In november 2022, less than a year after the Russian Full scale invasion of Ukraine, Pär Moberg had agreed to perform at a support event to raise funds for Ukraine in Malmö, organised by Malmö Stands with Ukraine. The organizers put him in contact with Myroslava Romaniuk, a ukrainian singer living in exile in Sweden since the invasion, who had also been asked to perform at the event. As it turned out that Myroslava had a background in one of Ukraine’s more famous metal bands, Pär decided to also ask his old friend Björn Stegerling, guitarist/bass player with a strong engagement in the Malmö metal scene, to join in the performance. And so, the trio did it’s first gig, playing some Ukrainian songs.
There turned out to be quite a big interest in having Ukrainian music at different events in Skåne, and so the constellation continued to perform together. After a while, they also invite Tobias Allvin, Pär’s old musical colleague in the band Tummel and married to a Ukrainian. So the trio became a quartet, and Björn and Tobias took turns to play bass or guitar while Tobias also brought his accordeon.
The group has now done numerous gigs in Skåne, both at different support events for Ukraine and at the inauguration of a museum exhibition about refugee children in Sweden.
Myroslava Romaniuk- vocals
In Ukraine, Myroslava sang in the band “Crimson Sky,” which played gothic doom metal with some jazzy twists, and toured all over Ukraine, performing both in pubs and big concert venues in Kyiv, Lviv, and Kharkiv. Myroslava also worked both as a private English tutor and a radio journalist. She often interviewed musicians of various genres and then visited their concerts. But she has the Ukrainian music with her from her childhood and her grandma. In Sweden, she has worked as a Ukrainian language teacher at Lund University, but is currently sharing her time between motherhood and studying Swedish.
Björn Stegerling – guitar and bass
Björn has a background as a classical guitarist, but has in later years mainly played different kinds of metal/progressive rock in bands such as Trauma Machine, Thungur and The Brave Escape. He and Pär Moberg also does music projects in schools together as Bergling Band, He also frequently works as a live and studio sound technician.
Tobias Allvin – guitar, bass and accordeon
An eclectic musician, composer and songwriter, who has played together with Pär Moberg in Tummel for over 30 years, but also plays with several other constellations, including his own rock songs in the band Babian. Met his Ukraininan wife on a summer work camp in Ukraine, and has ever since had a long standing affair with the country and it’s music, culture and language.
Pär Moberg, saxophones
Musician and composer who is just as comfortable playing for instance Swedish polskas, Bulgarian kopanitsas or Arabic sammais as Ukrainian songs. A restless musical soul who has played in musical constellations than he can remember, for instance Nordic Raga and Mazguf Ensemble. He’s also senior lecturer of Folk and World music at the Academy of Music in Malmö.
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