Gogol Bordello

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Gogol Bordello
Eugene Hütz and Yuri Lemeshev performing with Gogol Bordello at the Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins, Colorado, October 14, 2005
Background information
Origin	New York, New York, United States
Genre(s)	Gypsy punk, Gypsy folk
Years active	1999–present
Label(s)	Rubrick, SideOneDummy
Website	www.gogolbordello.com
Members
Eugene Hütz Sergey Ryabtsev Yuri Lemeshev Thomas Gobena Oren Kaplan Eliot Ferguson Pamela Jintana Racine Elizabeth Sun
Former members
Karl Alvarez Rea Mochiach Sasha Kazatchkoff Vlad Solovar Ori Kaplan Susan Donaldson

Gogol Bordello is a multi-ethnic Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of New York City that formed in 1999 and is known for its theatrical stage shows^[1]. Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music, as some of its members are immigrants from Eastern Europe. The band incorporates minor-key accordion and fiddle (and on some albums, saxophone) mixed with cabaret, punk, and dub as well as multiple languages. Phill Jupitus has described the band as "a bit like The Clash having a fight with The Pogues in Eastern Europe^[1]," while Kenneth Partridge of The Hartford Courant described lead singer Eugene Hütz's voice as "somewhere between that of Borat and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog^[2]."

1 History and influences
2 Singles and collaborations
3 The members
- 3.1 Current members
- 3.2 Former members
4 Discography
5 Filmography
6 References
7 External links

History and influences

Nikolai Gogol, the band's namesake, was an ideological influence because he "smuggled" Ukrainian culture into European literary society, which Gogol Bordello intends to do with their music in the English speaking world^[3]." 'Bordello' refers to a brothel or a "gentleman's club". The band was originally titled Hütz and the Béla Bartóks, but Eugene Hütz says that they decided to change the name because "nobody knows who the hell Béla Bartók is in the United States^[3]." The band played their first show as the unofficial band at an after-hours club called Pizdetz on Ridge Street, where they became the house band and DJ Hütz became the house DJ^[3]. Gogol Bordello's first single was released in 1999, and since then, they have released four full-length albums, and one EP. In 2005 the band signed to punk label SideOneDummy Records. The band has toured tirelessly throughout Europe and America on numerous international festivals and toured with such diverse bands as Primus, Flogging Molly, and Cake. In an interview with NPR, frontman Eugene Hütz cites Jimi Hendrix and Parliament-Funkadelic as among the band's main musical influences^[3]

Singles and collaborations

The recording of "Start Wearing Purple", on their 1st album, "Voi-La Intruder" pioneered their UK success.
Their song, "Occurrence on the Border", was featured on the 4th Punk Rock Strike compilation put out by Springman Records.
"Start Wearing Purple" was re-recorded and a video was produced for their third LP, Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike and became their first North American single. The song and variations thereof can be heard throughout the 2005 movie Everything Is Illuminated. It has also become an unofficial theme song of the Colorado Rockies baseball team and has been included in promotional material for their 2006-2007 season.
"I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again" has a short interlude of an arrangement of Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished) in B minor played on strings.
"Not a Crime" and "Wonderlust King" were chosen as the second and third North American singles, both accompanied by a music video.
"Through The Roof 'n' Underground" is featured several times in the movie Wristcutters: A Love Story. One of the main characters, Eugene, is based on Eugene Hũtz.

Several of the band members also take part in a dub and electronic side project with members of Balkan Beat Box entitled J.U.F. (Jewish-Ukrainian Freundschaft). Gogol Bordello have also collaborated with Madonna. Hütz and Ryabtsev performed "La Isla Bonita / Lela Pala Tute" with Madonna at the London Live Earth concert on July 7, 2007^[4].

The members

Current members

Eugene Hütz (vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, fire bucket) - Ukraine
Sergey Ryabtsev (violin, backing vocals) - Russia
Yuri Lemeshev (accordion, backing vocals) - Russia
Oren Kaplan (guitar, backing vocals) - Israel
Thomas Gobena (bass^[5] backing vocals) - Ethiopia
Eliot Ferguson (drums, backing vocals) – Florida, USA
Pamela Jintana Racine (percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance) - Thai-American
Elizabeth Sun (percussion, backing vocals, Dance, general performance) - Chinese Scottish
Pedro Erazo (percussion, MC) - Ecuador^[6]
Stevhen Iancu (accordion) - Japanese-Romanian, a fill-in for Yuri Lemeshev and also of the gypsy-punk bands Reverend Glasseye, Romashka and Dolomites

Former members

Karl Alvarez (bass)
Rea Mochiach (bass, percussion, electronics (on the albums), beat programming (on the albums, backing vocals) - Israel
Sasha Kazatchkoff (accordion)
Vlad Solovar (guitar)
Ori Kaplan - saxophone, (co leads Balkan Beat Box with Tamir Muskat), backing vocals, no relation to Oren Kaplan) - Israel
Susan Donaldson (percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance)

Discography

Albums

Voi-La Intruder – 1999 (Rubric Records)
Multi Kontra Culti vs. Irony - September 2002 (Rubric Records), two-LP vinyl - December 2006
East Infection - January 2005 (Rubric Records)
Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike - August 2005 (SideOneDummy Records), two-LP vinyl - March 2006
Super Taranta! - July 10th, 2007 (SideOneDummy Records) UK #67, two-LP vinyl - July 2007

Singles

When The Trickster Starts A-Poking - 2002. Rubric Records.
Start Wearing Purple - February 2006. SideOneDummy Records.
Not a Crime - August 2006. SideOneDummy.
Wonderlust King - August 2007. SideOneDummy. #11 UK Indie

Compilations

Punk Rock Strike Vol. 4 - 2003. Springman Records.
2005 Warped Tour Compilation - 2005. SideOneDummy Records.
2006 Warped Tour Compilation - 2006. SideOneDummy Records.
Gypsy Beats and Balkan Bangers - 2006. Atlantic Jaxx.
The Rough Guide to Planet Rock - 2006. World Music Network.
2007 Warped Tour Compilation - 2007. SideOneDummy Records.

Side-projects

Gogol Bordello vs. Tamir Muskat - August 2004. A collaboration between Gogol Bordello and members of Balkan Beat Box, under the name J.U.F., an acronym for Jewish-Ukrainian Freundschaft. Stinky Records.

Filmography

2005 - Everything Is Illuminated - Eugene Hütz played one of the main characters in the movie and members of the band (Sergei Ryabtsev, Yuri Lemeshev, Pamela Racine) make appearances.
2008 - Filth and Wisdom - The entire band is slated to appear in a short film directed by Madonna^[7].