, you went to the concert to see your friends from Lviv, Ternopil or other cities and to hang out rather than to listen to music. The music was a nice bonus. The main thing, I think, was the vibe of unity and friendship based on musical preferences and worldviews.
Lyana Mytsko (further Lyana): This is the culture of good concerts. I don't know why people are talking about nostalgia because such a definition is like marketing or an excuse now: I go to see a show since I'm so nostalgic for the past. This is the festival that states we’re still alive. And we’re young, and it will last as long as we want.
Volodymyr Vashchenko (further Volodya): If we’re talking about the Ukrainian DIY scene, I can't remember anything like that in the early 2000s. The first festival memories of that time date back to the end of the 2000s and the beginning of the 2010s. Greetings to .aorte FEST, Veny-Reki, and Trismus Festival.
On the festival growth in recent years
Maks: Hardcore and sсreamo bands were there from the very beginning since mainly these genres had established our passion for this music. But rap appeared at the third festival for the first time. Simultaneously with punk gigs, from 2011 to 2016, I was creating Represent, the festival of hip-hop culture. It ended in 2016. The next year, when I was focused on BTY, I got an idea to take something from Represent to the punk scene. If you live in Kalush and you’re playing techno, punk, sludge or rap, you're a part of the DIY culture. Because there’s no other culture here. That is why I didn't see any difference.
Regarding metal, it should have appeared at our festival sooner or later. Every genre is very close to the other. The main thing is that musicians are good and understand what they are doing, and genres are secondary. Techno boys go to Downfall of Gaia, and Tulym performs a while at hardcore events like La Coka Nostra along with Madball and Agnostic Front.
Volodya: Yeah, I can feel a greater extent and more serious attitude this year. I think that the festival only wins: it’s still too early to talk about any loss caused by the growth because the level is different. BTY exists only a few years. At the moment, the festival has not yet fully got its own spirit, although we can feel that special spirit in many aspects.
On the concept of Family Gig
Yura: BTY20 departs from the idea of nostalgia. We focus on developing the festival as a place, community, and movement on principles of the progressive punk culture. So far, we were returning to the past to revive memories of our bright youth. Now, we’re returning to the past to move forward.
This year we had to learn how to work remotely on the festival because almost the entire team of organizers lives in different cities or countries now. However, this is basically the idea of the return: the event makes us return to the place we know well and love, and to see our friends. We want festival guests to feel that Kalush is our common home, a commune that is created once a year. Thus, our slogan says, "Back to youth, Back to Kalush!"
Maks: The Family Gig concept just evolved into Family Fest, that's it. The family vibe doesn’t disappear, it grows and spreads among more and more people. And who are we in this world without the family? Only the family gives us strength.
Back to Youth 2019
On difficult and delightful aspects
Maks: The biggest difficulty is to choose a location: 95% of the places we find interesting are private property. The owners are citizens who are very far from understanding what we’re doing. And the unknown rather frightens them than leads to cooperation. Therefore, it’s extremely difficult to get in touch with some people. However, if you try hard, everything is possible.
The second problem is the geographical location of Kalush. As a local, I quite understand how to get here quickly from anywhere in Ukraine, but non-locals, who have mostly never heard of Kalush, find it hard to travel here. Therefore, every year we try to introduce our town to guests and show it as we see it ourselves. We do so to foster the love for its beauty and unique vibe that is not visible at the first glance.
Also, I can highlight one festival feature: BTY 2019 and 2020 hosted bands that agreed to give one or two reunion performances. These were Waytaker and Al.Ko_KC in 2019. In 2020, as you probably know, Фейерверки Ранят Небо is going to play.
Yura: We pay much attention to special features of the town because Kalush means more than just the place of birth to us. My Kalush is the original provincial culture, and to a large extent, it’s the worldview. It’s full of romance, issues, stereotypes, and parallel realities. If you do anything here, it's as if you already studied some secret Jungle Book.
Below, check out videos that we shot together with our bro Nazar Nazaruk from Complete! This is our attempt to tell more about the town, our hangout, and things that we find important, however, they go unnoticed.
