Palindrom

Real name – Stepan Petrovych Burban
Date of birth – September 1, 1994
City – Lviv (Ukraine)
Language – Ukrainian
Genre – new wave, trip-hop, synth-pop, lo-fi

Becoming an artist

Palindrome, whose real name is Stepan Burban, is a Ukrainian singer, composer, director, and music producer. In the music industry, he is also known as rapper Coughing Ed and Stuk. Before the Palindrome project, Stepan was a member of the group Glava 24, in which he collaborated with Igor Gutnyk.

From an early age, the future cultural hero of our time was interested in creativity. He listened carefully to different musical styles. But eventually he turned curiosity into a real passion. During his school years, he began writing his own rap tracks and shared them with his classmates. The reaction of his peers became an important signal for the young author - no one laughed, but on the contrary, they asked with curiosity: "Who is this?" And Stepan, while still in the status of an unknown performer, gradually began to gather fans around him.

After graduating from Lviv school, the future star of the stage chose a creative path for himself. The young man entered the directing department of the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. At the same time, he remained to live and work in his native Lviv. Even then, it was clear that music for Burban is not just a hobby, but a way of thinking, feeling and communicating with the world.

Creative path

On September 1, 2019, Stepan Burban made his debut under the creative name Palindrom. He presented the album "About Today, Tomorrow and Yesterday". The album impressed the music community with a completely new sound, far from the author's hip-hop past. The work combined new wave, lo-fi, trip-hop and synth-pop, creating a unique atmosphere. Burban himself explained that for him, Palindrome is like inviting a loved one home and showing them your childhood photo album: a very personal, fragile and sincere space.

Burban recorded the album himself, at home. And this approach only emphasized its intimacy and authenticity. Critics highly praised the album, and the publication "SLUKH" called it the best album of 2019. So the popularity and recognition of the creative audience came instantly.

On December 2 of the same year, Palindrome presented the single "Mowgli", which became a harbinger of the new release. The composition entered the top 20 best tracks of the year according to Radio Liberty. Throughout 2020, the artist continued to actively record new tracks. Fans heard the songs "Cold" (a video clip was also shot for the composition), "Festive", "Forget". The album "Walls Have Ears" was also released. In this album, the musician explored the themes of new human nature, interaction with the world, and added more melancholic synth-pop to the sound.

2021 became no less important. Palindrome gathered a full house at a concert in Kyiv and went on a tour of Ukraine. With the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the artist released the song "Sleep", and later appeared in the film "The Rule of Two Walls".

The artist's style and creative development

Palindrome's work has the same irresistible charisma and still tangible Lviv aesthetics of the nineties and early zero. This is an author's handwriting with a touch of inner freedom and bold experiments. Over the years of his career, the artist has managed to completely rethink his own sound, organically combining synthpop, hip-hop, alternative rock and even elements of metal. These genre searches came together in one precise accent in the mini-album "The Best Questions for Yourself" (2023). The release became a kind of eclectic cocktail of musical influences.

An important role in all the changes was played by the fact that now Palindrome performs not only as a solo artist. He is the leader of the band. He records new tracks and goes on stage with a group of musicians. The team includes guitarist and long-time friend of Stepan Igor Montesquieu, bassist Ilya Orlov (ANNA, Latur) and drummer Volodymyr Gladkyi (Mauser, Bezlad and others).

The first meeting of the participants took place for a charity stream in support of "AZOV" during the online festival "Faine Misto". At first, everything was planned as a one-time event, but the pleasure of playing together and the feeling of strong friendship between the participants led to new performances and fruitful and stable cooperation.

Social activity

In the fall of 2022, Palindrome went on tour for the first time as a full-fledged rock band, visiting a number of Ukrainian cities with charity performances. In December of the same year, the musician gave a series of concerts in Iceland, and later continued to raise funds for the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine during a European tour.

The artist actively participates in charitable initiatives and regularly joins in gatherings in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And so he turns music into a tool for help. Thanks to its authenticity, bold steps in music and cultural position, Palindrome has already acquired the status of one of the cultural symbols of its generation.