- Founded in 2009
- City: Kyiv (Ukraine)
- Language: Ukrainian
- Genre: indie rock, pop rock
BAH.ROMA is a solo music project by Roman Bakharev, a Ukrainian musician and songwriter and one of the most recognizable representatives of the country's modern indie scene. Among the most famous hits are the track "Na glibini", which sounds in the TV series "Kyiv vden ta nochy", as well as the song "Kviten" (soundtrack to the film "Bucha").
History of creation
The founder and permanent leader of the BAH.ROMA project is Roman Bakharev. The future star of the musical space spent his childhood and youth in the Donetsk region in the city of Torez. The leader of the BAH.ROMA band received his first education in Donetsk, where he graduated from the Polytechnic University. Mariupol holds a special place in his memories - it was there that the artist worked and experienced many important moments during his student years.
Later, Roman moved to Kyiv, where the BAH.ROMA band was created, named after the first parts of the frontman's first and last name.
Creative path
From foundation to discographic debut
The band's first big release was the song "For a Long Time," which was released in 2009. The track was recorded at a Kyiv studio with the participation of musicians from the Okean Elzy band, and the song itself quickly attracted the audience's attention with its atmospheric sound and sincere lyrics. Soon the band was among the finalists of the national selection for Eurovision 2011 with the song "Her Name", which brought the band even more recognition among fans of modern Ukrainian music.
On February 14, 2014, the band presented their debut album "Inside". The album finally cemented BAH.ROMA's reputation as one of the most interesting indie rock and pop rock bands on the Ukrainian scene. The melancholic style, emotional songs and cinematic mood of the compositions immediately appealed to the listeners. Even earlier, in 2011, the musicians released the mini-album "Ipi", which included five tracks. The sound producer of the release was Okean Elzy's keyboardist Miloš Jelic.
Creative development
After the release of the debut album, the band's popularity began to grow rapidly. The band actively performed at festivals, including ZaxidFest, where they shared the stage with leading Ukrainian rock and indie artists. BAH.ROMA's live shows quickly became famous for their atmosphere, sincere delivery, and the frontman's special charisma.
One of the band's most successful tracks of that period is the song "Na glubine", which in 2015 was released as the official soundtrack to the TV series "Kyiv Day and Night". The song received extensive radio and TV promotion, and also became the project's calling card. Later, Roman created a Ukrainian-language version of the track - "Na glubine", which also made it to the charts and playlists of Ukrainian radio stations.
In 2019, BAH.ROMA tried their hand at the National Selection for Eurovision for the second time and performed in the first semi-final of the competition. During this period, the band continued to actively tour Ukraine, perform at festivals and club venues, gradually forming a loyal audience and strengthening its position in the Ukrainian music industry.
The period of full-scale war
After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Roman Bakharev openly declared that he would no longer perform songs in Russian. The artist began to translate his own hits into Ukrainian, rethinking not only his work, but also the values of his project in general. According to the musician, the final turning point for him was a concert in the deoccupied Bucha - what he saw there radically changed the musician's attitude to many things.
In May 2023, the first composition "199.9" was released under the name BAH.ROMA after the start of the Great War. Its premiere took place as part of the show "Weekend of New Music" on Radio Promin. Soon the world heard the track "The Last Day of Summer". Roman said that he wrote it during an incredible sunset when he was living with friends in Pechersk. Then the musician sat with a guitar in his hands and played the final lines of the composition. The song was recorded in the home studio of the artist's friends in a small town near Oxford in the UK. It was there that the team looked for the right drums and formed a new sound. The vocals were recorded in Ukraine, after which the material was sent to London for final mixing.
In 2023–2024, BAH.ROMA consistently released new Ukrainian-language releases. Among them was the single "Seals", which became a completely new stage in the musician's work. The track received an electronic sound and was noticeably different from the artist's previous works. The composition quickly went viral on TikTok and in a short time gained over a million views. An updated version of the song "At the Depth" was also released.
A new direction and plans for the future
In 2024, the composition "April" became the main soundtrack to the feature film "Bucha" directed by Stanislav Tiunov. For Bakharev, this was his first experience of creating music for a film, which opened up a new creative direction for him. At the same time, the artist noted that he no longer plans to participate in competitions like Eurovision, because today, in his opinion, the stage should open forear to young performers and new stars of Ukrainian culture.
Continuation of concert activities
The first concert with a full line-up after the start of the full-scale invasion of BAH.ROMA was played for the people of Kyiv in the UYAVA art space. Roman began to use subsequent performances as an opportunity to raise funds for the front and to remind people that the war is ongoing and everyone can influence the time and price of the future victory.
Civil position
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Roman recorded a video address in which he clearly expressed his own position in the context of behavior and vectors of creativity. In it, the musician spoke about the awareness of mistakes, responsibility and the need to work on oneself. After this statement, a significant part of the Ukrainian audience increased their attention to the work of BAH.ROMA, while Russian listeners almost completely turned away from the project. The artist himself admitted that he would like the Russian presence to disappear not only from his career, but also from Ukraine in general.
In addition to music, Roman was actively involved in volunteer activities. The artist had a large-scale project to rebuild an orphanage in the Fastiv district. Since the beginning of the Great War, Bakharev helped five orphanages in the Kyiv region, where about 360 children were staying. The musician emphasized that supporting such institutions is becoming increasingly difficult due to slow fundraising, which is why the idea of a separate charity project arose.
The artist also regularly performs concerts at the front. According to Roman, such live performances are radically different from the usual club performances or festivals. On the front lines, songs sound more honest and emotional, because there is no place for masks. Together with the "Cultural Landing", the musician tries to support the military, at least for a short time to return them to peaceful life and give some inspiration. For the performer himself, this also became an important personal experience - a way to understand the realities of war more deeply.
Creative style
In the early work of BAH.ROMA, pop-rock and indie rock were organically combined with a melancholic atmosphere and an almost cinematic mood. It was this style that helped the band stand out among other bands on the Ukrainian scene. After 2022, the project's music became deeper and more emotionally complex - the lyrics increasingly featured themes of war, moral trauma, internal resilience, and rethinking oneself. The Ukrainian cultural context and attention to language also significantly strengthened.
Roman himself is convinced that music should not simply meet the expectations of the audience. In his opinion, true art should influence a person, shape their taste, and make them think about important issues. The musician believes that after listening to a song, something must change inside the listener – that's when the composition really works.
