“We are three girls from Ukraine who play hardcore punk, said Natallia . We are not afraid to express our opinion and try to draw the attention of our listeners to globally important things (violence, betrayal, etc.) using the musical form. We are extremely angry and we care about what is happening around us. Our motivation to make Death Pill was an absolute love of music, an unstoppable spirit and the desire to rub it in the noses of all the men who still think that women don’t belong in punk rock.”
Death Pill deliver fierce in your face hardcore punk with plenty of riot grrl power that will hit your nerves and drive your soul to another level as they formed in 2021 to make a statement and rebel against the chaos that is happening in their world in the Ukraine. It is a true horror movie in real life and the war with Russia has forced the girls to separate for safety sake and survival. Anastasiia Komenko is living in Barcelona, Spain, while Natallia Seryakova is is Adelaide, South Australia and Mariana remains in Kyiv. They have been together since 2021 and released their new CD February 24th on the anniversary of the war. They are signed to the London label New Heavy Sounds.
“The name “Death Pill” came to us in the way of auditory hallucination. Anastasiia was sitting in a color correction class, the teacher was talking about the term “Despill”, but with a Ukrainian accent Anastasiia heard Death Pill. Oh, the perfect name for the band) On the way, we came up with why Pill, not Pills, because there are three of us. Because the three of us are different powerful elements combining in a chemical process to kill the hell out of you!”
“Mariana was dreaming from childhood about having a female band which would kick asses! She was looking for a girls, who has the same desire to play music and the same tiredness from men’s masculinity. In 2017 Anastasiia was looking for girls to shoot in her video (I am a director and editor). Mariana wrote to her, interested in shooting, but the main idea was to find out if i am still playing, cause I already had a baby, family life, etc. I was extremely happy accepting this propose cause the desire playing never leaves me and her music was absolutely killer, so Anastasiia told to her: YES I DO) Nataliia was playing different instruments in different bands and one day in 2021 the stars aligned in such a way that at one local concert Marijana and Anastasia were desperately looking for a bass player for the gig (which was supposed to take place literally in a month), and Nataliia was looking for something new, because she did not have the desired outlet from many previous groups. Since then we all have been together, a golden trio. Love and mutual understanding from the first rehearsal.”
Death Pill were inspired to write their new release through the injustice in the world and in their lives. “We were inspired to write this album by the global injustice and evil which people do to each other. Our music is just heartache converted into notes. Sometimes decorated, sometimes completely naked, but always honest. Every track is a personal story. A story that, unfortunately, once happened to everyone. Fuck stereotypes, fuck what others think of you. Your life and your feelings are your responsibility, and no bastard has the right to poke his nose into your business. This is the main thing, this is what inspired us and pushed us to declare what actually hurts and sticks. Violence, betrayal and primitive existence in any of its manifestations is awful and unpleasant.“
“You might think that if we are three girls who play hardcore punk, it means that the theme of our songs will be “overthrow the patriarchy!”, but this is not so! Of course, we are not indifferent to the topic of gender inequality, but we do not focus only on covering this topic, because there are many other things and injustices in the world that cause people pain. With our example, we want to finally explain to all those who have not yet understood that there is NO DIFFERENCE whether a FEMALE or a MALE hand holds a mediator, drum sticks, microphone, etc. We don’t want to limit ourselves in choosing topics for creativity just because we are a FEMALE band. If you turn on our only instrumental without vocals track for someone this someone asks you “wow, it sounds powerful! Who is it?” and you answer “this is a band from Ukraine, a female band, there are only girls” You instantly see “DOUBLE RESPECT” like “this is too cool for chicks. I did not expect”. Dude, you just think in stereotypes like most people do. We just want to make “it” more common and acceptable. We want to show and prove that it doesn’t matter if you’re a woman or a man, you can do whatever you want (hardcore, ballet or cooking)”
Death Pill have truly been in a horror movie having lived in the middle of a war–living a life many are free from living. Truly an unwanted experience in all aspects not knowing what the next day or hour will hold. “What is a horror movie? says Natalia. First of all it is a film which you can turn off at any time you want, secondly you just WATCH how the hero tries to survive or fight against ghosts or zombies, thirdly you sit and make comments like “you’re so stupid, you have this magic stick or some kind of poison, just kill this monster and save your family, etc.” But now WE are this hero and no one gives us any hints and comments, and we can’t turn off this crap either, and zombies aren’t really zombies and people die for real, not scripted. And as usually happens in the drama of films: you are given something you dreamed of, but they take away what you had and loved. And the task of the hero is somehow to fix it and make a decision about what is more important for him. About our “movie”: On one hand we love our country more, we love our freedom more, we are proud of our defenders more, we have new knowledge in medicine, weapons etc., we have new experiences in how to live abroad and speak 3-4 different languages in one day and all other “good things”. But on the other hand… the price of what we have now is blood, pain, aggression and injustice. That’s why we gave the example that it’s a horror movie. It’s like dreams come true, but in a very sadistic way. We were working hardly for years to grow up technically, we were believe that it will be something new, fresh, that no one listened before) Anastasiia was dreaming to live in a Barcelona for a while (for escape fucking winter in Ukraine, hate when it’s below zero and snow) and now she is there, have all this attention and love to our band, but the only thing she wants is to be home, to feel herself whole, to not have all this tears and pain inside herself.”
