RotFront, a truly international band residing in party-packed Berlin, aim to roll back boundaries – and they do in many senses of the word. A Ukrainian, two Hungarians (Simon Wahorn and Dorka Gryllus), an American, an Australian and five Germans mix ska, reggae and dancehall with klezmer, Berlin hiphop, Eastern European tunes and Mediterranean melodies. We caught up with Simon (a.k.a. Simi) as their concert’s coming up here in our very own Gödör on February 26th!
You founded RotFront with your friend, Yuriy.
How did you two meet?
After a RussenDisko Night that Yuriy was doing, we bumped into each other thanks to a girl we both knew in a Kaffee Burger. We hung out a lot and DJ-d together a couple of times. Meanwhile, it turned out that both of us were musicians, so we started to make music together…
How did the band get together?
First, we just sat down with two acoustic guitars at my place. My flatmate who happened to be home, jumped in with beatboxing. From that moment on, members have been coming and going. The current formation has been together for about two years now.
How would you describe your music?
Emigrantski Raggamuffin.
What does Emigrantski Ragamuffin mean to you, exactly?
Taking a step to leave your homeland, learning a new language, trying to assimilate to a whole new environment, completely different from what you’ve grown up in, the experience you gain will be the same for everyone. From this, a new kind of mentality will be formed, the one of expatriates. Here it doesn’t matter what language you speak or if you like kolbász (Hungarian sausage, eds) or lecsó (a local vegetable stew, eds). This is what we call ‘Emigrantsi Republik’, our new country. ‘Emigratski Raggamuffin’ is the music of this land. A music which is the combo of all the musical trends we can mix and match to our hearts wishes without following rigid rules.
How does it hinder/help your work that you’re all from different countries and cultural backgrounds?
This is exactly where we get the inspiration from.
What’s the regular RotFront audience like? Is it as international as the band itself?
I’d say, even more. We’ve got five or six different nationalities involved, but the audience has many more. Naturally, though, if we play in Germany, we get more Germans, if the concert’s in Hungary, more Hungarians.
What are the differences between a Berlin and a Budapest gig? Are there differences in how the band’s taken by the audience?
I think the Emigrantski Republik has no boundaries like that. Every club has its own vibe independent of which country it’s in. Anyway, most of the time this issue becomes totally irrelevant after the third song.
What have you prepared for the February 26th concert at Gödör?
Loads of pálinka and a few new songs.