by Zuzana Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:25 am
Q&A: Eugene HützFriday November 28 2008
Independent.ieFull URLEugene Hütz, leader of New York’s selfproclaimed ‘gonzo gypsy punks’ Gogol Bordello, talks with ED POWER about bringing Eastern European folk music to western audiences, coaxing his inner Shane MacGowan to the surface and cultivating the most distinctive facial hair in indie pop.
So you’ve just arrived in London from a tour of Russia. Are you guys popular in Eastern Europe? Are you kidding? Are The Pogues big in Ireland? I'm from Kiev. People love us all over Ukraine, Russia... everywhere. They've been watching us make a name for ourselves abroad.
We're a big deal in Eastern Europe. Well, most of The Pogues aren’t actually Irish. Anyway, doesn’t your success back home feel bittersweet? After all, as a member of the gypsy minority in Ukraine you surely suffered discrimination as a child? There are very many gypsies in Ukraine, more than a million, I would say. As always it's double standards: they love our music, but they hate our culture.
How does a kid from the wrong side of the tracks in Kiev end up fronting one Brooklyn’s buzziest bands? I went to the United States looking for asylum. I gave up my citizenship in Ukraine in order to be able to live in America. It was a difficult period in my life. But I'm not going spin you some heroic story. Many, many people did they same thing. They too felt they had no choice. If you wanted a new life you had to go to America.
Which is where you got your reputation as the ‘Ukrainian Shane MacGowan’. Yeah, in my earlier band, The Fags, I used to get the Shane MacGowan comparison all the time. For me, The Pogues were the essence of punk rock, along with bands such as Dead Kennedys and Devo. These were people who managed to make incredible music that didn't necessarily require any virtuosity. It was so distinct from a lot of the knuckle-headed stuff that was too often being passed off as punk rock.
Are you still channelling MacGowan today? Maybe not so much. In the past, I was influenced very much by traditional music. My goal was to put new words to old melodies, which I think is something The Pogues have excelled at. Today, my head is in a different place. The members of the band bring their own influences: I'm into Ethiopian music and Brazilian music and Greenlandian music. It's all in there.
You present yourself in a very distinctive way. What’s with the colour-clashing wardrobe and the Salvador Dali moustache? I never look at myself as a rock star, so I don't dress as a ‘rock star'. I'm influenced by people like Joe Strummer and Manu Chao – they weren't interested in creating a facade you could sell. All I want to do is express myself on stage.
So tell us about the underground scene in the Kiev of your youth. It was very fertile. Bands were flourishing. You had groups influenced by Ukrainian roots music but also bands entirely influenced by western music, whether that was American heavy metal or the cold mechanical sounds of German rock. We had all those things. Internally, we were very rich. We were certainly richer than a generation of western mall rats whose music was served up by big corporations.
Finally – when Ukraine won the Eurovision song contest with a piece of cheesy euro-techno (Ruslana’sWild Dances) a few years back, were you proud or embarrassed? Ah man. I don't follow s*** like that. That's not Ukrainian music. That's just fireworks.
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©Independent.ie
[size=150][b]Q&A: Eugene Hütz[/b][/size]
[i]Friday November 28 2008
Independent.ie[/i]
[url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/day-and-night/features/qampa-eugene-htz-1556298.html]Full URL[/url]
Eugene Hütz, leader of New York’s selfproclaimed ‘gonzo gypsy punks’ Gogol Bordello, talks with ED POWER about bringing Eastern European folk music to western audiences, coaxing his inner Shane MacGowan to the surface and cultivating the most distinctive facial hair in indie pop.
[b]So you’ve just arrived in London from a tour of Russia. Are you guys popular in Eastern Europe? [/b]
Are you kidding? Are The Pogues big in Ireland? I'm from Kiev. People love us all over Ukraine, Russia... everywhere. They've been watching us make a name for ourselves abroad.
[b]We're a big deal in Eastern Europe. Well, most of The Pogues aren’t actually Irish. Anyway, doesn’t your success back home feel bittersweet? After all, as a member of the gypsy minority in Ukraine you surely suffered discrimination as a child? [/b]
There are very many gypsies in Ukraine, more than a million, I would say. As always it's double standards: they love our music, but they hate our culture.
[b]How does a kid from the wrong side of the tracks in Kiev end up fronting one Brooklyn’s buzziest bands? [/b]
I went to the United States looking for asylum. I gave up my citizenship in Ukraine in order to be able to live in America. It was a difficult period in my life. But I'm not going spin you some heroic story. Many, many people did they same thing. They too felt they had no choice. If you wanted a new life you had to go to America.
[b]Which is where you got your reputation as the ‘Ukrainian Shane MacGowan’. [/b]
Yeah, in my earlier band, The Fags, I used to get the Shane MacGowan comparison all the time. For me, The Pogues were the essence of punk rock, along with bands such as Dead Kennedys and Devo. These were people who managed to make incredible music that didn't necessarily require any virtuosity. It was so distinct from a lot of the knuckle-headed stuff that was too often being passed off as punk rock.
[b]Are you still channelling MacGowan today? [/b]
Maybe not so much. In the past, I was influenced very much by traditional music. My goal was to put new words to old melodies, which I think is something The Pogues have excelled at. Today, my head is in a different place. The members of the band bring their own influences: I'm into Ethiopian music and Brazilian music and Greenlandian music. It's all in there.
[b]You present yourself in a very distinctive way. What’s with the colour-clashing wardrobe and the Salvador Dali moustache?[/b]
I never look at myself as a rock star, so I don't dress as a ‘rock star'. I'm influenced by people like Joe Strummer and Manu Chao – they weren't interested in creating a facade you could sell. All I want to do is express myself on stage.
[b]So tell us about the underground scene in the Kiev of your youth. [/b]
It was very fertile. Bands were flourishing. You had groups influenced by Ukrainian roots music but also bands entirely influenced by western music, whether that was American heavy metal or the cold mechanical sounds of German rock. We had all those things. Internally, we were very rich. We were certainly richer than a generation of western mall rats whose music was served up by big corporations.
[b]Finally – when Ukraine won the Eurovision song contest with a piece of cheesy euro-techno (Ruslana’sWild Dances) a few years back, were you proud or embarrassed? [/b]
Ah man. I don't follow s*** like that. That's not Ukrainian music. That's just fireworks.
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[size=85]©Independent.ie [/size]