“People most don’t understand that Russia came to eliminate all of our nation. They are destroying our homes, hospitals, kindergartens, and shelters for the elderly. They destroyed almost 90,000 civilians in Mariupol, although, as they say, the purpose of their invasion was to protect the Russians-speaking population. You know what, you freaks, three of us were born in a Russian-speaking family, we spoke Russian for half of our lives and we didn’t have to be protected from anyone except you. About 4-5 years ago, Anastasiia deliberately switched completely to the Ukrainian language in order to further distance herself from the Russian influence on us, and our culture, which they stole for centuries. Nataliia was born in Zaporizhia and was studying in school where all subjects were in Russian language, and if you were spoken in Ukrainian language everyone looked at you like “Are you from the countryside? Are you from the village?” and during you are a kid, you fucking don’t understand what is happening you just follow a main stream and “play this game by rules”. But now we are adults and we NOW WE CAN CHANGE THING AND BROKE THIS STUPID SOVIET RULES AND PRINCIPLES. Many people do not understand the difference between Ukrainians and Russians. They call us “brother nations”. How do you like a brother who comes to your clean house drunk, shits on the floor, beats and rapes your wife, shoots your son and dog, and then says that you did it yourself because you lived too well. People do not understand what kind of barbaric, cruel, vile and low people we are dealing with. And that our best men, the beautiful sons and daughters of my dear country, are maimed and killed defending us from this Mordor.”
Yes, it is a matter of survival.
Anastasiia has a son and she doesn’t feel he can be safe right now in Ukraine. Russia bomb’s civilians and killed children. They don’t have any respect for life. It was a hard decision for her family(because her husband is still in Ukraine now), but the safety of their son is the most important thing. Nataliia’s father is defending our country on the front line. We had a gig in Zaporizhya in December 2022 and had the opportunity to meet him. We already understood that something could happen and then he said “everyone should do what they are meant to do”. It means that no matter where you are and what you are doing, if you do this to protect your freedom and to save your culture – your heart will always be at HOME. Previously, it was more of a message in terms of rights, respecting the rights of dignity of our citizens, against the arbitrariness of the police. This is still relevant now, we continue to respond to questions and problems that confuse us. However, now, for the most part, all efforts are focused on countering Russian aggression.”
Death Pill have been an active part of a vibrant underground music scene and it is growing. In addition, Death Pill have been one of the top ten bands to watch in 2023. As for it’s growth Natalia said it is growing by itself. “From year to year people who organized small gigs have started to grow (better speakers, inviting bands from Europe, upgrading locations, etc.) and the MAIN thing is that they have done it for us, for the community. They showed that it can be cool and high-quality. Our scene is relatively young, but has a lot of cool bands. It is constantly actively bubbling and does not stand even now. It is confirmed by the presence of the main DIY festivals, which have significantly gained momentum over the past 10 years. Here is an example list of underground festivals in Ukraine: Burn the scene for fun (BTSFF) – a festival founded by an old and true punk rock community (existed for 10 years, the last time was in 2018) Held in the village of Denishy, Zhytomyr region. Back to Youth (BTY) -DIY festival, held 3 times, the 4th was canceled because of a full-scale invasion. THARNFEST – It is a screamo festival. Business card of the city of Khmelnytskyi (existed for about three years 2017 – 2020)POTUZHNYAK – young blood open air festival based in Ivano-Frankivsk. KAZKA – a young Kharkiv festival (began its existence during the days of quarantine)FANTAZM FEST is a 2-day hard core festival held in Odesa city. Besides playing in a band, Anastasiia sometimes arranges concerts. In addition to bands, we have an independent media “Neformat”, which has been covering all surrounding music events for more than 10 years. People in our underground scene are mostly kind and take care of each other, support and help the music scene move forward with confident steps. Our punk community has always been very strong and friendly and even more after the full-scale invasion. We are doing charity concerts and even small festivals now. Proceeds are transferred to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and charitable organizations (for example: pet shelters)People from the farthest corners of the country even come to a local concert. We really hope that soon we all will celebrate our victory with a loud and huge GIG! We dream that the war is over and we are coming back home soon. We will try to heal ourselves and will work hard to rebuild our country, to help our civilians and our people who come back from war injuries live a normal life.” As for their political message, Natalia said, “Previously, it was more of a message in terms of rights, respecting the rights of dignity of our citizens, against the arbitrariness of the police. This is still relevant now, we continue to respond to questions and problems that confuse us. However, now, for the most part, all efforts are focused on countering Russian aggression.” Death Pill will release their new album and support the release. “We will release an album and hopefully play some live shows. We hope for the best, but prepare for the worst) We don’t know what to expect from the future and from this life. Be careful, it can be addictive! You must see our live performance to fully feel all the power of Ukrainian girls.” You can find Death Pill on New Heavy Sounds and support their cause by subscribing to their Instagram. “There, in addition to news about us, links to music and physical media, we share and publish a lot of current information about the war. It is very important that people see what is really happening in our country, spread it, donate to our army and continue to fight with us against Russian aggression.”
Death Pill are truly on a mission that goes beyond the imagination and are delivering awesome music with a drive to bring attention to the horror movie that is running nonstop in their beloved country and have the drive and power to try and make a positive difference for their beloved country. Do not miss this band and find them on their Facebook and Instagram pages and find their hot new music today!
