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Gogol Bordello

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Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello performing in 2025
Gogol Bordello performing in 2025
Background information
OriginNew York City, New York
Genres
Years active1999–present
Labels
Members
Past members
Websitegogolbordello.com

Gogol Bordello is an American punk rock band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 by musicians from all over the world and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring. Much of the band's sound is inspired by Romani and Ukrainian music mixed with punk and dub, incorporating accordion and violin (and on some albums, saxophone).[3]

The band has appeared in several popular films, most notably Everything Is Illuminated (2005) in which lead singer Eugene Hütz co-starred with Elijah Wood in a dramedy/adventure story about the Nazi purges in Ukraine. The group appears playing a brass band in a set that included the "Star-Spangled Banner" and the traditional Yiddish song "Bublitschki". Gogol Bordello contributed the song "Start Wearing Purple" to the film's score. The band is the focus of the 2008 documentary Gogol Bordello Non-Stop. The band recorded the song "Let's Get Crazy" for Coca-Cola's Euro 2012 advertising campaign.[4]

History and influences

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"Gogol" comes from Nikolai Gogol, a 19th-century writer of Ukrainian origin. He serves as an ideological influence for the band because he "smuggled" Ukrainian culture into Russian society, which Gogol Bordello intends to do with Romani/East-European music in the English-speaking world.[5] "Bordello", in Italian, refers to a brothel or a "gentleman's club". The band was originally titled Hütz and the Béla Bartóks, but Eugene Hütz says that they decided to change the name because "nobody knows who the hell Béla Bartók is in the United States."[5] The band played their first show as the unofficial band at an after-hours club called Pizdetz where they became the house band and DJ Hütz became the house DJ.[5]

Gogol Bordello's first single was released in 1999, and since then they have released six full-length albums, and one EP. In 2005 the band signed to punk label SideOneDummy Records. On 27 April 2010 Gogol Bordello made its major record label debut with Transcontinental Hustle on Rick Rubin's American Recordings, a subsidiary of Columbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment. Many of the songs on Transcontinental Hustle were inspired by Hütz's move to Brazil.[6]

The band has toured extensively throughout Europe and America. They have made numerous appearances at international festivals and have toured with such diverse bands as Primus, Flogging Molly, and Cake. In an interview with NPR, frontman Eugene Hütz cites Jimi Hendrix and Parliament-Funkadelic as among the band's main musical influences.[5] They have also mentioned Manu Chao, Fugazi, Zvuki Mu, Karamelo Santo, Sasha Kolpakov and The Clash as influences.

They performed live at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts festival 2011 for Bonnaroo's 10 year anniversary, playing a 1.5 hour set in the middle of the night and performed with Devotchka.

Gogol Bordello released "Let's Get Crazy" in 2012, the new song was part of Coca-Cola's advertising campaign for the European Football Championships, which were part-hosted by Ukraine. The track samples one of their earlier singles, "Wonderlust King", and the Coca-Cola advertising jingle.[7]

In 2012 former guitarist Oren Kaplan sued Hütz for personal damages.[8][9]

The 2010 song "Immigraniada" was remixed by Bassnectar.[citation needed]

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hütz released a video on social media condemning the Russian invasion, and has remained vocal about raising relief funds for the victims of the invasion.[10] Gogol Bordello announced a benefit concert shortly after which sold out quickly, followed by announcing a benefit tour. Bordello collaborated with Les Claypool of the band Primus on the song "Man with the Iron Balls", praising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's courage. The proceeds of the track are set to benefit Nova Ukraine, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian relief to the people of Ukraine.[11]

