Gogol Bordello

0:00Start the show off with the single start wearing purple. What do you say? What language is it first off after Passpart 2? You say it's in Russian. It's in Russian. What does it mean? I'm gonna recall it. Or even live. Do you change it up live? Well live, there's a lot of ed leaving always going on. Oh yeah, I remember. From the largest kintupas partouille at Klemus. And I swear, is it swearing? I swear by pissing upon my two fingers that the music started with the sounds of mu. Of mu? Which is a double meaning going back to one of the most influential Russian underground bands which called sounds of mu.

0:53Oh okay. Well, at the same time, of course going just to straight sounds of cows and donkeys. Here's another anthropological idea how music appeared really. Oh really cool. Let's play start wearing purple and we'll continue talking with Eugene from Gogo Bordello. Art wearing purple, wearing purple. Start wearing purple for me now. All your sanity and which they will all vanish, I promise. It's just a matter of time. So yeah. I swear, I remember you since you were at 20.

1:57I was one in years from now. Purple it will be perfect. It was found from Diages to the Fuca from the largest kintupas partou. Heya klanao sabas abdopasza, zigabasala, hazo vu, kavambo.

2:48Don't you start wearing red or she starts wearing purple from Gogo Bordello talking lead singer Eugene.

4:54So he said it's Russian that bit. Are you Russian? I thought you were from the Ukraine. Was it part of Russia at the time? I don't really differentiate much from Russian to Ukrainian. Because that's a job of nationalists and I'm internationalist. Yes. Good. So I'm a classic Eastern European mutt. I have many different bloodstreams. As a Russian for the Ukrainian, Lithuanian. Is that where the gypsy punks thing came from? Yeah. The whole band is internationally. You have people from all over the world. You want to tell the listeners where everyone is from? Sure. You have Sergey from Russia, Yuri from Russia, Gataorin from Israel, girls.

5:41I want us Chinese but she was born in Scotland. Live in America. Drama, Alia is American. I am as Thai American. And Pedro is from Ecuador. How do you hook up with all these people? How do you band together? I mean, they're coming from all over the place. Obviously we didn't put out ads. We need the Ecuadorian M.C. of course. So it's just a tendency of becoming friends with people from different cultures, from different world. That's what I'm interested in. Oh, definitely. Now did you all hook up at the same time or did people just start joining it? No, it's snowballed over a period of five years. I mean, I started out as a singer with a guitar and was accumulating one new member pair basically seven, eight months.

6:36There's going to be more members. I didn't even know I had to stop it otherwise we'll know I'd make it money. Fair enough. Let's play another song or something off the new record. What do you want to hear? Anything? Oh, no. Maybe it would be good. Okay. Or immigrant punk. Do people? Oh, no.

7:28It doesn't have to be so. That's part of creating my stuff. And you think, all right now people, they have finally walked up by the school of trouble. Oh, watch them take another nap. I'm trying to get them all out of the way. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.

13:36Like Eugene from Go's Over D.A.L.O. Communism. He grew up in a communist society. That's what it's called here, yeah. That is just called socialist. In my mind, I don't know how sensitive you are, though. I think it'd be kind of cool if everyone gets the same thing. I mean, how was it living through that? I've always kind of... Oh, it'd be fantastic, but nobody ever got the same thing. You kind of have to understand that term communism was applied to Eastern Europe after the whole block fell down to kind of defeat, give it a bad name, because communism itself never existed.

14:22It's just kind of to take out power out of communist, potential power out of communist ideology that may still exist. Eastern Europe was strongly called communist. In reality, it was never communist. I'm socialistic. It was socialist trying to go communist way, but it was light years away from communism. We never saw it, we never experienced it. We saw some transitional period, which, to be perfectly honest, was... I mean, everybody knows that. I don't need to be honest about it. It's like everybody knows that it was corrupted as fucking hell. And it didn't really...

15:12I don't think it was even heading towards communism. Theoretically, it was, but it was not. I mean, people in power were not interested in splitting up and ending anything up equally. So... I don't mind to work if it was done properly. I don't... I'm of the school of thought that it's unrealistic theory. It's a romantic theory that gets exploited by tyrants, but it's not... I don't think it belongs to this planet. Fair enough. The new Paul McCartney DVD, live from Red Square, talks about the Beatles having a say in the

15:57fall of communism, having a lot of effect on that. Do you agree with that? I don't know anything about it. Maybe that's kind of in a way where it's like giving hope to that culture over there, I guess. Well, I mean, what the fuck did they say? I mean, I don't know. I never heard any comments of him or them on it. And I am from Mr. Europe and obviously had no impact on me. Fair enough. So you're not a Beatles fan? I am, but I'm not nearly as Beatles fan as for example, I'm that Kennedy's fan. Oh, bro. Or like the Stooges fan. I mean, that's just like it's all pretty shalala music to me, which is... That's just not what I listen to, you know. What do you listen to now? What are some bands you listen to?

16:43Besides the Stooges and the dead candies, like you said, but that's a little older. Yeah, I mean, those are just good old guys. Asian Dub Foundation, Manu Chow, you know, bands with very strong internationalist mentality. Same kind of sounds that you have with the violins and all the... No, there is no... The sound wise, it's actually a good example at all. But aesthetically, yes. I mean, Asian Dub Foundation sounds like public enemy from fucking India, you know. Cool, I have to check how it sounds like. But that's the kind of people we become friends with and that's the kind of people we are work residents with, you know. Cool. You're heading up to Canada in a bit, doing a cross-candidate tour, have you done it before?

