Gogol Bordello - Rock in Rio Madrid 2012 - 43

Gogol Bordello - Rock in Rio Madrid 2012 - 57

Gogol Bordello - Rock in Rio Madrid 2012 - 06

Gogol Bordello is an American punk rock band from the Lower East Side of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, formed in 1999 by musicians from all over the world and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring. Much of the band's sound is inspired by Romani music mixed with

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and dub, incorporating

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

(and on some albums,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

). The band has appeared in several popular films, most notably ''

Everything Is Illuminated ''Everything Is Illuminated'' is the first novel by the American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, published in 2002. It was adapted into a film of the same name starring Elijah Wood and Eugene Hütz in 2005. The book's writing and structure recei ...

'' (2005) in which lead singer

Eugene Hütz Eugene Hütz (; uk, Євген Гудзь, Yevhen Hudz, ; born Yevgen Oleksandrovych Nikolayev-Symonov, ua, Євген Олександрович Ніколаєв-Симонов, on 6 September 1972) is a Ukrainian-born singer, composer, disc ...

co-starred with

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012). Woo ...

in a

dramedy Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

/adventure story about the Nazi purges in Ukraine. The group appears playing a brass band in a set that included the " Star-Spangled Banner" and the traditional

Yiddish song Yiddish song is a general description of several genres of music sung in Yiddish which includes songs of Yiddish theatre, Klezmer songs, and "Yiddish art song" after the model of the German Lied and French mélodie. The Yiddish language and song F ...

"Bublitschki". Gogol Bordello contributed the song "

Start Wearing Purple "Start Wearing Purple" is a song by gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, written by frontman Eugene Hütz. The song was packaged as a double single along with " Sally", and released as the band's second single in February 2006. It appears on their th ...

" to the film's score. The band is the focus of the 2008 documentary '' Gogol Bordello Non-Stop''. The band recorded the song "Let's Get Crazy" for

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

advertising campaign.

History and influences

"Gogol" comes from Nikolai Gogol, a classical writer of Ukrainian origin. He serves as an ideological influence for the band because he "smuggled" Ukrainian culture into Russian society, which Gogol Bordello intends to do with Romani/East-European music in the English-speaking world. "

Bordello A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub pa ...

", in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, 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." The band played their first show as the unofficial band at an after-hours club called ''Pizdetz'' where they became the house band and DJ Hütz became the house DJ. Gogol Bordello's first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

was released in 1999, and since then they have released six full-length

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records col ...

, and one EP. In 2005 the band signed to

label

SideOneDummy Records SideOneDummy Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1995 by Bill Armstrong and Joe Sib. The label began as a way for them to release music for their friends' bands. Thereafter SideOneDummy launched the car ...

. On 27 April 2010 Gogol Bordello made its major record label debut with '' Transcontinental Hustle'' on

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

's American Recordings, a subsidiary of

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

. Many of the songs on ''Transcontinental Hustle'' were inspired by Hütz's move to Brazil. The band has toured extensively throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and America. They have made numerous appearances at international festivals and have toured with such diverse bands as Primus,

Flogging Molly Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk bandLife Is Good Out Now
Floggingmolly.c ...

, and Cake. In an interview with

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, frontman

cites

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

and

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

as among the band's main musical influences. They have also mentioned

Manu Chao Manu Chao (; born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao on 21 June 1961) is a French-Spanish singer. He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek, and occasionally in other languages. Chao began his mu ...

, Fugazi, Zvuki Mu,

Karamelo Santo Karamelo Santo is a Latin rock band from Mendoza, Argentina. Formed in 1992 for Goy Karamelo, they released their first album, ''La Kulebra'' (The snake) in 1995. Since then, they have released nine more albums. The single " Que No Digan Nunca" ...

Sasha Kolpakov Aleksandr Alexandrovich Kolpakov (russian: Александр Александрович Колпаков ; (born 15 February 1943 in Buzuluk, Orenburg Oblast, RSFSR, Soviet Union) is a Soviet and Russian guitarist, singer and composer. Biogra ...

and

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

as influences. They performed live at the

Bonnaroo The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...

