Ukrainian singer, guitarist, composer and songwriter. Frontman and lead vocalist of the Ukrainian folk-rock band Mandry. Public figure. Honored Artist of Ukraine (2007). People's Artist of Ukraine (2018).
Curator of the international exhibition "Maidan. Ukraine. The Road to Freedom".
Creative producer and host of "Your Country Fest" (2018/19)
Producer and director of documentaries of the project "Outstanding Ukrainians of Today", TV presenter.
The author-director of the musical children's musical "The Great Journey of St. Nicholas".
Cinema: "Almanac Somewhere Near"; "Prohibited"; "Toloka"; "Rake";
Cartoons: "The Magic Pea" (grandfather the sorcerer, Krutivus)-; "Terkel and Halepa" (Nigel).
Biography
Thomas says this about himself: "He was born under the constellation of Pisces in the year of the Rat" in March 1972. As a child, I thought: "Either I will become a driver or an artist."
As a teenager, he learned to play the bayan and guitar, sang, wrote songs and stories. Hitchhiked through major cities of Ukraine, Belarus, the Eastern Baltic and Russia. After several years of wandering, he returned to Kyiv. He worked as a janitor at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Sophia Cathedral, a wardrobe attendant at the Archaeological Museum, a stagehand in a theater, and a radio host.
When he studied at school, he was Russian-speaking, but at the age of 23 he deliberately switched to Ukrainian.
Among his hobbies are the work of writers Gogol, Bulgakov, Georg Trakl, artists Chagall, Pirosmanishvili, Maria Prymachenko, directors Parajanov, Bergman, Wim Wenders.
Favorite historical figures are Buddha, Hryhoriy Skovoroda, Oleksandr Vertynskyi. Favorite book characters are Huckleberry Finn and Don Quixote.
Foma likes pop music of the 70s - Ivasyuk, Bilash, foreign artists - Celentano, Serge Ginzburg, Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Edith Piaf. He listens to very different music (Eminem, reggae, "Brothers Gadyukin", Ukrainian ethnic CDs (for example, Taras Kompanichenko), "Kino", Zhanna Aguzarova, "Tequilajazzz", perceives all music to be good).
Hobbies are bicycles and painting (sometimes he paints "naive subjects", large paintings and portraits with oil). Together with his paintings-heroes, Thomas played the role of an artist in the film "Temptation" by the young director Serhiy Natalushka. Art critics call what Foma the artist does "urban naive".
Most of all in life, Thomas values inner freedom.
Lives and works in Kyiv. Married, wife Nadia Maksymenko. Serhiy and his wife, Nadia, have three children (two sons, Timofey and Java-Kostyantyn, and a daughter, Kvitka Maria).
On the set of the film Mountain of Brushes
Music
In the winter of 1990, Foma first appeared on the stage of the Kyiv rock festival "Yolki-palki"-90, organized by the popular music page "Phonograph" of the "Moloda Gvardiya" newspaper. He brought out his first line-up of the band "The Day Dies Early". Thomas was remembered for his melancholic-sad songs and forlorn, self-absorbed images, he had a very difficult period in his life at that time and he actually confessed through songs and sought support. His band "The Day Dies Early" existed for some time, recorded and performed. Thanks to the creative formation "The Day Dies Early", Foma becomes famous in the musical underground of Kyiv. Foma had a solo project, and also played in the band "Yarn" and recorded three joint albums with Ivan Moskalenko (aka DJ Derbustler).
Already in 1997, Foma (guitar, vocals), Oleksandr Kokhanivskyi (bass) and Oleg Vorobyov (percussion) created the band "Mandry", the sound of which was mainly acoustic.
A few months later, the first tape album recorded at the "Asteroid" studio was released (however, the songs were recorded in an atmosphere of haste, which left an impression on the quality of the album). In August 1998, the first video clip for the song "Romansero about a gentle queen" (director Anton Trofimov) was released, which quickly climbed the ladder of honor in the music video charts of Ukraine, and already in September, it entered the top three at the First All-Ukrainian Music Video Competition and was recognized as one of the best in the "director" category. In December 1998, the first CD was released — a single by the Mandry band. During 1998, Mandry visited Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Donetsk, Minsk and gave concerts in Kyiv. In February 1999, the premiere of the second video clip for the song "Card Shirt" was held on the national TV channel "1+1". In the spring of the same year, the band attended a festival dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the European Union in Budapest. And in the summer, "Mandry" performs at the international festivals "Rock-Kyiv" in Kyiv, "Pepsi-Sziget" in Budapest and "Slavyansky Bazar" in Vitebsk. April 2000 - "Mandry" presents a CD - the album "Romansero about the gentle queen" and the video clip "Mermaids". In June 2000, Mandry participated in the International Festival of Ukrainian Culture in Sopot (Poland).
September 2000 - the band takes part in the "Rock-Existence" festival. In November 2000, the group presented the maxi-single "Mermaids". In May 2001, the band toured the cities of Poland (Wroclaw, Warsaw, Krakow, Szczecin, Gliwice, Białystok, Olsztyn, Sopot, Lublin). At the beginning of November 2001, the "Creon Music" company in France released a compact disc - the collection "Ukrainian Rock",which included several songs of the Mandry band. March 2002 — the video clip for the song "The Miller's Daughter" is playing on Ukrainian TV screens. On May 19, 2002, "Mandry", together with a group of musical groups and performers representing modern Ukrainian youth culture, gave a concert in one of the most prestigious clubs in London, "Hippodrome" (the concert was held as part of the Festival of Ukrainian Culture in Great Britain). At the end of September 2002, the premiere of the band's animated video for the song "Orysia" took place on a Ukrainian TV channel. On October 17, 2002, Mandry presented their new album called "The Legend of Ivanka and Odarka" to the listeners. On May 17, 2003, "Mandry" took part in the international festival dedicated to the United Europe Day in Kyiv. In October 2003, the premiere of the band's new music video for the song "Windy Gypsy" took place on the all-Ukrainian music channel M1. In the spring of 2004, a new video work for the song "Kalyna" appeared. On July 14, 2004, the group took part in the first international ethno-festival "Land of Dreams". In the fall of 2004, the band's musicians became active participants in the Orange Revolution (the song "Don't sleep, my native land" is played non-stop on the capital's Maidan).
On July 10, 2005, the band performed at the second ethno-festival "Land of Dreams", and in September - at the Kyiv "Rock-Existence". On February 1, 2006, the band's third full-length CD - "The Road" - was released. In the spring of 2006, two "Traveling" videos appeared on TV screens - "Do not sleep, my native land" and "Love" (written specifically for the short film "Hrystyna and Denys dance the dance of the tinkers" from the series "Love is..."), where Foma played one of the roles). In 2006, the group played over a hundred concerts. Under the influence of travels in Portugal, Thomas was born "Rio Rita". On June 28, 2008, the band played at the "Golden Maple" festival in Toronto. In July, the band takes part in the festival of Ukrainian culture "Sopot 2008". In January 2008, the band gave a concert for the peacekeeping battalion in Pristina (Kosovo).
The band plays music in the Mandra style: it's not just folk. The band uses different musical styles: rock, pop, and folklore, mixing everything into a kind of story called Mandry. Mandra creates its own unique style.
Charity
Serhii Fomenko actively supports various charity projects in Ukraine, performs at numerous charity concerts. He is a member of the Supervisory Boards of the National Competition "Benefactor of the Year" and the All-Ukrainian charity organization "Association of Benefactors of Ukraine"