The third problem is the settlement. As the town is industrial and has no influx of people from outside, it’s incredibly difficult to accommodate all festival visitors. All apartments, hotels, and the only hostel are quickly booked, but they are usually in a poor condition. This year we’ll try to solve this problem. You’ll learn about our solution when we announce the location.
And the other problems are just the same as all organizers face. The best part is making new friends and discoveries as well as seeing people cry under the stage when the last band ends its set.
On rivarly
Maks: As I can see, we rather have mutual support than the competition. For example, in summer, we agreed on the festival dates with Kharkiv Hardcore Fest and Hamselyt so that we didn’t hold events at the same time and didn’t provoke any competition issues.
Раньше было лучше unites people who used to contribute to Back to Youth. It was really nice to see them among festival guests. It’s flattering how rapidly Electric Meadow is developing. Nadja’s arrival in 2019 pushed us to the idea that we need to grow out of the local level and become more ambitious.
And all the festivals have different messages. Yeah, our worldviews or invited bands often coincide. However, these are completely different festivals. We are always ready to support our colleagues since they do the same thing as we do. We even promote their events during ours. I sincerely enjoy their success and send them a virtual handshake.
Back to Youth 2019
On impressions
Volodya: Our emotions and impressions are stunning. I was at BTY 2019. It really feels like the same old spirit of 2010 when you travel a few hundred kilometers to see friends and feel the unity with them.
I am happy for the team: this year they risked to do something big. Last year, the festival was probably too local, most bands were either from Frankivsk, Ternopil, and the regions. Accordingly, the audience was mainly the bands’ support. I am also happy that this year the festival will be held on a large territory, outside the town. At the moment, Ukraine lacks good festivals organized in nature.
And the other nice thing is that the festival is related to Kalush, the small town. It's great that there are people who love what they do, and I hope lots of visitors will come to support the festival.
Lyana: It's not Alpha Jazz to expect exquisite excellence from the festival. But to call some mess-ups DIY is also not an option since organizers have considerable experience. I think everything will be fine, they have a good sense of what they do.
Back to Youth 2019
What's next?
Yura: In the future, we want to see more guests from neighboring European countries among festival visitors. To make the festival a place of cultural diversity. To become an economically stable event and invite dope bands. To bring quality changes to the town environment.
Maks: It's hard to write something else and avoid repeating what Yura has already said. So I'll just subscribe to his words. I see BTY as an Eastern European underground music festival. We’ve brought it to the Ukrainian level, and in the future, we want to bring it to the European level. This year, the first visitors from Europe should come. And this makes us happy.
We’re already on this path, and we’re continuing to build it until we make a highway out of it. Our values are relatable to people from different parts of Ukraine and the world. So we’d like to become another island on the map, where these people can spend time together, discover Ukrainian and foreign scenes, make friends, socialize, and then wait for the spring together to go back to Kalush and their youth again.
Back to Youth 2019
There is a limited number of outdoor festivals that focus on the punk scene, so BTY's desire to develop, expand genres, and invite foreign guests is logical. The vibe of the youth years is unlikely to be lost because it's always great to burn to the last, regardless of who’s playing on the stage: your old friends or Hexis, the band that had more than a hundred concerts around the world.
The Back To Youth festival started 5 years ago as a nostalgic occasion to gather friends from all over the country in the small town. It has been held annually since then, so Back To Youth 2020 is going to be the fifth. The event was supposed to be on May 1-2 in Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk region, but due to the pandemic and quarantine, it was postponed to the summer. New dates aren’t set yet. Previously announced bands are Hexis, René Maheu, Feyerverki Ranyat Nebo, Complete!, VOVK, Orpha, Bojevilla, White Ward, Kiteflighter, Yah, Mother Witch & Dead Water Ghosts. You can purchase tickets online.
Back To Youth in social media:
https://www.facebook.com/btyfest
https://www.facebook.com/events/757879524700147/
https://www.instagram.com/bty.fest/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyNNk87dVS4qMiitn5r7QXw
Photos are provided by Back To Youth organizers
