PTASTVO “THE GRIT”
“War brings many experiences. It is brutal, dirty, random, cold, and overwhelming. War means having no plans for the future; it’s not knowing when and how it will end; it is the ground being knocked out from under your feet. War brings out both the best and the worst in people. War is gritty.
The theme of The Grit is personal musical processing and acceptance of wartime, told from the perspective of a Ukrainian volunteer and veteran. It paints wartime experiences in raw colors without romanticizing them, raising themes of hardship, anger, compassion, love, and loss through a sincere description of reality. It also tries to convey the energy needed to go on, because life always finds its way around.”
– Volodymyr Ponikarovsky
Technically, the album is based mostly on modular synth improvisations with heavy use of field recordings, acoustic instruments, electroacoustic experiments, and sound design. It is designed to be raw and gritty like the surface of an old building near a dusty road. It’s meant to be a sonic imprint of some meaningful moments, emotions and thoughts which can otherwise remain forgotten or unknown.
Ptastvo (“fowl”, “birdlife”, “all the birds” in Ukrainian) – is primarily a sonic exploration project started by Volodymyr Ponikarovskyi in 2025 as the result of processing of wartime in Ukraine via music and sound. It’s not about a particular music genre, but search for means to express emotion, relive a memory, or “paint” a place via sound design and music. Ptastvo is a diary of life experiences.
Volodymyr Ponikarovsky is a music artist and sound designer from Kharkiv, Ukraine, and currently residing in Wrocław, Poland.
Released as digital download.
Listen and download the album here:
https://ishallsinguntilmylandisfree.bandcamp.com/album/the-grit