This year was challenging for MuHa percussion section. Richard Grindon decided to take his drumming career on a higher level and enrolled to the Guilford Academy of Music leaving Nottingham in September 2011. We wish him all the best luck and future great achievements in music as he has all the talent to make it to the biggest stages in the country and indeed, the world.

You may have noticed that our percussionist Richard Kensington is no longer playing with us on a regular basis as the time pressures from his involvement with Mas Y Mas and the other musical projects he is working on make it difficult for him to commit to a growing gig schedule with MuHa. It has been mutually agreed that it is better to have consistency in the band for the sake of band cohesion and audience expectation so Colm O’Hanlon has stepped in and will now be playing percussion with MuHa as the regular percussionist.

Colm already played many gigs with MuHa and, I must say, it is very enjoyable to work with him. In his music Colm is always giving very careful attention to what he is doing and keeps the time really well. As an additional bonus to the group- Colm is a problem solver- before I even think there is a problem- Colm has already sorted it- a very helpful skill for everything that goes on behind the stage before the performance!

We continue to collaborate with various musicians and keep our mind open to new possible opportunities and developments. Looking forward to see what 2012 brings to us, wishing you all the wellness and happy holidays!

The video is finished, BrettMetal films are presenting us their work on Tuesday and I’ve heard it is breathtaking! Below is the cover I designed for a DVD. Still have to do extra features for a DVD- an interview and production of DVD itself. You can still have your name in the credits and receive other perks, visit the project page by clicking the box below.

In April this year we travelled to Ukraine to share Muha music with the Ukrainian audience for the first time. From English side we had Richard Kensington on percussion and myself ( Iryna) on guitar and vocals. From Ukrainian side we had my old good friends Constant Bushinsky on guitar and Natasha Kasyanchyk Utesheva on Ukrainian dombra.
In my native town of Vinnitsa we headlined international acoustic music festival Vesela Pysanka. The schedule was very tight, we had only 5 hours in town for all our logistics, vodka shots, soundcheck and rehearsal – the only one we managed to fit in with Natasha, the video of which find below.

It was a fantastic experience to sing to the audience that lives at the place where my music is coming from on a first place. It was very important for me to see they loved the songs, they understood the lyrics and music – I felt I do something real , still rooted in my culture even though I live abroad for many years.

Like other artists from various cultures living and working in the UK, I was looking inside myself trying to explore my national identity . I was finding that I felt like a foreigner in my own country , but I am not English in England either- ‘ vague national identity’ -as a double base player from Kiev put it.

As always, I have so many thoughts and feelings to go through after the trip to my dear Ukraine . It will take me some time to ‘mind-heart’ process them and I’ll treat you with some new songs that are coming from the Ukrainian land. In a meantime please enjoy this rehearsal with MuHa UA.

a) Live and Unsigned Competition- we are through to the Regional finals, April 10th 2010 at NEC. If you want to attend the competition read here .

b) The work has started for the new music video that we are making to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11. We are still looking for another few days of shooting. After that- postproduction+ promotion. The fundraising campaign for it will be launching hopefully this or early next week.

c) We are meeting with the famous in the UK World music circles Bob Ramdhanie to discuss new opportunities for us as well as possible development of the East Midlands World music Consortium .

d) MuHa appears live for the interview and live session at the Demon FM 107.5 Leicester radio show Spare Tracks on Sunday, March 20th 12-3pm.

e) This year we are going to visit Ukraine with a friendly gig in iryna’s local town of Vinnitsa. Iryna with Richard Kensington will also be delivering the seminar for the Music Generation UA project in Kiev about music business here in the UK.

f) We have an exciting addition to the band- Rocco Franchelli – a passionate Italian accordionist. He is also tech savvy, so we may get some of MuHa gigs broadcasted live on the internet 

g) We are very happy to work with Brazilian music instruments shop Santos Music that sells fair trade quality harmonicas and drum sticks. They are generously provided harmonicas for the children from our charity Friends of Chernobyl children, as well as some fantastric drumstiks for our drummer!

h) The recording of the second album is continuing in a meantime. We hope to get more Nottingham musicians work with us on the album to add more variety to our sound.

