about us

On February 24, 2022, Russian troops launched a large-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine, destroying entire cities and mass killing our people.

Almost from the very beginning of the full-scale war, Yurii Veres, the leader of the Kamianyi hist band, began documenting and disseminating information about this great tragedy. He photographs the destruction and collects the testimonies of people who survived the terrible events. Cooperating with the United Nations and the Polish Center for Cultural Support of Ukraine, he documents the damage and destruction of Ukraine's cultural heritage.

The works of Yurii Veres have already been shown at photo exhibitions in France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Lithuania, South Korea and in many cities of Ukraine. Some of these events were held in conjunction with the charity concerts of the Kamianyi hist rock band, which were organized by volunteer Oksana Zhgenti and her BF "RADA".

"Kamianyi hist" gives concerts to support the fighting spirit of Ukrainian soldiers.

The "Kamianyi hist" band took part in the "Pogorynski mista" festival and also played a charity concert in support of a child diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

The musicians took part in live broadcasts of the "Hromadske Radio" and "Promin" radio stations, and during the year they created compositions for the upcoming album.

From February 18 to 20, 2014, during the Revolution of Dignity, 78 people died at the hands of security forces. More than 20 protesters later died of their injuries. Eternal memory to the dead...

On February 20, 2014, the russian federation launched an armed aggression against Ukraine, when its troops without insignia invaded the territory of the Crimean Peninsula. Later, in April 2014, a war began in the east of Ukraine, which was started by russian troops invading the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

In 2013, the album "Tam, za horamy" appeared. Yurii Veres: "The song "Tamm za horamy", which gave the album its title, is based on a real story: my grandfather died when my mother was only three years old. The grandmother was forced to raise four children alone...".

The presentation of the album "Tam, za horamy" took place at the end of 2013 during the Revolution of Dignity. At the same time, "Kamianyi hist" played a concert from the Euromaidan stage.

In 2012, flutist Amadei Rothbart joined the group, with whom "Kamianyi hist" recorded the album "60/70", which contains Ukrainian covers of legendary rock bands of the 60s and 70s, namely: The Beatles, Rainbow, Uriah Heep, Slade, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Jethro Tull, as well as Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan.

Yurii Veres about the idea of the album: "I've always been interested in what Western bands sing about. When you listen to English-language music, you swallow it whole. If you recognize the content, then only approximately. Anyway, that's how I perceive it. It became interesting - how a well-known English-language song will be perceived if you sing it in Ukrainian, with the closest possible translation and in a completely new arrangement. The first swallow was the song "People are Strange" by Jim Morrison, and the next was the composition "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by George Harrison. And it went...".

In 2011, multi-instrumentalist Mykyta Yefanov, who played the Australian didgeridoo, Japanese flute, drumba and ethnic percussion, joined the ensemble.

In the same year, the demo album "Po horyzontu do nebes" was created, the recording of which was made possible thanks to the musician and sound engineer Taras Bolhak.

In 2009, the band "Kamianyi hist" returned to creative work not only with new ideas, but also with a new rhythm section - drummer Serhii Spatar and bassist Dmytro Bakryv joined the band. From this moment, a qualitatively new period in the band's history began. The musicians will start working on new material, which includes exclusively Ukrainian-language songs. The style and general sound of the band is changing. Concert activity is being resumed.

In 2010, graphic designer Evgen Medvedev created the band's official logo, depicting a Moai statue smoking a pipe.

In 2003, the Kamianyi hist band released their first album "Tanets so vremenem", which was recorded in record time - within a few nights. The result was chaotic and sometimes naive, but sincere. The recording of the album was made possible thanks to the support of Oleksandr Khomenko, who is an old friend of K.H.

In July of the same year, a wonderful musician, saxophonist Yevhen Priadko, who played in the group until 2005, joined the band. Yurii Kolesnyk also played music on the drum kit for a short period of time.

During this period, the band "Kamianyi hist" actively performed concerts, took part in many Ukrainian festivals, and also engaged in studio work.

The year 2002 turned out to be full of changes. The composition of the ensemble was replenished with the talented flutist Anton Surmin, with whose arrival the "Kamianyi hist" began to sound in a completely new way.

The drummer and one of the founders K.H. left the band. Genadiy Barabash, his place was taken by Ivan Kozachenko.

In the same year, Maria Nikolayeva joined the team, who began covering the activities of K.H. in the media and was the band's photographer for a long time. Thanks to her efforts, musicians began to appear more often on radio and television.

In 2001, the team began to actively tour, performing at various festivals and music venues in many parts of Ukraine. For some time with K.H. bass guitarist Oleksandr Novichenko performed, but he was soon replaced by Anton Taranenko, who played in the band until 2005 inclusive.

Touring trips brought "Kamianyi hist" great experience, many new friends and fans. It was not without funny incidents.

The musicians recall: "Performing at one of the festivals, we saw from the stage how the then director of our band, Oleksandr Kaut, was trying to stop a man who was pushing his way to the sound engineer shouting "Turn off the sound urgently!". It turned out that it was one of the directors of the festival, who did not like our song about beer. The onslaught was contained and we began to play the next song, the words of which Yura had forgotten. I remembered only the first verse and sang it four times in a row. To which the head of the festival, who had already calmed down, said - "This is a song, this is what I understand, a deep philosophy...".

In 2000, "Kamianyi hist" became the initiator and organizer of the "Rock Legends" festival, which included concerts in memory of famous rock musicians: Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Freddie Mercury, etc.

In 1999, guitarist Viktor Chernetsky and bassist Petro Yurzhenko joined the ensemble. Subsequently, the first performance of the "Kamianyi hist" took place on the stage of one of the capital's festivals. In those days, drummer Mykola Sergeyev and keyboardist Yaroslav Zdolnyk also played in the band.

The team started concert activities, performing on small stages and in small rooms.

The Kamianyi hist band was founded on April 7, 1998 in Kyiv by Yurii Veres (vocal, acoustic guitar, bass guitar) and Genadiy Barabash (drums). The early composition of the group was gathered from a circle of friends. Starting from the first rehearsal, the boys immediately set about creating their own songs. Soon the first demo recordings appeared. Roman Sirenko (guitar), Bohdan Shevchyk (guitar) and Pavlo Kucherov (violin) started laying the musical foundation, but later, for various reasons, they left the team.

As for the name of the band, it did not appear immediately.

Yurii Veres: "I feel that the process of finding a name is similar to choosing a name for a newborn child. In our case, it is the result of joint creativity. At one of the evening gatherings, we spontaneously called various words and phrases, everything that came to mind. They sounded funny, pathetic, and serious. Someone suggested - Kamianyi hist (Stone guest). I felt: this is exactly what is needed. There is a special energy in this phrase. I liked the warmth of the sound, the mystery, as if a hint of stones as an association with the word rock - "rock" in English (in particular, the name of the famous British band "Rolling Stones" means "rolling stones"). Therefore, the name of our band is in no way connected with the work of Olexandr Pushkin and his "Malenkie tragedii", as well as with the work of Lesia Ukrainka and her poetic drama "Kaminnyi hospodar".