I've had a few people ask me where they can learn more about the traditional music of the Balkan region, so I decided to dedicate one post to this. Coincidentally, this week the University of Eötvös Loránd in Budapest prepared an event called Bölcsész Napok. Now, what's special about this is that there were also many performances there, which included traditional dances. As far as I know, there was salsa on Tuesday, as well as belly dance, and such. There was also a performance by Bohemian Betyars, a folk rock band from Budapest. Unfortunately, this time I didn't manage to catch them with my camera, but I'm looking forward to reviewing one of their shows soon.
Anyway, what I want to focus on here is the Macedonian group, which I'm also a member of. We performed twice on Thursday, actually. We give many thanks to Viktória, also a student of Macedonian language, who was kind enough to make some breathtaking photos of the event.
We would especially like to thank Agatics Krunoszláv (the link is to his homepage), who joined the Macedonian day, while playing on his accordion to our songs. Without him, our performance wouldn't have been even half as good. Thank you, Kićo! Check out the group's page as well: Zora Zenekar.
Now, what the University offers are some outstanding teachers, who are not afraid to bring new ideas into the mixes of classes. With the help of the teacher of Macedonian, Panda Stojanovska, last October we founded a dancing group, which focuses on Macedonian dances. Starting again from September, anyone can join. There will also be travels included, while participating in international folk dancing meetings and festivals. (In case you want to join, let me know, and I'll give you the contact address).
There was also a singing performance done by other students of Slavic languages, who also performed Makedonsko devojče, but with a few minor changes in the lyrics. The absolute delight was the Russian teacher, who was not only leading the group with his violin, but also stole the show with his amazing baritone.
Now, let's go back to the dancing places in Budapest. There are many. Some of them require membership, some entrance fee, and some are basically open to everyone. Of course, the 'cheaper' the participation is, the more amateur dancers there will be. So, the suggestion is to start with the open groups first, later on moving onto the more closed, experienced ones. I will only point out one of those that I've tried, but it's usually quite easy to find others. Most of the people who dance in these know at least a few more, and will be more than happy to help you out. Even in English.
Falkafolk Együttes (photo taken from their Facebook page)
My favourite one is Falkafolk Együttes and Balkan Táncház ('táncház' is a Hungarian word for these dance places. Literally, it means 'house of dances'). I've only been a few times, due to my tight schedule, but I absolutely loved it. They usually meet in Fővárosi Művelődési Ház (address is Fehérvári út 47, XI. district). You can get there easily by taking the tram 47.
The meetings are on Fridays, starting at 7 pm. The dances usually last until around 11 pm. The entrance fee is 700 Ft, but for this amount of dances it's completely worth it.
The dances include Greek, South Slavic dances (Serbian, Croatian, etc.), Macedonian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Albanian, and Turkish.
As for the other places, there's still a huge amount of places that are yet to be explored. I can offer these two links: Tanchaz.hu and Folkradio.hu, where you can search for places by weekdays (on the second one: at the end of the list there's a link named 'következő hét - it means next week). The addresses and the additional info can also be found there. So, if you try any of them and come to like it, let us know here. :)
Finally, Beltine fest has returned to Budapest! Last Saturday I got the chance to see some of my favourite folk metal bands in this part of Europe. Apart from Niburta, who I absolutely love seeing live, Crazy Mama Pub hosted Oganj from Croatia, Cruadalach from Czech Republic, Avven from Slovenia (which was such a nice surprise for me), and the Hungarian Ignotus Enthropya.
The concert started at 7.30 pm, as planned, with Oganj. Although they haven't been around that long, they already have a nice fan base in Croatia and around, due to their previous involvement with Stribog, one of the leading folk (black) metal bands in Croatia. Even though I had to miss most of their performance, I can say that I'm quite familiar with what the members are capable of. For that reason I'm more than sure that their show was a perfect warm-up for the following bands. So, be sure to listen to their song Zimahere.
Setlist: Kada Padne Dan; Zima; Cold, White Sun; Igre; The Wheel of Time.
Cruadalach: Jan (vocals) and Hana (violin)
Soon after, Cruadalach came onto the stage, making the crowd ferociously bang their heads. The singer Jan's enthusiasm and energy especially was what kept everybody on their feet all the time. He kept diving into the crowd pit, initiating mosh pit in every song. The band was quite surprised that the crowd knew the lyrics to the songs, even though they were mostly in Czech.
