I have never interview a band from Hungary what
I know. Brigantik become the first one to be
interviewed from this country. It is Laszlo who
have answered the questions October-2022
Please tell me a little about every member and
the history of the band
-Brigantik
has always had 3 members. The guitarist/vocalist
is Gyula Korcsmár, the bass player is Attila
Horváth and myself -
László Somogyi -as the drummer, singer
and the songwriter. All three of us have been
playing music for decades. I have always played
punk, but the guitarist came from the world of
metal music and got familiar with punk through
the band. Our bass player has played in a punk
band before, but metal also had a big impact on
him. Next to punk I'm also into punk ska and oi
music...
Your music is a style which came foreward many
years ago, how come that people plays this sort
of punk today?
-Punk music has lost it´s glory but it still
represents great social matters such as social
injustices and inequalities, political excesses,
and anti-fascism. In my opinion a punk musician
shouldn't sing about love. Sing about how bad a
war is, why there is hunger, how the planet is
being destroyed, and why exclusion remains a
part of our life. Love, party, alcohol should
stay with pop artists.
The name Brigantik where did it came from? What
does It mean…
-When the band was founded, I suggested about 40
band names but none of them were liked even
though they were damn good. :-) Then finally the
guitarist came up with the idea to name the band
as Brigantik. I needed some time to fall in with
it. :-) The meaning of the name is a bit
negative, it translates as persistent villain.
But this does not indicate us, we are good
people, we just like the sound of the word. :-)
Is it still important to release physical
things? Or can you feel that you have done a
record if you only release it digitally? Or are
you only release digital stuff?
-We have released two EPs so far.
The album cover of the first one (Working Class)
was made by Navila Net Grafika. It was a
professional quality print. Inside you can see
the portrait of our dear friend Attila Illek, a
former proud miner.
The second one is called Current Rage. This
turned out to be a real DIY project. It was
published with the help of our guitarist.
You can reach us and find our music on YouTube.
Currently we are not active on any other music
sites, but we are planning on it.
You have never been to Sweden and played or been
here as tourists? If you not have when do you
come?
-I've never been there. I would love to visit
Scandinavia, I just hate freezing. It's even
better to be cold there than at home :-) But if
you invite us to play we won’t hesitate :-)
Which countries have had the pleasure to be
hearing the band live?
-Until now, there was one foreign gig a thousand
years ago in a small Slovakian club, but I don't
even remember its name. Unfortunately, we
haven't been anywhere else outside of Hungary so
far.
When you do songs, how do you do, are you
jamming together or do someone comes with a
lyric and some with the music or how do you do
your songs?
-UsualIy
I write the lyrics and the three of us create
the music based on that. But in some cases the
guitarist is sharing the song first and either I
wrote a text for it or got one from my secret
reserve that matches the melody. The three of us
are working on the song until it gets ready.
It seems like your lyrics are important, is
there anything you not will write a song about?
-As I have already mentioned, I will never talk
about love, trivial things or ordinary nonsense.
Except for drinking beer together as quite a few
oi songs are about it.
Please tell me a little about the following
lyrics….you don´t have a lyric sheet your CD,
why not? Amerika Diktatura Korrupciirszag Nem jo
itt semmi
-The lyrics book was not included in the CD
simply because our financial resources were
limited.
Amerika Diktatura (American Dictatorship):
Perhaps one of the first songs of my life. I
wrote it together with my fellow musicians in a
garage that was also our rehearsal room back in
the early 2000s. It criticizes the fascist
American state.
Korrupciirszag (Corruption Country: It is about
the corruption of the current government which
has been in power for more than a decade. It is
also about the guilty politicians and their
lies.
Nem jo itt semmi: It's about general
dissatisfaction. We work, eat, drink, pay the
mortgage and try to live on what's left.
How is it to live in Hungary nowadays, racists,
politics,covid, etc? How is it to be a punkband
there?
-Social differences have never been this big
from billionaires with luxury cars and yachts to
people living in deep poverty. However we always
hear that everything is good and beautiful but
people are getting more frustrated and tense.
Politics polarize society, even divide families.
