Hyphen Dash is a Kyiv-based instrumental quartet founded in 2019, blending jazz, hip-hop, electronica and progressive rock into a distinctive, genre-crossing sound. The band - Myshko Birchenko (drums), Yevhen Puhachov (guitar, bass), Polina Maiboroda and Dmytro Startsev (keys, synths) - won the Grand Prix at the inaugural UA Jazz Prize 2025, awarded by the Ukrainian Institute and Europe Jazz Network. Their 2025 album Basement 626, recorded roughly 10 km from the front line in Kramatorsk, was featured in Rolling Stone; their 2026 follow-up I Was Afraid of Stone Rooms marks the quartet's first fully composed LP.
Hyphen Dash embarked on a European tour in September 2026 as UA Jazz Prize Grand Prix winners, with dates in Vienna (Porgy & Bess), Munich (Jazzclub Unterfahrt), Cologne (European Jazz Conference), Amsterdam (Bimhuis) and Hamburg (NICA Jazz Club).
The band released their second full-length album I Was Afraid of Stone Rooms on 1 May 2026 via their own label No Time For Swing, featuring 13 tracks recorded as a quartet.
Hyphen Dash were named Grand Prix winners of the inaugural UA Jazz Prize 2025 by the Ukrainian Institute and Europe Jazz Network, recognising them as Ukraine's best jazz band.
Hyphen Dash performed at Open'er Festival in Gdynia on 3 July 2026, one of the largest music festivals in Poland, on the Flow Stage.
In January 2026, Hyphen Dash played the ESNS showcase festival and toured the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Hungary presenting their latest material.