Niburta: István (kobza, vocals)
The two girls in the band, Petra and Hana, proved to be a delight by bringing various folk melodies into the mix with their flutes and violin. It was obvious that not only the band members worked well together, but also that they had good connections with the other band when the singer of Oganj, Ana, joined them on stage to fullfil their music with her incredible voice. Too bad that the bend kind of kept her in the background, though.
I've already written about Niburta a lot, but it won't stop me from praising them again. It seems that with every show their performance becomes stronger and more confident, with a few new elements introduced each time. In that light, I have to point out that this time they added a few more acoustic sections, with Milán, the drummer, playing on a cajon between the beautiful tunes of the flute, and the amazing female vocals. The singer Balázs once again stepped in to give the drums a try.
A special treat was introduced for the fans - Horace's poem Lydia, which the band performed in an acoustic fashion as well. It was quite a refreshment in the band's usual repertoire.
Setlist: Bogorovice (intro), Shto Kaszmete, Nap és Hold, Mashala, Forebear's Dance, Dance of Satyrs (Daemonia Nymphe cover), Lydia (Horatius), Keselyű, Awakening, Forgotten Path, Rege, Fúvom az énekem.
Avven
Being a newly born fan of Avven, I didn't quite have a chance to experience their music much before the gig itself. To my complete astonishment, the band outdid their studio work this Saturday. They played with enormous energy, changing between harsher parts to slower ones with many folk elements introduced by the keyboards and flutes.
Avven has existed since 2003, until this point creating their own original music. They combine themes from fantasy to nature and mythology, while at the same time putting the main focus on the majestic male vocals.
Last year they finally released their second album, Kastalija, which made their popularity in Slovenia even greater. The Beltine tour, just like with the other bands who were participating, they got the perfect opportunity to show what they can do outside of their home countries. To my knowledge, they definitely made a difference by participating. In return, many fans went home from the concert happy about that new band they discovered.
The last band on the stage was Ignotus Enthropya. They are also a younger band, featuring Bálint Kemény of Niburta on keyboards. Once again, we witnessed a short setlist, but it was completed with two quite interesting covers - one by Wintersun, the other one by Ensiferum.
Ignotus Enthropya: Christian (guitar)
Even though their role was kind of the closing 'ceremony' of the fest, many people stayed to support them by just having fun and enjoying the music. It could be seen that the band already has a fan base, mostly from Budapest, but nevertheless it's growing stronger. In the past months they've been working on the material for releasing the debut EP. Hopefully in the future we will see more of them!
Setlist: Solid Silver, Beyond the Dark Sun (Wintersun cover), Extinction, Despair, Ignotus Enthropya, Writer's Words, Digital Deception, Iron (Ensiferum cover), Solid Silver.
The latest news of Budapest with a Pinch of Music bring you the interview with Milán Leindler, the drummer for Niburta, one of our favourite bands from Budapest. I will not stall for too long by writing about the band itself, but be sure to read more on their Reverbnation site, or here about their gig in Crazy Mama Music Pub, on March 3.
1. Hi. Let's start by introducing yourself and the band?
Milán: My name is Milán Leindler and I have the fantastic opportunity to be the drummer of Niburta. I've been playing since 2004, and as a "civilian" I'm a psychologist. The band itself does not have such a long history, the founding members were Balázs Hormai, János Krieser and Anna Németh. They dreamed of a band combines the catchy and rather mystical folk tunes and melodies of the Balcanic region with the newest and craziest waves of modern metalcore. I myself joined the band in 2010 and I've been playing with these very diversly skilled guys ever since. The band's name comes from the ancient Scythian god. Niburta is definetely a two-faced deity; warriors prayed for him for strength and courage on the battlefield, so they could savagely rush into battle, and also during the summer when they hoped for a successful harvest. This bipolarity is not only a feature of our "patron-god", but also a feature of our music as well.
Niburta: Milán Leindler
2. Niburta has ‘awakened’ in the last year, both in studio and live. What was it that you have been accomplishing lately?
Milán: One of our greatest accomplishments is mentioned in the question itself. We recorded a studio version of Awakening, and Fúvom az énekem, a hearth-breaking Hungarian folk song. We also finished working on our very first music video, which will be introduced to the audience in the next couple of days or weeks. We also had a lot of live shows, performing with bands like Dalriada, Cruadalach, Stribog, Zrec, Krampus and other very good Hungarian bands. It is important to mention that we formed true friendship with our Czech and Croatian mates, so it will be a pleasure to meet them again in their country. We also plan to make a high-quality tour video during our trip. And at last, I must mention that the 9-member team "chose a king" for itself, as a manager joined the band, Balázs “Don” Buza, who helps us in many ways and knows the arts of diplomacy, organizing, negotiating, and other useful witchcrafts.
