Gogol Bordello
gypsy punk
Gogol Bordello never stays in the same place for long. Bandleader Eugene
Hütz started to hear the songs of Seekers
and Finders as he shuttled back and forth between three continents, and the
nine-piece ensemble developed and refined them on the road. From its inception,
Gogol Bordello has been a band of immigrants, with members hailing from
Ukraine, Ecuador, Russia, and Ethiopia. They tour relentlessly.
Travel is in their blood.
Yet for all the long hours and far-flung adventures that birthed it,
Gogol Bordello's seventh studio full-length advocates loudly for living life in
a specific time and place: right now - and in the real world.
"People
think you explore the world with the latest phone in your hand," says
Hütz. That's the antithesis of living for Gogol Bordello. None of these songs
sprang forth from an interesting news story or an extended studio
improvisation. "My focus is always on staying experiential. Go for
first-hand information, transmute it into wisdom, and share it with the people
in a communal celebration."
The
party kicks off with an incendiary exchange of violin and accordion licks,
bolstered by full- throated ensemble vocals ("Did It All"), and the
excitement doesn't relent until the final fade of "Still That Way."
There are pivotal moments of rippling marimba ("Clearvoyance") and
triumphant trumpet courtesy of Manu Chao collaborator Roy Paci ("Walking
on the Burning Coal"). The frenzied punk rocker "Saboteur Blues"
flips a middle finger in the face of French philosopher René Descartes, while
"Familia Bonfireball" draws on Hütz's earliest experiences in the
Ukraine to illustrate how forming a band provides escape from the demoralizing
grind of the industrial revolution and narrowly prescribed destinies.
Time
and again, Seekers and Finders exhorts
the listener to be present and participate. "Break Into Your Higher Self" accelerates the quest for
spiritual enlightenment to lightning speed. On the surface, "Still That
Way" might sound like a simple barroom sing-along, or even a
lighter-waving arena anthem, but it rails against getting mired in nostalgia.
"I'm still very drawn to the idea of being with the times."
That
Seekers and Finders distills
lifetimes of experience and emotion into a succinct 38-minute album speaks
volumes about Hütz's aesthetic. "Bowie always said his main area of
expertise was processing information, and I can relate to that. My storytelling
is all about assembling diverse, disparate things and bringing them into
focus."
For
all the immediacy of Gogol Bordello's music, the process of making a new record
doesn't always happen quickly. Following the 2013 release of Pura Vida Conspiracy, Hütz bounced back
and forth between South America and Eastern Europe. "I was basically
living in Brazil, and going back to the Ukraine to do all
these cultural projects." But it was only after he resumed living in New
York City that something inside him shifted.
"I
never felt content with one home base ... I needed three," the singer
explains. "They really complemented one another, and I finally felt like
I'd found some very solid, tangible ground for myself in the world." And
suddenly, new song ideas began to coalesce more clearly. "All of this
material came out of that triangle
- it's almost an encapsulation of that lifestyle - but it only came into focus
after I moved back to New York."
Gogol
Bordello formed in New York in 1999, injecting Eastern European musical
influences into underground rock to forge their distinctive "gypsy
punk" sound. In keeping with the band's roots, the title track
"Seekers and Finders" pairs Hütz with another genre-bending NYC
artist who started her career at the turn of the 21st century:
Russian-born singer-songwriter - and longtime friend - Regina Spektor.
"It's the duet of the wandering Jew and the roaming gypsy by the campfire,
which we represent most perfectly."
But
before recording in New York and Washington D.C., the band had already invested
countless hours working up the material. During their extensive tours, Gogol
Bordello uses nightly soundchecks as an opportunity to rehearse and develop new
material. "Usually, I craft the songs and then the band arrives and makes
them better, composed adventurous pieces. This time, however, I welcomed the band's creativity from the getgo. Many
late nights followed as we captured the magic amongst us. It felt like it did
when I was making my first recording ever where capturing that luminescence is
the most important thing in entire world."
Seekers and
Finders also marks another return, as Hütz resumes production duties
after entrusting them to outside producers including Rick Rubin (Transcontinental Hustle, 2010) and
Andrew Scheps (Pura Vida Conspiracy,
2013). "Our path has blessed us with those grandmasters, but I've always
had a strong
D.I.Y. ethic
and knew eventually I wanted to get behind the wheel myself! It was like being
a matador facing the beast of Gogol's collective creativity."
And
what was Hütz's biggest takeaway from experiencing all those different
approaches to record- making? A reinforced belief that you should never stray
too far from your original idea. "Capture the moment
... the moment is king."
There were many stops along the path to Gogol Bordello's Seekers and Finders, and many more to follow. As pleasant as it may feel to set up camp for a spell in Brazil or Ukraine or New York, ultimately the roving storyteller must move on.
"When I was in my twenties, that just seemed like a romantic notion," Hütz
concludes. "But here I am, still cruising around with my guitar like The
Fool on a tarot card. And there's actually great comfort in that. There's
something rewarding and fulfilling about commitment to a destiny ... even if it's
a pretty funky one."
Thus 'Seekers and Finders' comes from a very wide and magical playground, a
playground where people are still explorers who climb trees and walls across
the world to seduce the hero of their heart... The playground where you get to
see all sides of Gogol Bordellos path: The Good... the Bad... and the Snugly.
- Website:
- http://www.gogolbordello.com/