Racism is all over the world. Covid has put a
lot of people in an irreparable financial
situation. In my opinion punk music and punk
bands can help to highlight these types of
issues around us.
Are you calling yourself a punkband,
hardcoreband, or just call you a rockband? Is it
important to mention punk in the same time you
talk about your band? What is your thoughts
about punk when you started and if you compare
with punk today?
-I prefer to call ourselves a punk-rock band in
terms of music and lyrics. As a kid I always
dreamt of being in a band and hoped that one day
I would be an acknowledged musician. There are a
lot of bands -which is not a problem at all- it
is just really hard to prevail and stand out.
Small bands can only do gigs in small clubs. The
Hungarian punk scene is critical and divided,
there is no real cohesion. But there are some
really good initiatives such as Punkmaraton that
help small bands to perform. We take every
opportunity to play music in pubs and festivals.
There are many bands and people we like to share
the stage with and I hope life will bring us
together many more times. Domestic punk life
sometimes has its shortcomings and flaws, but
I’m not complaining at all. We are doing our
best to keep our head over the water.
Do you have any favorite football team(I support
Arsenal(England) and a Swedish team called GAIS
myself)?
-I'm not a big football fan, but I am a Kispest
Honvéd supporter due to my father, and a big fan
of the Hydro Fehérvár AV19 hockey team I often
go to home games. Outside of Hungary I
sympathize with West Ham United because of its
history in the iron industry and shipbuilding,
but my favorite sport team is the local Miner
Handball team.
Beer is expensive in Sweden. I have a very big
interest in beer and brew myself? Your favourite
beerstyle ? You don´t have an own Brigantik-beer?
Or maybe you are straightedge?
-We are beer lovers. We are too small a band to
have our own branded beer, and I consider it
totally unnecessary. Personally, I like Czech,
but especially Polish beers. There is no
rehearsal without beer. :-) I´m vegan but not
straightedge.
Is there any good bands from Hungary worth to
mention? And how is punk living on in Hungary
right now?
-There are many Hungarian punk bands that have
had a great influence on me such as Punk-Tum,
Lecsa-Punk, CAFB, Enola Gay, Elit Osztag, CPG,
Hétköznapi Csalódások, AMD, Barackca, old Auróra.
Still active old bands that I like, even though
they are not kids anymore, are Sidol, Fuck Bad
Things, Nemecsek, Qss, Don Gatto, Ati Edge and
the Shadowbirds, (although they are a rockabilly
band) but I also like ska and alternative bands.
Punk’s not dead, however we are getting older
everyday. New generation is also here to follow
in our footsteps.
What is your strength when you play live?
-Our biggest show element -nothing pompous or
egoistic- that the drummer is also the singer.
Plus, all of our concerts are interactive, we
joke a lot and we don't keep distance with the
audience like big bands.
Which type of people comes to your concerts?
Which type of people do you miss?
-Different age groups are coming to see us from
teenagers to elderly people, even kids with
their parents, old punks or people who are not
into punk etc. A surprisingly large number of
generations are presented at our concerts. But
more punks and skinheads could come too... :-)
Do you buy much records, or is it only Spotify
and those type of things to listen to music? Is
it possible to buy records in Hungary? Any good
record store?
-When I was young and got into punk, I always
came home from punk festivals with a stack of
tapes. I loved holding it and excitedly flipping
through the cover and smelling it. Then the same
happened in the CD era. I couldn't wait to play
the CDs at home or in the rehearsal room. I have
always supported the bands I liked by buying
their records and T-shirts. There were and still
are many good record stores here. My favourites
are Káosz Székesfehérvár (here I bought the
tapes of many Hungarian and foreign punk bands),
Wave, Headbanger, Budapest Vinyl, Musicland,
Trottel records...)
Are you selling any merch on your gigs, do
people buy it? What sells best?
-We have sold a lot of CDs and recently we are
giving the new EP as a gift to the fans at the
end of the concerts. T-shirts are also sold
well, too. We can always sell everything we
make. Roughly 150-200 pieces. All the income
from the merch will go to the studio-work to
release albums, make CD copies and t-shirts. We
put all the money back into the band.
Which is your own favoritesong among your own
songs? And which song is the people choice?
