Provulok
City – Kyiv (Ukraine)
Language – Ukrainian, English
Genre – indie rock / post-shoegaze
Band leader – Leman Sudakly
Project history
provulok is an instrumental post-shoegaze project by musician of Crimean Tatar origin Leman Sudakla. For a long time, the band was a solo project. The artist is originally from the village of Kutlak, near Sudak. He now lives in Kyiv: due to the Russian occupation of Crimea, his family was forced to leave the peninsula. Leman grew up in unique conditions. His native village was surrounded by mountains, and the sea was nearby. There was constant interaction with nature. The language, culture, religion, and Turkic traditions were special. Up until the age of five, the boy spoke only Crimean Tatar. After the events of 2014, the young man had no desire to leave home. Due to political pressure and threats to the family, his father left immediately, while Leman stayed until he graduated from school. The family survived more than one FSB search. Later, the father convinced his son that moving to Kyiv was a necessary step.
Leman received his education as a psychologist at the Kyiv National Economic University named after V. Hetman and the Turkish city of Bursa. There was a period when the future star of the music industry worked by profession. But later he realized: he was still too young to experience burnout from a difficult occupation. Interest in music and various manifestations of creativity and art came to Leman at the age of 13. The young man worked on the beach. Nearby, artists who lived nearby also created. One day, the guy was sent to them with a routine task. At the artists' location, the guy saw a 1972 Fender Telecaster collectible guitar on the wall and asked to play it. The next day, he received his first salary and bought an acoustic guitar. Six months later, he purchased a Jay Turser electric guitar (like Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day). At the age of 16, Leman began to create his own compositions and record them. The songs sounded very raw, but every artist goes through a similar period.
Creative path
The name "Provulok" came to Leman's mind because of associations with meditative solitude and comfort. The idea to name the band provulok arose during the period when the performer actively listened to BONES and musicians from the TeamSESH association. The projects had similar, but not very meaningful names that had a special vibe. Leman chose this name because of its atmosphere, as well as because of his love for alleys in cities such as Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Istanbul or Lisbon, where there is almost no space between people.
The overarching motifs of provulok's work are a sense of homelessness, longing for the Crimean landscapes, and a deep love for national traditions. In 2019–2021, the project's music gained recognition and popularity abroad. In particular, the project's tracks made it to playlists in the USA and Latin American countries. Sudakla's compositions interested fans of the coldwave and doom genres.
One of the most anticipated releases of provulok was the post-shoegaze, third full-length album dissociation. The album is presented with nine tracks. Among them are several fits: with Nytso Potvorno, Sheetel and Lucy. dissociation explores the process of changing views and adapting to new realities, focusing on the impossibility of remaining who you were before when circumstances change. The release raises important and painful topics, such as Russian aggression and the destruction of the Crimean Tatar language in Crimea.
Style and project development
In 2025, provulok announced a change in the lineup. The band leader presents the previous concert lineup as follows:
- Zheka is a bass player who also has his own band, YCH;
- Artur is a drummer, previously played with Viktor Pavlik and in the band sportcafe;
- Lyokha is a rhythm guitarist whose playing is so aggressive that the strings on his guitar break during concerts.
Leman assures that the change in the lineup will not affect the further creation of music. After all, the artist is independently responsible for the creative process. At the same time, the performer is already preparing for performances and plans to develop the project. So, it is possible that large festival stages and large-scale tours are ahead. Provulok entered the active phase of creativity in 2023. The project conquered the Ukrainian audience, won the Koza Music Battle 2023. Currently, the group's discography includes three full-length and three mini-albums, as well as several singles.
The band's most famous songs:
- "habit";
- The Pain Won't Stop;
- It All Was Illusion;
- Rainy Mountains;
- "soldering" and others.
Interesting facts:
- In order to "let go", the band leader Leman does rock climbing, ping-pong, volleyball, yoga, stretching, or disco elysium;
- The artist names overeating and video games as his bad habits;
- Describing his music, Sudakly invites listeners to imagine a huge 200-meter-high cliff covered by heavy rain. Streams of water gather at its top, and at some point a thin stream breaks down. It gradually turns into a natural flow that crashes to the ground with a roar, creating an improvised waterfall. These are the emotions that take possession of everyone while listening to provulok songs.