3. What has inspired you the most to pursuit the folk metal style? Which bands do you look upon most?
Milán: This obviously differs from band member to band member. However we all agree that there are a few important bands that were the pioneers of this genre. We respect all bands that play such a music that reaches to one's own heritage and traditions and can blend the strength and power of the music of our ancestors and today's metal music. Both of these have dynamism, passion, so they fit together very well. Concerning us, not all 9 members are true folk-metalheads. It is just the question of working together, feeling each others emotions, continuing each other's thoughts. Most of the members who play folk instruments do not necessarily listen to metal music, and those who literally "craft" the breakdowns (like the guitar players, or myself) do not know that much about folk music. But we share our knowledge, and together we create something that is way more than the sum of the two. But if names need to be mentioned, we obviously respect and like the music of Eluveitie, August Burns Red, Vildhjarta, and many more bands that do not necessarily belong to the folk-metal genre.
4. This spring you will be a part of an international folk metal tour – Beltine Fest. What are your expectations of the tour?
Milán: I hope that it will not only boost our popularity, but it will result in many more friendship with other musicians and with the fans. We tend to keep a close relation with our fans, for example I occasionally talk to guys from Brazil, Turkey or Germany, who love Niburta. Our expectation is that the people who come to the shows and honor us with their presence will have a good time and that we can convey our passion and love for these ancient cultural heritage. We hope to cross boundaries, break down walls that have been wrongly erected during the years. And also we hope for a lot of fun and drinking, naturally.
5. On April 23, you will play in Zagreb, Croatia, along with Trollfest and Korpiklaani. How did this connection happen? Are you excited about sharing the stage with them?
Milán: It is a great pleasure and honor to share the stage with them. It would be an honor and pleasure even if we were more popular, it is an honor to meet fellow musicians no matter how famous or popular they are. But I'm not implying that it won't be different from our previous shows, Korpiklaani and Trollfest are the two biggest names with whom we can perform at the same night. This is a huge possibility for us and we are in the middle of the largest preparation that we ever did. The connection can be thanked to Ana, ex-singer of Stribog, who we met at last year's Beltine Fest.
6. Is it true that not all of the band members will play on this tour? Will there be replacements?
Milán: Yes, we need to replace one of our guitar players in Croatia and Slovenia, but this issue has already been solved. Also, Márton Szilágyi cannot play with us in Maribor, his absence will ... as we, Hungarians tend to say it ... "be solved within the house".
7. This is not the first time you collaborate with Cruadalach. How does it feel working and touring with them? What’s your opinion on the other bands of the tour?
Milán: We love those guys! We talk a lot online and have a very good relationship. Last year Bálint Kemény played with Cruadalach on their Polish tour, and this time I'm going to play with Oganj at Maribor. This fills me with excitement and at the same time is a huge honor and challange. As said earlier, we respect all the other bands, we know that Avven is highly noted in Slovenia, I personally am very curious about them. And for Korpiklaani and Trollfest, I'm pretty much looking forward to meet them.
8. Which bands would you like to tour/work with in the future? How do you see the future of the band?
Milán: There will definitely be a full-length album coming soon! Very soon! I'm optimistic about the band's future, we have larger and larger shows, the crowd is thicker and thicker. Our on-stage performance is developing nicely, we are working to give the perfect Balcanic Folk-Metalcore experience to the audience. We would be honored if we could tour with great bands, Korpiklaani was "on the list" before this show too, but Eluveitie, Finntroll are such names too. I personally would very much love to have a tour together with Avantasia or Edguy, Apocalyptica or Stratovarius, but that's just my way of taste.
9. Having so many members, is it difficult for the band to get everybody on the same page, to find time for rehearsals?
Milán: It is difficult, but we try hard. We are starting to think of Niburta as a lifestyle, and this helps a lot. We just hope that you guys can feel this too!
Niburta: Balázs Hormai
10. Lately, you’ve started becoming a leading folk metal band in Budapest. Does it put a lot of stress on you as a band? What are your views on the (folk) metal scene in the city, and the country in general?
