The Gypsy Secrets of the Gogol Bordello

My article originally published by Fasterlouder



When Eugene Hutz, frontman of Gogol Bordello comes on the phone, his English thickened by a strong Ukrainian accent – there is no mistaking the vocalist’s excitement about his band’s upcoming trip to Austaralia. ”One of my favourite bands is from [Australia], the Birthday Party.”

The tour will mark the legendary gypsy punk outfits’ first journey to the land downunder where they will hit the road with Flogging Molly as well as playing at Great Escape. Hutz is already a big fan of Oz, apart from the aforementioned affection for the Birthday Party, Hutz has another Australian connection:

“In fact, I have a very good Australian in studio with me now,” states Hutz in his roundabout English. ”He is producing our new album, Victor Van Vugt. You should know him. He is a very important man. He produced Birthday Party and PJ [Harvey]. The album will be out in summer.” or that is, Australia’s winter.

Gogol Bordello’s previous album, Gypsy Punk: Underdog World Strike can be described as an album that’s captured the driving energy of gypsy music and twisted it into punk. It can force its listener to stand and dance, preferably with a strong drink in their hand; it takes tradition Eastern European sounds and makes them punk using fiddle, accordion and the more traditional punk tools of electric guitars and drums. Understandably, that album was well received and part of its success could be attributed to its producer, Steve Albini (Nirvana and Bush).

Eugene explained that while Albini had done an excellent job in reproducing their sound, they weren’t going use him on the new album because Gogol Bordello had already made that album and it was finished. “Now it’s time for a new thing.” The new one being made, he said, has been inspired by therapy for a psychotic state and it would sound and feel “just like that, for the fucking crazy”.

Gogol Bordello’s sound is new, unique and different, a rare thing today, and similarities could be drawn to the Pogues, who mix traditional Irish music with punk, but Eugene is very clear about how he wants his band to be perceived. “I want people to know we are not an art band, or a folkloric band, but a gypsy punk band from New York City playing our own original work- that with all the culture clash we don’t represent anybody but ourselves. It’s our own vision of the socio-political-cultural situation of today.”

The band’s members come from as far apart as Eastern Russia to South America and everybody brings their own sound. Hutz, who comes from the Ukraine, decided he needed to move New York and form a band when he saw Sonic Youth play in Kiev (1988). He knew he needed to be at the source of where that kind of music was coming from. A few years later, when he finally arrived in NYC he immediately formed Gogol Bordello. Only one member of the band is from America. “Because that is what New York is. I do not know anyone who is actually from New York.”

It wasn’t all easy though, Hutz happened to leave Kiev when Chernobyl’s nuclear crisis peaked. It took him seven years to arrive in the US. A positive way he suggested that he might look at this unfortunate situation was that he and his music were lucky enough to come out. He wasn’t aware of the current political debate going on in Australia about nuclear energy, but said nuclear power wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. “Just that is badly used by wrong people”.



According to Hutz you can expect to feel like you’re going to meltdown or explode at the upcoming Great Escape festival though. Gogol Bordello will be doing some new tricks on stage, he said, and have some good secrets in store for their performance. When pressed about what exactly he has planned he answered, “Now what kind of secrets would I have if I was to tell you? Not very good ones, I think.’

He said, their live performances can only be described as wild debauchery on stage. As they pump their gypsy punk sound, even the most conservative crowd feels their energy and is forced to dance. Hutz is the Pied Piper, singing in both English and Ukrainian, and leads the crowd into what many have described as a massive frenzied orgasm.

Eugene laughs. ‘Yes, they go absolutely crazy for it.”

Listen to them here