17:30Yeah, no, first time. Should be cool. Yeah. Are you excited? Do you get to actually experience the country at all, or is it all just kind of like on the bus in the dressing room? It's what you make out of it. I mean, a lot of bands just have a very kind of... I mean, they don't make much, much out of it, but we like to go out and meet people and, you know, throw in party after party. Oh, really? You know, I always have all my DJs set with me on tour, so... I, for sure, enjoy it. And I just PT bands that are always bitching about touring, like it's something they fucking have to do. And it's like, I have to start thinking about again, why even playing music?

18:17What's the point? How do we get you guys to come party with us? Like how would a fan... You say you like to party all the time, you bring your DJ equipment out. How do fans come and get you? Does that ever happen? All the time, I mean. Yeah? Last night, the night before. Oh, really? That's amazing. It's as easy as contacting the band after the show, and... I mean... Saying Hails party. Well, providing at least a place, you know, and some equipment. And I mean, it's... We'll be there. I mean, the kind of... As a matter of fact, it's kind of essential part of Google, where they like to. After the show to have an after party. And in some towns, organization of our fans, as advanced as that being basically set up in advance, I mean in advance, you know.

19:04Oh, really? Yeah, so, you know, some places we have more presence than others. But people learn, I mean, you know, with some towns we've been... One, two, three, four, five times. And so we have a strong base, and people know what to do. But, you know, sometimes we can actually kind of shock people. But I can just say one thing, you will never find more approachable band than the real world era. So whatever the fucking mind, go ahead and... Cool. Take it from there. That's awesome. Let's play another song. What do you want to hear? Maybe I'll find it at one of the earlier records perhaps. You know, well, we're still really, our head space is still into new records.

19:51So we're really into playing the material of this record in particular right now. So I think not a crime is a pretty good quintessential gypsy punk sounding song that kind of speaks of relation of gypsy music and punk and dub and reggae. And I think that's a kind of a unique territory that we explored. And here it is, yo. Yeah, it's a pretty small thing. It's a pretty small thing. It's a pretty small thing. It's a pretty small thing. Drop the charging! What a crime! It's your time!

23:53It's your time! It's your time! It's your time! Cool. Let's talk about Eugene from Gogo Bordello.

24:51You're in a movie. Yeah. I've never directed it. Uh-huh. Many people from Scream and that movie with Denzel Washington, the remake. What's it called, you know? That remake he just did? Yeah. Tell me about the president. The majority on the candidate. Yeah, I am entering. That's right. And you shaved the mustache. Yeah, so. I just, I picture you having a mustache. How long does it take to grow back? I mean, that thing's amazing. For me, two days. Two days. You know. For real men from Ukraine. Two days. For you? I don't know. I got a little bit of an Eastern European thing. Nine years, probably. Nine years. Thanks. Yeah. This is only a day. I'm going to get you every time on that one. We do this thing every week on the show called Five Questions. Five quick questions, one more answers.

25:37Sure. iPod or CDs? Uh... You know. I don't know, man. Do you like the way things are going with these iPods? I don't mind them. I mean, it's actually some amazing thing about this. Some amazing things can be done. But, um... I'm a bit still on old-fashioned side, if I might say so. I mean, if things would be up to me, I could probably still be pretty happy with CDs. Yeah. You know, I mean, but what I don't want to make it any more bigger topic. Okay, fucking CDs, whatever. I know you say you're not a big Beatles fan, but Leonard McCartney. Oh, for sure, Leonard. Cool. Um, alcohol and marijuana. Alcohol.

26:22Song you've written you're most proud of. Um, well, there's... That's a difficult question because songs speak of different parts of you, you know, and, uh... I mean, if you're thinking like what, start wearing purple, of course not. I mean, this is just a song that has power to convert anybody. But, uh, there is a much bigger book and much bigger picture of Google Burdella, where... Start wearing purple actually occupies a very, uh, even though special, but very much, uh, just this seducing, uh, element of the whole picture. It's actually one of the few songs that I've written for a girl that I was in love with, and I don't normally bust out the songs about girls on stage.

27:14You know, that, even though I do have a couple albums of them, a couple of ways that... And one word, Google Burdella. First thing to pause in your head. Chaos. Cool. Thanks so much. Let's close out with one song. What do you want to hear? Illumination. Cool. Thank you so much, Eugene. Yeah, I appreciate it. Don't believe them for a moment. For a second. Do not believe my friend when you are down them are not coming. With a help in hand, of course there is no us and them, but them they do not think the same.

28:08It's them who do not think the same. It's them who do not think they never step on spiritual path. They paint their faces so differently from ours. And if you listen closely, that war is never stops. That war is never stops. But on ends are spanked without a love or faithful friend.

29:01All the things they have to react to destiny and sound of the same old pun song. Let rest our regionality for sake of passing it around. Illumination. In position number we're self my friend. You are the only like there is. My friend.

29:49Obino saviors. Coming down and anywhere from the ground by the river. You are my friend and we all see our destiny in sound of the same old pun song.

30:39Let rest our regionality for sake of passing it around. In position number one you are the only.