Milán: I must point out that we are NOT the leading band of this genre. This is not modesty, this is a hard fact. And there is no problem with it, Niburta is a young and prospering band, and we do not think of other bands as rivals, but as friends and even tutors, from whom we can learn a lot. For example, last august we had a great show with Dalriada, and we profited a lot from that night. We really appreciate their work and what they did for the Hungarian folk-metal scene. I think that the scene in Hungary is developing nicely, there are good shows not only in the capital, but in smaller cities as well. More and more people are interested, because there are good bands and musicians who can satisfy their hunger and appetite for a good folk-metal madness!
11. What would you like to say to your audience on Beltine?
Milán: We promise a great show and a few bruises, stitches for the guys in the front rows, because the passion and spirit of our very ancestors will be unleashed! Also, if there will be an opportunity, I can promise that I will personally say thank you for coming for everyone, who I meet after the show. And we are looking forward to meet you not only during, but after the show as well, because it is boring to drink alone!
Thank you once again for the interview. I wish you a great, extremely fun tour!
Milán: Thank you!
The interview was also published here in Croatian. Check it out!
After we've had the chance to experience Firkin in their full glory last month at the CD release concert, the band has given the role of headliners over to one of the most notable Canadian Celtic punk bands - The Mahones.
However, one foreign band doesn't make the night an international evening. Another band, from Italy, does. They are called Dirty Artichokes, coming from Torino. Dirty Artichokes have existed for only a few years now, but they've
already played a great number of shows, while at the moment they are
proudly presenting their debut album - My Empire of Dirt. This was Artichokes' first time playing in Hungary, but the second time they
shared the stage with Firkin and The Mahones. Two days prior to the show
in Budapest, the bands played in Vienna, but I'm sure the audience was
much wilder here. For one reason, there seems to be an enormous group of Celtic punk fans in Hungary. They faithfully follow local bands such
as, now even internationally very influential, Firkin and Paddy and the
Rats.
Dirty Artichokes
The kilted band started playing spot on at 8 pm, warming the crowd up. Apart from their original music, Artichokes played three cover songs. Of those, Drunken Sailor is probably the best known one, being repeated quite often in the genre. However, even when Firkin put their own spin onto the song later on it didn't stop everybody from going crazy again.
Dirty Artichokes: Andrei (elec. guitar)
I should say that they did one hell of a job at capturing the crowd's attention. They ended the show quite energetically, jumping and stomping so hard that at one point the singer went out of control, ending up on the floor. There was a part when the drummer played a strange tune, but I couldn't put my finger on the sound until I read it on their Facebook page. Apparently, it was a frying pan. Interesting feature, right?
Setlist: Brighis' March, Ordinary Tales of Bastards & Bitches, Feet in the Mud, I Pay with Vomit, Pay Me a Dollar (Flatfoot 56 cover), 22 in the Belly of a Shark, Land of the Clovers, Another, Worms' Society, The Last Song, Drunken Sailor (traditional), Amsterdam (The Dreadnoughts cover).
Firkin: PJ (flute) and Pali (vocals, acoustic guitar, whistle)
As I previously wrote about Firkin, I thought there wouldn't be much more to say about the same tour of a band. I changed my mind already during the first song. On March 9 (read about it here), the band was presenting their newest album, Igyunk Pálinkát, so they had additions to the stage, such as guest musicians on stage, as well as a longer setlist. I was very curious about seeing them live at a regular concert, such as this one was. Or was supposed to be.
The show on Friday (the 13th) was just astonishing, even though I half expected to see the guest musicians once again, with their banjos, guitars, and amazing voices. The band seems to have put even more effort into engaging the audience than before. Their communication with the crowd was really admirable; it was impossible not to join in with the screaming and dancing to the Irish tunes. The parts where the violin and flute alternated the melodies were also very interesting, producing a kind of visual taste of their music.
Firkin: Pali (ac. guitar)
I have to note that Felföldi románc, the ballad that they played by the end of the show, was most definitely the highlight of the concert. There was such a dazzling energy to their sound in that song the studio version could have never got even near reaching it.
The last part of the concert, including the encore, was reserved for the crowd pleasers such as Drunken Lullabies (originally by Flogging Molly), Devils Dance Floor, and the farewell song - Búcsúpohár.
Setlist: Intro, Borfohász, Reggel van!, Seven Deadly
Sins, Rocky Road the Dublin, Vezet majd a szél, Galway Races, A jó ég
megáld, Crazy Man Michael, Rettenthetetlen, Kék volt az égbolt,
Beggarman, Donnegal Danny, Jó, Hetedhét székely, Felföldi románc, Whup
Jamboree, Lord of the Dance, Drunken Lullabies (Flogging Molly cover),
Hozz egy firkin sört // Igyunk Pálinkát, Devils Dance Floor, Búcsúpohár.
