The Kyiv DJ who played blackout gig with Scottish musician appearing on festival stage

Robbie Tolson, founder of music charity Turn the Tables, met Andrew Kosolapov, aka Perekos, during a visit to Ukraine in December last year as part of a humanitarian delegation to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. On the final night of the trip, amid blackouts and air raid sirens, the two played an impromptu DJ set together in Kyiv.

Mr Tolson, who was in Kyiv with Music Saves Ukraine, promised he would bring Perekos to Scotland to perform and raise awareness of EnterDJ, a Ukrainian non-profit organisation using electronic music to rehabilitate veterans and civilians living with wartime PTSD.

Meanwhile, Oleksandra Korol, known as Sasha, fled Kyiv during her high school years following the outbreak of war and settled in Dundee, where she learned to DJ at Doof studios, a community DJ space founded by Hannah Laing.

Now, the pair is to play at Doof in the Park, one of Scotland's biggest electronic music festivals, held in Camperdown Park in Dundee.

Perekos volunteered to fight following the 2022 Russian invasion, was injured on the front line and lost fellow soldiers during the conflict. He discovered DJ-ing through EnterDJ during his recovery, a childhood dream that became a lifeline. He now performs across Ukraine to raise awareness of its work.

“When the enemy approaches your home and your loved ones, I saw no other option than to take up arms and go to war,” he said.

“After my injury on the front line, I needed something positive to help me recover and that’s when I discovered EnterDJ. DJing had been a childhood dream of mine, so I was really excited to get involved and I could never have dreamed it would one day take me to play at a music festival in Scotland. I am proud to fly the flag for Ukraine & EnterDJ.”

Mr Tolson said: “We want to shine a light on just how powerful music is, because it genuinely works on so many levels to help people going through tough times.

“On stage will be one DJ who evacuated to Scotland because of the war and another who volunteered to defend his country against violence we thought was resigned to the history books. Now they’re performing together at doof In The Park. If that doesn’t show the power of music, I don’t know what does.”

Ms Korol learned to DJ through Turn The Tables before becoming a regular at Doof Studios. She has since performed at Dundee Dance Event and Hidden Door Festival.

Ms Korol said: “Doof studios has become so much more than a place where I learned a skill. It helped me grow my confidence and connect with the music scene in Dundee, which has really helped me feel at home here."

Curated and headlined by Hannah Laing, the sold-out festival will also feature performances from Grammy-nominated trance legend Paul van Dyk, hard dance heavyweight Eddie Halliwell, techno superstar Lilly Palmer, global rave sensation Clara Cuvé, Irish hard bounce producer ALT8, Maddix and more than 20 artists across three stages.

Ms Laing said: “I’ve watched Sasha grow in confidence since she first started attending workshops at the studio and it’s an honour that we can now host this collab and give her a platform to represent her home Ukraine at Doof In The Park in such a meaningful way”.

Doof in the Park takes place on 4 July.