Go_A

ABOUT US

Go_A is making a modern reinterpretation of Ukrainian folklore packaged in electronic sound. The name of the band consists of “Go” as “movement” and “A” as an ancient Greek letter “alpha”, symbolizing cultural roots and the beginning of everything. And our music centers around just that: the beginning, retelling traditional Ukrainian stories that have been passed down through generations.

In 2020 the band won the Ukrainian National selection for Eurovision with their song “Solvey”. Although the Eurovision 2020 was cancelled due to the global pandemic of Covid19 the band still participated in Eurovision 2021 with their new song “SHUM” and gained 5th place in Grand final.

“SHUM” became an international success, entering the Billboard Global 200, becoming the 1st song in Ukrainian language to reach the global charts. “SHUM” became an international phenomenon with over 100,000,000 streams hitting the top of most European charts, became #2 in Spotify VIral USA & #1 in Spotify Viral Worldwide, becoming the 17th Eurovision track to reach this mark and the 5th non-English-language track in the top.

Up to this day “SHUM” remains one of the listeners’ favorite songs, it inspired a lot of people to get to know more about Ukrainian culture and even start learning Ukrainian. 

What our "Shum" is actually about

The inspiration came from the original Ukrainian folk song and dance. Our ancestors used them to wake up the spirit of the forest and spring. The title of the song “SHUM” is a game of words. In Ukrainian mythology, “Shum” is the spirit of the forest but its literal translation is “noise”. So they are making noise to bring “shum”.

“SHUM” is a song about the evocation of life but, for us, in the 21st century and in times of a pandemic, it was more about the evocation of people from everyday’s problems. It’s about looking around and thinking about what we’ve done to our world, how we can improve it and pass it on to our children.

Play Video

BAND'S MEMBERS

Taras
Shevchenko

Taras Shevchenko is a keyboards/percussion player and the sound producer of Go_A. He works in various music styles and knows how to combine completely different elements in music, like the Ukrainian sopilka, heavy guitar riffs and techno. Taras writes music for Go_A.

Kateryna
Pavlenko

Kateryna Pavlenko leads the ethnic component of the band. She has studied folklore most of her life. Kateryna can sing with the so-called "white voice", an authentic folklore singing technique, and has a command of extreme vocals. Kateryna was an ethnic vocal coach for arts students. She writes songs and music for Go_A and her solo project.

Ihor
Didenchuk

Ihor Didenchuk is a folklorist and unique multi-instrumentalist whose rich musical arsenal includes such traditional Ukrainian instruments as sopilka, frilka, floyara, telynka, trembita and drymba.

Ivan
Hryhoriak

Ivan Hryhoriak was raised in the Carpathians. He has been playing the guitar since 12. Ivan has been experimenting with musical styles and sounds, including acoustics (finger style), prog metal (bass guitar), double bass in a folk orchestra, and electric guitar.

history

The story of the band started in 2012 when the sound producer Taras Shevchenko met the ethnic singer Kateryna Pavlenko. Having experimented with Ukrainian folk songs, they realized that folklore and electronic music are a perfect match, thus creating a consummate combination of emotion and energy. 

In December that year, the first song “Koliada” («Коляда») was released. First, they wanted to write a song together as an experiment, but after seeing that it worked, the band has worked together since.

The band then started to gain more listeners, their next single “Vesnjanka” (Spring song) won the national competition The Best Track in Ukraine 2015. For six weeks, the song stayed at number one on the 10Dance chart of the Kiss FM radio station in Ukraine and was awarded Discovery of the Year. “Vesnjanka” became a single for their debut album “Idy na zvuk” (Follow the sound), which you can listen on Music page.

Eurovision

Eurovision Song Contest played a significant role in band’s career and helped rejoined it with a lot of new listeners from all around the world.

In 2020 Go_A won the Ukrainian national selection for Eurovision 2020 with the song “Solovey” with the highest score both from the public and the jury voting. Hence, they were set to represent Ukraine in the Contest in May. However, the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the same day, UA:PBC announced that the band would represent the country in 2021. The band used the following year to focus on new music and of course the song for the Eurovision. The legendary song “SHUM” was born.

At the Eurovision final, “SHUM” brought Go_A the 5th place according to the overall results and the 2nd place according to the televoting. It is the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest that Ukraine has submitted a song entirely in the Ukrainian language. This performance not only inspired people to learn more about Ukrainian folklore and dig into our own roots, but also inspired a lot of artist to go ahead and proudly share their culture on the big stage and sing in their native languages. 

At the end of the 2021, GO_A won the Eurovision Awards in the category of “Most Innovative Stage Production” and won the Wiwibloggs Vision Music in two nominations: “Most Memorable Staging” and “Best Use of Props”! 

What came after

After the Eurovision, Go_A has remained in the top of Google searches that year. According to Eurovision Song Contest Radio Go_A’s “SHUM” is among the best top three in the history of the song contest. Also their song “Solovey” made it to this top, without even being performed on the main contest. For the first time in history, two Ukrainian-language songs were included in this chart at once.

Gaining a huge recognition performing the song in Ukrainian language inspired the band to took on a mission to bring Ukrainian culture to every part of the world. The band started actively touring on 2021 and has been on the road ever since.

Go_A has made a lot of success on major international music festivals. Their performance at the Glastonbury John Peel Stage in the following year was recognised by The Guardian as one of the “Top acts not to miss at Glastonbury 2022,” alongside legendary names such as Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar, and Sam Fender. Their captivating performance at PinkPop this year earned them a spot in the top 3 best performances at the festival, receiving high praise from critics. The band has also traveled multiple times to Canada to captivate audiences in different cities. 

In 2023, Go_A had their longest tour yet, the Ukrainian Magic Tour, spanning 23 different countries and featuring approximately 40 exhilarating shows around Britain, Scandinavia, Balkans, Georgia and Turkey. Among these gigs were some significant dates – a sold out show at a legendary club Paradiso in Amsterdam for over 1500 visitors, a show at the iconic Indigo at the O2 in London, Nalen in Stockholm and Roxy in Prague, as well as a couple more sold out gigs in Dublin and Paris. 

The highlight go the tour was SOLD OUT show at legendary club Paradiso in Amsterdam.

WAR IN UKRAINE

On February 24, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. In the first days of the war, all band members, as well as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in safer places.

Now we feel the strength to return to concert activities because by doing so we are able to raise funds to help Ukraine and do not let people around the world forget that the war is still going on. Even the fact that we raise the Ukrainian flag on stage during a performance in another country is already an important manifest. We believe that our concerts draw attention to our unique Ukrainian culture. We are doing everything to debunk the myth that Ukraine is part of Russia. Ukraine is an original country with its own history, its own language and its own sovereign territory. So it has always been, so it is and so it will be, despite the narratives that Russian propaganda has been trying to promote throughout its history.

Currently the band’s lead singer Kateryna has undertaken the initiative to launch a big campaign “Hand for a Hero” to help brave Ukrainian hero to regain the passion of his life after a major injury. You can read more about this foundation here.