Antytila

Biography and creative work

"Antytila” is a Ukrainian band known on both sides of the Atlantic

Year of creation: 2008

Genres: alternative rock, pop rock, indie rock.

Participants: 5

Albums: 7

Country: Ukraine

History of the band - Antytila

Taras Topolya first performed for a wide audience on television in the “Karaoke on the Maidan” programme in 2007. He was the only participant who sang his original song " Я не забуду першу ніч" without any musical accompaniment. After that, the full band performed several times on the aforementioned show. In the 2008 the group took part in the TV project "Chance" and although they did not win, it was a serious impulse for their development and work. Also in 2008, Antytila released their first album, “Будувуду”, consisting of 16 songs. The debut video for the album's title song topped the M1 channel's hit parade for several weeks.

Creative path

After their resounding success, MTV made the band an offer to go on an all-Ukrainian tour. From 2008 to 2010, Antytila collaborated with the “Catapult Music” production centre. In 2009, Antytila were nominated for the “MTV Europe Music Awards 2009” and headlined the MTV Headbangers stage at the “Sziget 2010” music festival in Hungary. The same year, the band stopped working with the production agency. Since then, the band's tour organisation and management has been carried out by keyboardist and arranger Serhiy Vusyk. In 2010, he organised Antytila's first independent club tour.

The second album, “Вибирай”, was released in 2011, with an open-air presentation. The album also gained favour with Russian listeners. The track "Смотри в меня" stayed at the top of the “Chart Top Ten” charts for three months. In 2013, the band was nominated in 5 nominations of the annual “Chart Top Ten” award from “Nashe Radio” for creative achievements in the field of rock and roll.

In 2013, the band released the album “Над полюсами” and embarked on an international tour in support of the album. With the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine, Taras Topolya and his team started volunteering and created the charity foundation Вільні.UA. The song "У книжках" was inspired by his trips to the ATO zone.

In 2015, Antytila released the album “Все красиво” and went on a concert tour in support of their music. In 2016, the band gave more than 20 concerts in support of the new album and performed at the Bloor West Village festival in Toronto, Canada. In addition, the band released the song "Одинак", which became the soundtrack to the TV series of the same name. The film starred Oleksiy Horbunov and was directed by the famous music video director Viktor Priduvalov.

International recognition

The year 2017 was dedicated to a large-scale all-Ukrainian tour in support of the album "Сонце". The tour covered more than 50 cities - from regional centres to small towns. Among other things, Antytila's concerts took place in the frontline area, in particular in Sievierodonetsk, Pokrovsk, Kramatorsk, and Mariupol. Only in March 2017, the band played 29 concerts. The tour ended at the end of May with a concert in Kyiv, attended by over 3,000 people. In addition to the Ukrainian part of the tour, the band also performed in Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Dallas, Houston, Seattle and Vancouver.

In the spring of 2018, Antytila presented a new song "Там, де ми є" ("TDME") and a lyric video for this song. The band also went on tour to the USA and Canada. On 1 August, the musicians presented a new video for the song "Лови момент" from the band's sixth studio album "Hello", which came out in 2019. The music video for the track "Лови момент" features the musicians themselves and their families. This includes Taras Topolya's wife Olena. The album “Hello” includes the songs "Буде син" and "Вірила", music videos for these songs have gained more than 20 million views on Youtube, and the song "LEGO" became the soundtrack to the film “Я Ти Він Вона”.

The band's latest musical work is the album "MLNL", which includes 10 tracks: “Топити за своє”, “Кіно”, “Маскарад”, “Стань”, “MLNL”, “В неволі”, “Лакрімоза”, “Моє”, “Марафон”, “De Janeiro”. The album was released at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Even before the war, realising that it was inevitable, the guys joined the Territorial Defence, and on 24 February 2022, Taras Topolya, Dmytro Zholud and Serhiy Vusyk stood up to defend their country and serve in the 130th Territorial Defence Battalion of Kyiv, while the rest of the team volunteers. They spent six months at the front as paramedics. The charity foundation Free.UA has not stopped its work either, it actively supports Ukrainian defenders and provides them with the necessary equipment, devices and vehicles.

The band's creativity did not stop during the war, they recorded a joint song with the famous singer Ed Sheeran called “2step”, which has a verse in Ukrainian about the day the full-scale war began, song became popular not only in Ukraine but also abroad. In 2023, the band is going on a world tour of America, Canada, Australia and Europe, with concerts announced in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Sydney, Toronto, Auckland, Munich, Milan, Barcelona and other cities, with the final concert of the tour to be held on 23 August 2024 in Yalta, in Ukrainian Crimea.

Albums by Antytila

2008 – “Будувуду”

2011 – “Вибирай”

2013 – “Над полюсами”

2015 – “Все красиво”

2016 – “Сонце”

2019 – “Hello”

2022 – “MLNL”

Crew:

• Taras Topolya - vocals, lyrics.

• Serhiy Vusyk - keyboards, arrangements

• Dmytro Zholud - guitar

• Dmytro Vodovozov - drums 

• Mikhail Chirko – bass

Нагороди і номінації:

2008 – Grand Prix of the festival "Pearls of the Season"

2008 – Award “Nepopsa”, Jum-FM

2009 – nomination for the music award "MTV Europe Music Awards - 2009"

2013 – award in the nomination "Hit Band of the Year", national ceremony "Ukrainian Song of the Year"

2015 – nomination for "Best Group", YUNA 

2018 – winner in the nomination "Best Rock Band", Golden Firebird

2018 – nomination for “Hit of the Year” ("TDME"), M1 Music Awards

2023 – winner in the nomination "Song of Unbreakable Ukraine" ("2 step" feat Ed Sheran), YUNA