Firkin
After Firkin's show, the curtain went down, so we had to wait for a while until the stage was set for the main act. By the time The Mahones graced us with their presence on stage, the crowd was amped up, with beer and hair flying in the air. They were formed in Canada, over 20 years ago, unlike the first two, much younger bands. Until now, they have released eight full-length albums, the latest one being The Black Irish from 2010. The Hungarian show was only a small part of a big European tour.
The Mahones: Finny McConnell (vocals)
The Mahones: Paul Cuzo (bass)
The Mahones' genre didn't need much introduction, after hearing the opening bands, but it did bring the music to another level. The crowd was almost ecstatic most of the time, while the guys from Dirty Artichokes made sure that everybody was jumping and singing strongly enough. An absolute delight on the stage was Katie KaBoom, an impressive accordion player. Apart from their older songs, the band also played tracks from the new album, the most pleasing one being Ghost of a Whiskey Devil. Before leaving the stage, the band introduced themselves, and thanked the audience, who, in turn, screamed loudly enough to have them back for an encore. The Mahones ended the show, but not the evening itself, with the song Give It All Ya Got (or Forget About It), which is also the band's motto.
Setlist: Across the U.S.A., Paint the Town Red, A Great Night on the Lash, Whiskey Devils, Rise Again, London, Down the Boozer, Nancy Whiskey, A Pain from Yesterday, A Drunken Night in Dublin, Ghost of a Whiskey Devil, Is This Bar Open 'Til Tomorrow, One Last Shot, Streets of New York, Queen and Tequila, The Blood is on Your Hands, Celtic Pride // Drunken Lazy Bastard, Teenage Kicks, I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones cover), Give It All Ya Got (Or Forget About It).
The Mahones: Katie KaBoom (accordion) and Paul Cuzo (bass)
Last week, Tamás Kátai kindly agreed to answer a few questions about his works and his life as an expat musician. Before we indulge in the interview itself, I would like to make a short introduction.
Tamás Kátai is an avant-garde musician from Hungary, well known for his metal project called Thy Catafalque. At the moment, he lives in Edinburgh, UK, but nevertheless continues writing music in his mother tongue. Over the years he has participated in many other bands, such as Gire and Darklight. In 2006, he released a solo album, named Erika Szobája (Erika's Room), which is described as an ambient, folk project.
Apart from this, Tamás is best known for Thy Catafalque, an experimental, avant-garde metal one-man band. He started the project in the late 90s as a black metal band, working with János Juhász, but later they developed a more unique style. Thy Catafalque also includes some prominent Hungarian guest musicians, such as Attila Bakos (from Taranis), and Ágnes Tóth, better known as the beautiful vocals of another Hungarian folk band - The Moon and the Nightspirit. Last year, Thy Catafalque released the fifth full length album, Rengeteg, first time without János. Read more about the album here, and be sure to check out Thy Catafalque's official site.
Here's what Tamás says:
1. In 2005 you released a solo album, Erika Szobája, which is most often described as an ambient, neoclassical project. How did this album come to be, and how come you didn’t simply incorporate your ideas into another Thy Catafalque album?
Tamás: I didn’t want to put anything connected to metal on that album. At that time Thy Catafalque was still a band with two members and that was one reason I never considered that material to come out as a Thy Catafalque-release. The other thing that it was far too personal, it seemed absolutely obvious from the very beginning that the album will be released simply under my name.
2. Last year saw the release of Rengeteg, quite a heavier and musically extremely interesting album. What inspired you the most? Could you describe the album, and the concept behind the lyrics for non-Hungarians?
Tamás: It’s always the same, the things I experience around myself, that’s rather simple, usually there’s no any special trigger. The word rengeteg means vast trackless forest in obsolete Hungarian. It’s the woodland. It’s a symbol of mystery, the night and also of pureness and life. A forest has its own, working life-system that is the opposite of our big-city lifestyle. It’s a symbol of nature itself we desperately need to respect again. We need to humble ourselves and respect our home. Not a nation, not a country, but our very home, the nature. This is not really the concept of the record, more my thinking and it obviously shines through the album as well.
3. Thy Catafalque signed with Season of Mist recently. Has it brought many benefits so far?
Do you think the project is more known in Hungary or outside of it?
