SHADU (real name Shadurska Kseniia Ihorivna, born 17.05.1991 in Kamianka, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian singer , songwriter, tv director,  and blogger. She specialises in the synth-pop style and has been dubbed the Ukrainian – The Weeknd. 

SHADU got in to singing after her husband, unfortunately, suffered a stroke. It is her work that helps him successfully undergo rehabilitation.

 However, SHADU’s career took a dramatic turn with the beginning of the war. She became a volunteer, and also she gives free concerts for Ukrainians to boost morale. Of course, she also takes care of her sick husband and still finds time to record new music and make vlogs on TikTok.  

SHADU found time to talk to ESC Covers – 

1. The war has been going on for over a year now. What are you feeling inside?

Unfortunately, like most Ukrainians, I came to terms with the war and in a way I became a fatalist. Air raids have become commonplace. I’ll go down to the parking lot only if there is a report of missiles flying towards Kyiv. So horrible to realise that in the 21st century there is talk of shelling and bomb shelters… But I do believe we are gonna win this battle and I do in our defenders, the ZSU.

 2. How do you think the music market in Ukraine has changed?

There’s a controversy about today’s show business in Ukraine. On the one hand, there are a lot of talented musicians who have a chance to get heard, on the other hand, there is a lot of low-quality music. It makes me cringe when I think about some of them, especially if I have to work on one stage. It is a pity that Ukrainian listeners often prefer such cheesy music. Patriotic lyrics is not enough. The quality of music is also critical.

 3. Is it difficult for an artist to work during the war?

Of course, it is very difficult, at least physically. Often you have to interrupt the creative process to run for cover. It was especially difficult when, after the massive shelling of our power plants.  It was impossible to work in the studio, because we needed electricity to record songs and to shoot a video. So it happened to me: a few days before the filming of the music video for “Stand with Ukraine” there was another missile attack and there was no light at all. We had to shoot the whole clip using a generator, which was very hard. Anyway, that’s our reality, we continue to live and create music, because everyone has his own frontline, I have a musical one. So no matter what, I’m going to hold mine.

 4. Will you return to filming fashion videos after the victory?

From the moment Russia started its full-scale war neither I nor my subscribers had much time for fashion videos, so I have been making political videos and holding the information frontline for a long time. For me it is very important not to keep silent about what is happening in my country, it is very important that people from other countries, where they don’t know Ukrainian but understand Russian, such as the Baltic States, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia, know about what Russia is doing to my country. However, after a while my subscribers started to ask me to bring fashion back to my blog, because they realised that the war would not end tomorrow. You need to stay conscious to live right here and now and look on the brighr side of this life. So I returned to the fashion videos and I am very happy about it: it takes my mind off the constant thoughts about the war, it distracts from gloomy thoughts me and my subscribers, who can now find beautiful looks for themselves with my videos.

 5. You perform a lot in Ukraine. How have the reactions of people at concerts changed? What do you see in their eyes now?

For too long it was not the right time for concerts and festivals, but time goes on, the war does not end, and we already understand that it will last, even though we believe in our defenders and in our swift victory. So now every holiday, every concert and festival in Ukraine is not an everyday occurrence – for us it is an incredible joy, a chance to feel how it was before, to recall how well we lived, and, of course, itis a chance to donate money to ZSU, because almost all of our festivals and concerts are for charity! And also, music is medicine, which is necessary for everyone to maintain psychological health! And now we know for sure that we’ll live much better after the war, because we’ve learned to appreciate life and every minute of it. That’s the love for life I see in the eyes of Ukrainians who come to the concerts! 

 6. Will new songs be created in the conditions of war? How do you write them? Do alarms and bombings affect this?

Yes, I keep writing songs, but you can’t write the songs the way you did it before the war. The topics are completely different now. Prevously my tracks mostly had to do with women’s way and love emotions. Now the songs are completely different: it’s a pray, or spell “Return Alive”, it goes to my hero-defender, and the feelings everyone experiences when returning home, like in the song “Koly ya (“When I)”, and also I have songs, in which I stand by Ukraine and help it (Stand with Ukraine). As for how songs are written, I wrote my first one (“Return Alive”) in a bomb shelter, when I (naively) appealed to the Russians to persuade their government to stop the war, texted my former friends and subscribers, trying to tell them the truth about what was going on. I also wanted to help and encourage my compatriots. And so, sitting in a shelter, I began to write the lyrics of a song that could bring my voice to many people – to help someone, to reassure someone, and to open someone’s eyes. I recorded myself at home in my apartment on regular phone headphones. I did it during when there were no sirens and no running to the basement. As soon as we started to record a phrase, a siren would howl and we’d run for cover again. That’s how my song “Return alive” came about. 

 7. Two years have passed since your husband had a stroke. How does he feel now and how do you help him?

It’d been three years since my husband’s stroke. Back then, in 2020, I thought it couldn’t get any worse. But ahead of me was 2022. Thank God, all the most terrible moments are over. My husband is continuing rehabilitation (we had to go to Moldova to be able to work with rehabilitators). At first it was very difficult, but my Andrei is so dedicated, he loves and appreciates life so much that he finally managed to get back on his feet, although the road to a full recovery is still very long. 

 8. Do you plan to participate in future Eurovision contests?

 Now I have no plans to participate, but life is so unpredictable! Maybe sometime in the future I will think about representing Ukraine at Eurovision. 

 9. You have a big fan base and a lot of followers on social media. Is it difficult to combine vocals and blog while keeping family values now? Tell us about your schedule during the war.

My life schedule is very busy now. This is partly due to the fact that I lived in two cities at once. I worked in Ukraine and went to Kyiv almost every month for one or two weeks to record songs, rehearse before competitions and festivals and then came back to my husband in Chisinau. Therefore, I was very tired of the endless traveling and being always on the move. It would have been much easier for me to stay in Kyiv. But my husband was in rehabilitation in Chisinau, so I had to adapt my schedule to travelling. Unfortunately, it was not really good for my blog. Blogging is a full-time job that takes many hours a day. I just didn’t have time to do it sometimes. Just like anyone, I still have some household tasks. Anyways , I managed to do the most important things, taking part in charity concerts and festivals, raising money for our heroes. Like Isaid before, all the events held in Ukraine are charity events, and together with other artists we raise money for the needs of ZSU. By the way, donations to our warriors also come from my subscribers: I help two volunteers whom I know personally; they are nice and honest people.

Check out SHADU and official Instragram here.

You can see SHADU with the official music video of her song Stand With Ukraine and also listen to her new single Superdivchata (Supergirls).