Gogol Bodello are once again soon due to cross the pond and share the true beauty of gypsy punk music with the UK.
Hailing from Ukraine, Russia, Israel, China, Thailand, Ecuador and the USA, Gogol Bordello look and perform like a team of World Punk Allstars picked from a hat by a giant Eastern European punk devil.
Music fans from all over the world have left the band's gigs in pure disbelief after witnessing a live act that can only be described as insane.
Frontman Eugene Hutz told Suite101 that the UK has the hooligan potential to handle what they do but was warned Brits that Gogol Bordello are not for the weak-hearted.
Formation of Gogol Bordello
It was 1986, the year of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, in which 13-year-old Eugene had to flee to his hometown of Kiev, Ukraine, and all the madness started.
He was one of tens of thousands with no choice but to leave home because of high radiation caused by the disaster.
It was then, after being forced to move and live with his cousins in Western Ukraine, that Eugene first encountered the roots of his gypsy heritage.
It was soon discovered that the world of a gypsy in Eastern Europe is a dark world of corruption and persecution.
However, those who ask Hutz about his gypsy roots will still hear nothing but pride in the memories that he shares.
It was that year spent with his gypsy relatives when Hutz discovered the unrivalled spirit and passion that everyone around him had for gypsy punk music.
For the gypsies, punk music was a survival technique. It was a way to stick the middle finger up to the rancid liyestyle of a refugee. For them, this was rock music that brought orgasm to the ears and sent shocks of insanity to the body. This music was a fuel to parties so off their head that, according to Hutz, us Brits could only imagine the kind of stuff that went down.
Eugene spent the rest of his childhood travelling between refugee camps all over Europe and, unsuprisingly, soon began to share his addiction for gypsy music. Since moving to New York in the early 90's, he has been determined to share his unadulterated passion with the world.
Eugene knew properly replicating the insane eastern flavour would not be a simple task.
Starting off as a three person band playing galleries, squats and old synagogues, it took five long years for Gogol Bordello to snowball into the eccentric nine-piece they are today.
The current line-up includes two crazy Israelis on accordion and fiddle and two beautiful Asian women who carry 28 inch marching drums.
Gogol Bordello Live Shows
It is quite fitting that the band were named after Ukranian writer Alexei Gogol, who went mad and died aged 43.
Since their formation in 1998, Eugene and friends only ever supported another band once.
Usually you don't start a date with an orgasm...usually," Eugene explained to Suite101.
"The truth is that the band sounds crazy because people n it are f*cking crazy! We got four solid mental cases as of last count. Every time I get to watch video recordings of our shows I see insane sh*t, things flying everywhere, but when I perform I hardly see anything! I've got used to chaos, it looks good!
"I guess the craziest was when the floor cracked in New York during our show. People from the club downstairs came up saying that the ceiling has cracked and 'we are all subject to a rather dark possibility.'
Mental cases or not, Eugene has stressed from the very beginning the importance of needing execeptionally talented musicians who knew exactly what they were doing in order to make his vision come true. Thanks to its multi-cultural music-loving society, he was able to find them all in New York City.
He explained: "I kind of was on the lookout for particular kind of musicians that are authentic characters with you could storm the world."
Click here to discover where you can see Gogol Bordello live.
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