Music and Arts festival 2011 for Bonnaroo's 10 year anniversary, playing a 1.5 hour set in the middle of the night and performed with Devotchka. Gogol Bordello released "Let's Get Crazy" in 2012, the new song was part of

's advertising campaign for the European Football Championships, which were part-hosted by

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The track samples one of their earlier singles, "

Wonderlust King "Wonderlust King" is a song by gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, written by frontman Eugene Hütz. It was released as the first and only single from 2007's ''Super Taranta!'', and it was their fourth single overall. Music video The video consi ...

", and the Coca-Cola advertising jingle. In 2012 former guitarist Oren Kaplan sued Hütz for personal damages. The 2010 song "Immigraniada" was remixed by Bassnectar becoming a smash hit amongst his fans hoping for a live performance anytime the band and he are in proximity to each other. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hütz released a video on social media condemning the Russian invasion, and has remained vocal about raising relief funds for the victims of the invasion. Gogol Bordello announced a benefit concert shortly after which sold out quickly, followed by announcing a benefit tour. Bordello collaborated with

Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...

of the funk band Primus on the song "Man with the Iron Balls", praising Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

's courage. The proceeds of the track are set to benefit Nova Ukraine, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian relief to the people of Ukraine.

Film appearances

* 2004 – ''

Kill Your Idols Kill Your Idols is an American hardcore punk band from New York, active from 1995 through 2007 and again from 2013 to the present. They were signed to SideOneDummy Records. Their releases on SideOne were Funeral for a Feeling (2001), a split w ...

'' – Hütz was interviewed in this documentary about New York's "

art punk Art punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and free-spiri ...

" music scene. * 2005 – ''

'' – In

Liev Schreiber Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywo ...

's directorial debut, which stars

, the role of Alexander Perchov was played by

. It includes cameo appearances by other Gogol Bordello members in the train scene. * 2006 – ''The Pied Piper of Hützovina'' – Documentary by Pavla Fleischer about a road trip she and

took to Ukraine to trace his roots. * 2006 – '' Wristcutters: A Love Story'' – "Eugene", played by American actor

Shea Whigham Franklin Shea Whigham Jr. (born January 5, 1969) is an American actor best known for portraying Elias "Eli" Thompson in the drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also appeared in the first season of ''True Detective'' and the third season of ' ...

, is partly based on Eugene Hütz, whose music ("Through the Roof and Underground", "Occurrence on the Border", and "Huliganjetta") is featured in the film as that recorded by the character's old band. Contrary to the belief that he has received no credit for this, the film credits show the copyrights for both Gogol Bordello songs, as well as giving thanks to Eugene multiple times throughout the credit roll. * 2008 – '' Filth and Wisdom'' – The entire band appeared in this independent film directed by Madonna.

is the protagonist. Madonna also allowed Eugene to add his own dialogue into the script. * 2008 – '' Gogol Bordello Non-Stop'' – The development of the band was documented in this film directed by Margarita Jimeno. It follows the band's rise from underground legends to international fame from 2001 to 2007. * 2009 – ''Larger Than Life in 3D'' – Live High-def digital concert footage shot in stereoscopic 3-D at the Austin City Limits festival in October 2009. * 2009 – ''Live From Axis Mundi'': Professionally recorded live concert footage shot in New York. * 2011 – ''Grain'': Short film, 'Against the Nature' appears on the credits. * 2017 – "American Wedding" '' Fargo'' Season 3 Episode 2 "The Principle of Restricted Choice" closing credits * 2017 - "Risky Bismuth" ''

The Tick ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' Season 1 Episode 10 "Trans Continental Hustle" closing credits * 2018- “I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again” into plays during monster wedding scene in “Hotel Transylvania 3”

Members

; Current members Gogol Bordello tour

(lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion) – Ukraine (1999–present) * Sergey Ryabtsev (violin, backing vocals) – Russia (2000–present) * Pedro Erazo (percussion, MC) – Ecuador (2007–present) * Boris Pelekh (guitar, backing vocals) – Russia (2015–present) * Vanessa Walters (percussion, backing vocals, general performance) (2016–present) * Ashley Tobias "TOBI" (backing vocals, dance, percussion, general performance) – United States (2017–present) * Korey Kingston (Drums, percussion) (2020-present) * Gill Alexandre (Bass, backing vocals) (2021-present) ; Former members * Pamela Jintana Racine (percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance) – United States (1999-2017) * Eliot Ferguson (drums, backing vocals) – United States (1999-2009) * Sasha Kazatchkoff (accordion) (1999) * Vlad Solovar (guitar) (1999) * Oren Kaplan (guitar, backing vocals) – Israel (2000–2012) *

