Photo credit: Mick Rock
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
We’ve gone through every touring vehicle possible. Cars, vans, trains, planes, charter planes, most commonly classic nightliner buses. Their cumulative mileage is perhaps somewhere around 1OO times round the globe.
A gear trailer breaking off with all of the instruments scattered across the highway I believe is pretty common. But one time in Canada in the winter, we all had to jump out of our tour bus while it was slowly sliding backwards off a hill. Then we all had to push it shoulder to shoulder to stop it from flying down that hill. It was terrifying for a second. That’s when having a band with so many people definitely helps.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
I go for super foods chiefly. That’s perhaps the most important thing on tour, is the quality of fuel you put into your body. So the Hütz Superfood Roadside Cafe awaits me anywhere, because I bring most of it with me. A handful of superfoods are gonna get you through the day better than three sit down lumpy food coma meals for sure.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I used to break so many strings that I would bundle them up into kind of avant garde sculptures. They were my sculptures of extra “prana,” the life-force in Yogi language as you may know.
Where do you rehearse?
Of course, best case scenario is having your own space that’s furnished to your vibes. But living in NY these days, that’s not really an option. Plus, what rehearsals? Gogol Bordello at this point whips everything together while on tour. We utilize soundchecks for creating new material. I think the limitation of soundcheck time keeps the focus and sense of urgency in music which is crucial.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
The first song I wrote was something about rebelling against the coming of spring. Don’t ask me why…I was about 14… there’s a timeless message for you.
Describe your first gig.
The first shows I ever played were in Kyiv Ukraine, with my band “Uksusnick,” when it was still Soviet Union and the bureaucracy was so idiotic, that even though they “allowed” us to have a “youth concert,” the director denied it because there was “no stage to have concert on” in that space. So we pulled some strings and built a little stage for them with plywood and hammers and nails?for this space and then played on it. There were about 20 metal head kids there who we exposed to punk rock to for the very first time. It got mixed reviews.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
My favorite day or night task was always writing music, lyrics and performing, which has become my profession. The myriad of short term day jobs I went through like construction, wineries, farms, carpentry, bakeries and restaurants are kind of irrelevant to me. Essentially writing and performing became my profession by the time I was 25 or 26, and it stayed like that. I guess one of the jobs that kind of stands out is when I worked in soup kitchen in Vermont with my bandmate Dana Shepard, who was a vegan straight edge punk rocker running the place. They let our punk band rehearse at the warehouse at night. It was our little fortress.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
Our income chiefly comes from touring. Even though I wouldn’t mind being on American radio, I had to accept that we probably will not be on there too much, because our music has a very pronounced European sensibility. Even British hit monsters like Slade couldn’t crack American Radio. Knowing this, I made the emphasis on writing songs that don’t beat around the bush, and get the catharsis going fast. It’s kind of who I am too. I walk fast and I talk fast too. So when we roll in to gigs and festivals, we can get people onto our train quickly. Being extremely hook driven, even without any real radio support, we made lots of friends world wide who stick with us and enjoy our music. So, touring may fluctuate a bit from year to year, but it’s pretty much how we like it.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
That most of it is actually not about music.