Tamás: It definitely has. This album has proper distribution and good promotion all over the world and thus receives much more attention than the previous recordings. This is something a less strong label could not achieve. There have been plenty of reviews and interviews coming out and generally the material is well-exposed. Thy Catafalque is definitely more known outside Hungary in spite of the fact that the lyrics are in Hungarian. Our previous album Róka Hasa Rádió was also released by a non- Hungarian label, Epidemie Records.
4. You moved to Scotland some years ago. How has it influenced your life as a musician? Do you have any aspirations of returning to Hungary again?
Tamás: Yes, I moved to Edinburgh in early 2008 and obviously this decision has totally changed my life in all aspects, including music. Most importantly because we could not work together any more with my old mate, János. We started the band together and recorded the first four albums with the work of both of us, but being so far away from each other limited the possibilities of the common work. But the offer from Season Of Mist for example was not the result of moving to Scotland. It could have happened while I was in Hungary, it all went via the internet regardless of my actual place. I’d like to return to my homeland indeed, but currently, in that economical situation unfortunately there’s no point in considering this. Quite sad to say. I really hope to get back some time permanently again.
5. How do you feel about the music (metal) scene in Hungary? Do you think it’s progressing and that more opportunities are emerging every day? Could you compare it to the metal world in the UK?
Tamás: I don’t really follow the Hungarian metal scene as I’m not there. There are definitely great bands but it’s quite a hard situation now because of the lack of the solvent audience. After all this whole topic is getting back to the economy again and that’s why the UK metal scene is stronger than the Hungarian. But that’s not an excuse for the lack of originality anyway you can face with.
6. Do you have any suggestions as to which Hungarian bands to keep an eye out for? What would your advice to new, starting musicians in Hungary be?
Tamás: Well, what I do is not keeping an eye on anything. I mean not keeping an eye _that_ way. I do whatever I want and never consider if that is suitable for anybody or not. Be original, be diligent and enjoy creating something new out of nothing. Stop blaming the media, the people, pop music, whatever, stop pointing your fingers at the whole world and feel sorry for yourself. There’s this common mentality in the country that leads to nowhere at all and I hate this. Be creative, build, that’s all you need.
7. What have you been up to since finishing Rengeteg? You mentioned once in an interview that your next step is releasing an EP with two tracks that didn’t make the cut for Rengeteg. Have your plans changed since?
Tamás: Now I reckon those two songs will just go for the next album along with new ones. I also have a third one finished now, so it’s about 25 minutes done for the next release. Still plenty of work to come.
8. It seems that the number of guest musicians in Thy Catafalque albums has decreased over the years. Are there any musicians that you would like to work with in the future? How about your music connections in Scotland? Since the problem with finding guest musicians is most often the logistics, have you thought about working with someone there?
Tamás: Attila won’t appear on clean vocals any more, apart from those two already recorded songs as he’s about to focus on his own ongoing projects, but Ágnes agreed to contribute again if needed. There are great singers here for example, but I want to keep on with Hungarian words. But anyway I know more and more local musicians and well, there are damn good ones in every corner, so I might work with instrumentalists from Edinburgh in the future. But still I can record most of the instruments I need myself.
9. What are your earliest memories of creating music? While you were growing up, what were your musical influences? Have they changed much in the meantime? Apart from music, what are your other influences?
Tamás: I started writing music with my old ZX Spectrum computer in the ‘80s, then I got my Commodore 64, but I never used it for music. Later replaced it to an Amiga 500 around ’90 and that was the time when I really got interested in composing. But my first real instrument was a Korg N5 synthesizer I use even now. I purchased that in 1998 second hand. Now also have a guitar. And that’s it. I don’t really consider myself a musician anyway, I’m too lame. My first musical influences were the theme songs of computer games, C64 and Amiga, they were great machines! Then my first tapes were Die Mensch-Maschine from Kraftwerk and the first two Jean-Michel Jarre albums and I loved those pieces, still my favourites. Later came metal and everything else, jazz, folk, classical, experimental music, I listen to a lot of different genres and enjoy to be open-minded. Apart from music I have always been interested in all other branches of art and they do have their influences in the way I see the world and create music. And science also has its role in my works.
10. Would you like to add anything else to the interview?
Tamás: I would like to thank you for your interest and wish you all the best for your activities in the future. Take care!
Thank you, Tamás, for the interview, and especially for your music. I’ll be looking forward to seeing the future of Thy Catafalque, so keep up the great work!
Tamás: Thank you!
The official video for Thy Catafalque's Köd utánam.