-Climate change and the '80s are my favorite
songs. Everyone has different favorites though.
At the end of the rehearsal everyone’s favorite
is played :-) I have noticed that the marching
song of of the local handball team is the most
popular.
What´s the biggest difference when you plays
live nowadays if you compare when you first
started to play in a band? Or is this your first
band maybe?
-The biggest difference is that we learned to
play music on some level, however we always
thought we could :-) I think this is the 5th
band I play with. But there won't be any more,
the Brigantik will be a part of my life until I
die.
Which is the most peculiar gig you ever had,
with this band or any other band you have been
to?
-The most special gig was on Ne gyere el
festival, in 2015 which was a real punk
festival. Before that we only played in clubs.
After that more and more people got to know us
and we got more invites to festivals such as
Fezen and Metal Factory festival. It's a damn
good feeling waiting backstage for the concert
at a festival. It is slightly different from
playing in a small club but we also like to
perform there as well. We love to play
everywhere. :-)
If you could choose five bands from the past and
the history and nowadays and both dead and
living bands to have a concert together with
your band. Which five have you been chosen?
-The Clash, Toten Hosen, Uk Subs, Rancid,
Motörhead... (But I could list many more oi,
punk and ska bands)
Is music a good way to get out frustration and
become a nicer person outside the music?
-Music is therapy, solution, medicine, escape,
drug, passion, way out, and love. If music
wouldn’t be a part of my life, I wouldn’t feel
like a whole person.
Are you only sing in Hungarian , never in
English?
-One of my former band called The Riots, I sang
in english and learned the lyrics. It was a band
covering punk classics and anthems. We played
the songs of my great heroes. From English and
American oi and punk bands from the 70s. ( Cock
Sparrer, Pistols, Clash, Kennedys, 999, and many
more ) Anyway, I only sing in Hungarian, because
we only play music at home and I don't speak
English. :-)
Any good Swedish bands you like?
-Perkele
is one of my favorites. (I was listening to them
while writing these lines anyway :-) ) I love
them. I used to listen to Backyard Babies -
sometimes I still listen to them and also The
International (noise) Conspiracy. I used to
listen to Charta77 a lot as well, they were on a
casette with Riistetyt. The power in these bands
is brutal.
Is it boring with interviews? Is it much
interviews? What do you prefer
Telephoneinterviews, face to face or as this one
via e-mail?
-There have been a few interviews like yours,
Peter. There was also a live radio broadcast and
an online news website (Munkások Újsága). I am
honored when such an invitation comes. This is
the first foreign interview we have for which we
are also grateful to you. Maybe it means that
people are noticing us even outside of our
country. This makes me and the whole band proud.
Futureplans for the band?
-Just the same as before, perform and give
concerts in as many places as possible and
entertain whoever wants to see us. Writing as
many songs as possible, working in the studio,
shooting music videos, printing CDs and
T-shirts, because it is inspiring to see the
logo of your band on someone.
It's also a huge thing when someone puts
us on their playlist. Yes.....A gig with Perkele
organized by you in Sweden would be a great deal
for us.
J
Futureplans for yourself?
-Solving all personal and family problems.
Creating and maintaining harmony within the
band. But I never looked out for my own
interests. I have always thought on a global
scale, ever since I was a small child. I've been
vegan since January, and I'm also trying to do
my best to make our planet more sustainable. I
wish all wars would end. No child should be
hungry. no woman or animal should be abused
either physically or mentally. There should be
no domestic violence, the law should judge all
dirty criminals. Let racism disappear forever.
May the earth survive human frailty and
destruction.
Wisdomword?
-The world is beautiful and colorful because it
is not only our skin, but also our heart, our
brain, our soul, and our opinion about the world
and everything within it. Don't hate, don't
judge hastily, don't harm anyone, and if you
have done something wrong or harmed, have the
strength to ask for forgiveness and make amends.
Something more to add?
-Let there be beer, punk music, peace, and a livable future for our children and grandchildren. I am grateful to you, Peter, for reaching out to us and seeing a perspective in us. If you liked the band, then look for us on our Facebook page or on our YouTube channel. Old punks never die. Good luck