So, there are plenty of opportunities for you to support us if you wish to do so by spreading the word or working with us in anyway. We will always reply to your messages and emails, so contact us if you have some good ideas!

If you still not following us on facebook, make sure you do!

After about two months of planning, location research, creating a list of shots and video drafts, Brett Turner and Jason Elbert from Brett Metal Films took MuHa and the crew to the first day of video shooting to the Peak District Derwent Reservoir area.

———————–Though we had more clouds then we would ideally want for the best light, at least the morning was dry- that’s the best thing one can hope for in English weather. It was all more or less okay till we began to climb the mountain passing a dead sheep when the it started to rain…

————Standing on top of the mountain and looking over the the horizon far ahead we could see the sky was changing very rapidly from grey clouds to dark blue ones, then feeling the cold wind, the rain and even hail pouring upon us… As for the sun- it was teasing us all the time, appearing for a few seconds just to raise our hopes, to only then hide again behind the clouds.

It was very cold and wet. In spite of this we loved the experience ( thinking back about it, being at warm homes). We all stayed strong throughout the day. Some even fell in mud and all of us were soaking wet, especially Clare Maskell – our Lomography photographer – she just refused the umbrella and was happy to take it all!

After several hours in such conditions my professional make up was not good for any close up shots any longer. Not having any shelter apart from umbrella , Iona Tamburino- the make up artist- had no choice but to apply new make up right there, up in the mountains – that was the moment when we were hit by the hail…

—————–To my own surprise I found it very liberating to take my coat off just before the shout ‘Action!’ and be in a light dress in such an unwelcoming environment. It felt like as if I was refusing to be intimidated by the weather and wrap up in layers of clothing. I was there, in my red dress, looking over the horizon, embracing the environment to the full.

—————Thanks to Mel Weedon and Lourdes Benegas for the photos.

The band had travelled to Birmingham from three different locations in the East Midlands on a typical cold, grey and foggy English February. The huge NEC did not look particularly welcoming either with it’s bright and wide space reminding me of airports….
Lots of people of all ages were queuing to register with their instruments and then wait in a small crowded room for the audition.

After waiting for a bit we were invited to another small room with the judges and a very efficient sound set up. In one minute they plugged us in and the air was pierced by the howly Ukrainian ‘OOOOOOOOYYYYYY ‘… we got their attention I must say. When we kicked in the Carpathian solo riff – all the stuff, including judges, started to move their heads or legs or both. We nailed our performance with the tight and dramatic ending, shortening our song to the 2 minutes, required by the rules of the competition. I managed to have a short conversation with the panel and they were very happy to accept MuHa CDs and cards.

We are through to the regional finals on April 10th at the Birmingham Arena! See you there!

Love, your MuHa

Jason and Brett already have good experience creating music videos for various bands, but still buzzing with ideas and have hunger for success in this highly competivive area. As a team they combine the skills of strong creative vision, excellent digital proficiency and attention to details.
Watch this space for further updates!

You will be supported to lead the project from directing, editing through to final production.

Budget £350, logistical support will be provided.

The video is for a Russian folk song titled Kaby Vedala ( If I olny knew)

Find the lyrics and music below. If you can not see the player below, listen to the track here

email your short proposal outlining a possible concept (max 1 side A4), CV, links to previous videos, website to iryna.muha@gmail.com or contact us through our website

Application deadline is October 31st 2010

04 Kaby Vedala by Muha

Kaby Vedala (rus)
( If I only knew from Rus)

If I only knew when my time
Would come to go
And come to you
Oh Lord, my dear dear Lord
I would buy a plot in
the graveyard
Oh Lord, my dear dear Lord
And I would lie myself at rest
and my soul would fly away
to you my Lord, my dear dear God
I know I have been a lot of trouble
for you Lord, Oh my dear dear Lord

Oh, silk of grass
Oh silver dew
Shining bright
Rise and Shine

Oh Lord, take me from
The heaven down to the ground
Oh Lord, my dear Lord
From heaven to dear earth,
Lying on golden sands
It’s Heaven on Earth
Oh Lord, my dear Lord
If I only knew..

(Russian folk song) Adaptation by Kapka Nilan