Yuri Lemeshev Yuri Lemeshev (born 1954 or 1955) is an American accordion player and former member of gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello.accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, backing vocals) – Russia (2001–2013) *

Ori Kaplan }, born October 1, 1969) is an Israeli jazz saxophonist and a music producer. He moved to the United States in 1991. He has worked with many artists including Shotnez Tom Abbs, Firewater, Gogol Bordello, and Balkan Beat Box (of which he is a fou ...

(saxophone, backing vocals) – Israel (no relation to Oren Kaplan, co-leads

Balkan Beat Box Balkan Beat Box (BBB) is an Israeli musical group. Founded by Tamir Muskat and Ori Kaplan in 2003, BBB was later joined by Tomer Yosef who became a core member. The group plays Mediterranean-influenced music that incorporates Jewish, Southeastern ...

with

Tamir Muskat Tamir Muskat (in Hebrew תמיר מוסקט) is an Israeli musician/producer-sound engineer who was born and raised in Petach Tikva, Israel as son of a Romanian immigrant. His father was the manager of Anzeagi Conservatorion for music in Petach T ...

) (2001-2004) * Katheryn McGaffigan (percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance) – United States (2002) * Susan Donaldson (percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance) (2002-2003) * Andra Ursuta (percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance) – Romania (2003-2006) * Chris Tattersall (drums, backing vocals) – United Kingdom (2004) * Elizabeth Sun (percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance) – China and Scotland (2004–2016) * Rea Mochiach (bass, percussion,

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

and beat programming in the studio, backing vocals) – Israel (2005) * Karl Alvarez (bass) – United States (2006) * Oliver Charles (drums) – United States (2009-2016) * Michael Ward (guitar) – United States (2011–15) * Pasha Newmer (

; backing vocals) – Belarus (2013–2018) * James Ward (accordion) – Scotland * Kristian Mangieri (harmonica, general performance) * Thomas ‘Tommy T’ Gobena (Bass, backing vocals) (2006-2021) *Alfredo Ortiz (Drums) (2016-2020)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

* '' Voi-La Intruder'' (1999) * '' Multi Kontra Culti vs. Irony'' (2002) * '' Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike'' (2005) * '' Super Taranta!'' (2007) * '' Trans-Continental Hustle'' (2010) * '' Моя Цыганиада'' (2011) * ''

Pura Vida Conspiracy ''Pura Vida Conspiracy'' is the sixth studio album by Gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello Gogol Bordello is an American punk rock band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 by musicians from all over the world and known for th ...

'' (2013) * ''

Seekers and Finders ''Seekers and Finders'' is the seventh studio album by Gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello. It was released in August 2017 under Cooking Vinyl and is their first studio album since 2013's '' Pura Vida Conspiracy''. This is the first Gogol Bordello al ...

'' (2017) * ''

Solidaritine ''Solidaritine'' is a 2022 studio album by American Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. It has received positive reviews from critics. The album has a theme of supporting the Ukrainian people in the Russo-Ukraine War and was supported by a tour th ...

'' (2022)

EPs

* ''

East Infection ''East Infection'' is currently the only EP by Gogol Bordello, released in 2005 by Rubric Records. Released prior to the album '' Gypsy Punks'', it consists of leftover tracks from that album's sessions. The title track remains a live favourite. ...

'' (2005)

Compilations

* ''Punk Rock Strike Vol. 4'' (2003) * ''2005 Warped Tour Compilation'' (2005) * ''2006 Warped Tour Compilation'' (2006) * '' Gypsy Beats and Balkan Bangers'' (2006) * ''The Rough Guide to Planet Rock'' (2006) * ''2007 Warped Tour Compilation'' (2007)

Notes

References

External links

* * AllMusic Entry
Interview at NPR's Studio 4A (2006) with several songs performed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gogol Bordello Musical groups from New York City Gypsy punk groups 1999 establishments in New York City ATO Records artists Cooking Vinyl artists American Recordings (record label) artists