Speed Folk, Freak Punk, and More With Budapest Folk Punks Bohemian Betyars

Bohemian Betyars certainly live up to the first word in their name. The Budapest-based world music band incorporates a hilarious number of genres into its sound, including speed folk and freak punk. One of their members is prone to losing his fake tooth, of all things, onstage. And, as vocalist and violinist Mate Palagyi proudly declares to the Beijinger (ahead of the band’s Oct 6 show at School Bar): “I am the danger!” Below the freaky violinist tells us more about what his roving band of ne'er-do-wells is all about. 

Your band is described as "speed folk freak punk from Hungary." How did you end up incorporating so many elements into your sound?
Our official statement is that: We’re Bohemian Betyars a speed-folk freak-punk band with a purpose to spread the feeling of bitter revelry the farthest possible. Be it on the street, at a club or a festival, our catchy tunes will throw you out of the mundane weekdays and throw you into the deep waters of delirium, just as it was planned to happen.

And your unofficial statement?
Our unofficial is that we are six friends, who all went to the same high school, who love to play together and discover the million cultures of the world. We didn’t decide our style beforehand, we have been playing what we like to play for nine years now, our music is the best to see live so speed-folk freak-punk is just some intentions of what the audience can expect from our performance.

What is the music scene in Hungary like?
What makes Hungary unique is the broad diversity of festivals year round. We have many art events from small scale (UbikEklektik.org - 200-500 people) to the biggest festival in Europe (Sziget.hu – 300,000 people). We have a lot of good bands from all different genres. We just made a feature song with our favorite gypsy folk music band, and fellow Hungarians Parno Graszt! Also, I would recommend Félix Lajkó a genius violinist, and Besh O Drom a crazy klezmer group. These bands have had a great influence on us, they are the masters of the Hungarian world music scene. 

Budapest, the music hub and the heart of the country, is quite buzzing city these days, with more and more bands that get a good reputation from abroad like Run Over Dogs, Antonia Vai, and Middlemist Red.

Your band formed in 2009. What's the secret to staying together for nearly a decade when so many bands break up early on?
I can say that every band member is different. We’ve got a melancholic singer, a freak violinist, folk dancer bassist, gardener guitarist, jazz trumpeter and disco-stew drummer. Five of us live in the same flat in Budapest, where we have a studio to compose new songs and organize the band. Everybody has a different view of life, music preferences. At the beginning, we made this band for our own fun and curiosity. Then what we experienced at our very first concert, how our friends and unknown friends loosened up and had fun with us, was really a moment to remember. After this, we started to have dreams, like more gigs in our hometown Miskolc or playing elsewhere in the country, maybe one day in Budapest. When we reached one thing, another, bigger dream came in its place. We did it step by step. And nowadays playing on big stages of Europe is really a dream come true.

Who are some of your band's biggest influences?
Sex Pistols, Queens of the Stone Age, Mano Negra, and all the different folk music of the world. Of course, these bands have had a great influence on us, they are the pioneers of our kind of music. Meeting and playing with [French Spanish singer, guitarist and record producer] Manu Chao was one of our best memories. I also think that our diversity in terms of influences and styles, and our creational democracy, makes Bohemian Betyars unique. You appear to be really lively performers.

What's the craziest thing that happened during one of your shows?
So many things happened in the past nine years. The past is kinda blurry so it is hard to bring up most of them, and even harder to choose one. Maybe one of the weirdest i remember was when Kakas (violinist) lost his teeth on stage during a concert in Spain and how funny and dumb he looked while he was looking for it between the cables and under his bandmates’ feet. He found it in the end, but it happened again maybe two more times. Tell me about the song “Trouble Is My Brother,” from your latest album, Csavargó. What inspired it? This song is about our two inner poles which are fighting constantly. I think we are always trying to choose between the good and the bad, the right and the wrong, but life and us are so complicated that the choice is always hard and unsure. I tend to choose the charming trouble more often than not, so it’s better to keep some distance from me. I am danger!

Bohemian Betyars will perform at School Bar on Oct 6.

Never miss a gig: click here for a huge list of live shows in the city, updated daily.

Photos courtesy of Bohemian Betyars