ROMANI JAG / EUGENE HUTZ 





http://www.romaniyag.uz.ua/en/?what=paper&number=73&article=muzzikk

In May, 2005 a group of young American and Czech filmmakers visited the offices of Romani Yag. Their goal was to make a documentary about the famous New York singer and musician Eugene Hutz - leader of the rock ensemble Gogol Bordello and founder of the new musical style "Gypsy rock." Eugene Hutz's recent visit to Ukraine peaked our interest as well, especially because this eccentric and talented Roma musician is a former countryman.
Brief interview with Eugene Hutz:

Eugene, how did you find out about our newspaper?

A member of Gogol Bordello, Pieroshka Ratz, brought me a copy of Romani Yag and said "Look, Ukrainian Roma have their own newspaper!" I was so intrigued and interested in this that I wanted to visit the Romani Yag offices and see for myself. I almost cannot believe that I am here.

The singer Erika Lakatosz gave me another edition of your newspaper during her singing tour in the United States. I read both editions from front to back. I used to live in Ukraine - I was born here and lived in Kyiv for 13 years. After the Chernobyl catastrophe, I left Kyiv with my parents. We left Ukraine when I was 18. We traveled through Poland, Austria, Italy, living in refugee hotels. In 1999 I arrived in New York.

Zhenia, what is your connection to Roma?

After the war, our family split up and moved all over the world. I have come to Ukraine to search for my roots and for members of my family that might still be here. My roots are Ukrainian, Russian, and Roma…

Tell us something about your ensemble, Gogol Bordello.

In 2002 I joined up with well known Roma musicians in the U.S. and formed a group that fused Ukrainian and Roma music together with American rock. The symbiosis was interesting and the response from our audiences was very positive. We perform all over Europe and America. Members of Gogol Bordello include accordionist Juri Lemeshev, violinist Sergey Rjabtzev, and singer/dancer Pieroshka Ratz. And I am a guitarist - singer.

Are you happy?

Yes, I am very happy because I do what I love. Ever since I was a little boy, I dreamed of becoming a musician. My father had a great command of avant-garde music, music that allows an individual to express true emotion and independence. This was not so easy to do in the Soviet Union. In my last school report before I left Ukraine, my teachers felt it important enough to notate that I was "Raised in an anti-Soviet environment - in a family that cultivated rock music."
Before I became a musician, I worked in the modeling industry, participated in a Hollywood movie. I was a member of many music ensembles before I founded Gogol Bordello.

Tell us about the movie you were in.

The film was about an American Jewish boy named Jonathan who searches for the woman who saved his father's life during World War II. In the film, I was Jonathan's translator.

Why did you come to us and how long is your visit to Ukraine?

I came with my friends to familiarize myself with contemporary Roma music in Ukraine and to establish a two-way communication with Ukrainian Roma. I have been drawing inspiration from them for a long time and I wanted to share my own music with them… to somehow give back to Ukrainian Roma musicians. It has been interesting to see people's reactions to my music. In some of the Roma settlements, I handed out compact discs of my music to young kids. I gave them copies of my latest Gypsy hip-hop recording that I worked on especially for this trip. I hope my music will encourage the younger Roma generation to think independently and to be true to their roots.
My trip to Ukraine is being documented on film by video and audio professionals. We visited the Roma settlements in Mukachevo and Svaliava in Transcarpathia and recorded local Roma ensembles and artists. In Kyiv we will meet Ihor Krykunov and then I will accompany Nikolai Slichenko and Yuri Kolpakov on their performance tour to Siberia. We have big plans and we are afraid that we will not be able to accomplish everything we have set out to do. Our stay in Ukraine is very short but this is just the beginning... 

Posted: Wed - August 24, 2005 at 07:58 PM          

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