Film appearances

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  • 2004 – Kill Your Idols – Hütz was interviewed in this documentary about New York's "art punk" music scene.
  • 2005 – Everything Is Illuminated – In Liev Schreiber's directorial debut, which stars Elijah Wood, the role of Alexander Perchov was played by Eugene Hütz. It includes cameo appearances by other Gogol Bordello members in the train scene.
  • 2006 – The Pied Piper of Hützovina – Documentary by Pavla Fleischer about a road trip she and Eugene Hütz took to Ukraine to trace his roots.
  • 2006 – Wristcutters: A Love Story – "Eugene", played by American actor Shea Whigham, is partly based on Eugene Hütz, whose music ("Through the Roof and Underground", "Occurrence on the Border", and "Huliganjetta") is featured in the film as that recorded by the character's old band. Contrary to the belief that he has received no credit for this, the film credits show the copyrights for both Gogol Bordello songs, as well as giving thanks to Eugene multiple times throughout the credit roll.
  • 2008 – Filth and Wisdom – The entire band appeared in this independent film directed by Madonna.[12] Eugene Hütz is the protagonist. Madonna also allowed Eugene to add his own dialogue into the script.
  • 2008 – Gogol Bordello Non-Stop – The development of the band was documented in this film directed by Margarita Jimeno. It follows the band's rise from underground legends to international fame from 2001 to 2007.
  • 2009 – Larger Than Life in 3D – Live High-def digital concert footage shot in stereoscopic 3-D at the Austin City Limits festival in October 2009.[13][14]
  • 2009 – Live From Axis Mundi: Professionally recorded live concert footage shot in New York.
  • 2011 – Grain: Short film, 'Against the Nature' appears on the credits.[15]
  • 2013 – 'Not a crime' Grimm Season 2 Episode 18 "Volcanalis". Adalind Shade arrives at Rom camp
  • 2017 – "American Wedding" Fargo Season 3 Episode 2 "The Principle of Restricted Choice" closing credits
  • 2017 – "Risky Bismuth" The Tick Season 1 Episode 10 "Trans Continental Hustle" closing credits
  • 2018 – “I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again” intro plays during monster wedding scene in Hotel Transylvania 3
  • 2023 – "Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story" is a documentary about Gogol Bordello.
  • 2024 – Multiple Gogol Bordello songs, including "Start Wearing Purple" and "American Wedding", appear in the score of the first season of the DC Comics animated series Creature Commandos.[16] The band also appeared as a cameo during the episode The Tourmaline Necklace, in a flashback sequence, while playing "American Wedding".

Members

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Details

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Members of Gogol Bordello come from many places around the world. [17]

Name Instrument Country Tenure Current? Image
Eugene Hütz lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion Ukraine 1999–present yes
Eugene Hütz live in 2025
Sergey Ryabtsev violin, backing vocals Russia 2000–present yes
Sergey Ryabtsev in 2025
Pedro Erazo percussion, MC Ecuador 2007–present yes
Pedro Erazo in 2025
Korey Kingston Drums, percussion 2020–present yes
in 2025
Gil Alexandre Bass, backing vocals Brazil 2021–present yes
in 2025
Erica Mancini Accordion, backing vocals 2023–present yes
in 2025
Pamela Jintana Racine percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance United States 1999–2017
Eliot Ferguson drums, backing vocals United States 1999–2009
Sasha Kazatchkoff accordion 1999
Vlad Solovar guitar 1999
Oren Kaplan guitar, backing vocals Israel 2000–2012
Yuri Lemeshev accordion, backing vocals Russia 2001–2013
Yuri Lemeshev in 2012
Ori Kaplan saxophone, backing vocals Israel no relation to Oren Kaplan, co-leads Balkan Beat Box with Tamir Muskat
in 2007
Katheryn McGaffigan percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance United States 2001, 2002, 2005
Susan Donaldson percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance 2002–2003
Andra Ursuța percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance Romania 2003–2006
Chris Tattersall drums, backing vocals United Kingdom 2004
Elizabeth Sun percussion, backing vocals, dance, general performance China and Scotland 2004–2016
Rea Mochiach bass, percussion, electronics and beat programming in the studio, backing vocals Israel 2005
Karl Alvarez bass United States 2006
in 2014
Oliver Charles drums United States 2009–2016
Michael Ward guitar United States 2011–15
Pasha Newmer accordion; backing vocals Belarus 2013–2018
Pasha Newmer in concert in 2014
James Ward accordion Scotland ????
Kristian Mangieri harmonica, general performance ????-????
Thomas ‘Tommy T’ Gobena Bass, backing vocals 2006–2021
Alfredo Ortiz Drums 2016–2020
Vanessa Walters percussion, backing vocals, general performance 2016–2018
Ashley Tobias "TOBI" backing vocals, dance, percussion, general performance United States 2017–2024
Boris Pelekh guitar, backing vocals Russia 2015–2024
Boris Pelekh in 2016

Timeline

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Discography

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Albums

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EPs

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Compilations

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  • Punk Rock Strike Vol. 4 (2003)
  • 2005 Warped Tour Compilation (2005)
  • 2006 Warped Tour Compilation (2006)
  • Gypsy Beats and Balkan Bangers (2006)
  • The Rough Guide to Planet Rock (2006)
  • 2007 Warped Tour Compilation (2007)

References

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  1. ^ Ffrench, Andrew. "Looking back: gypsy punks Gogol Bordello stunned Cropredy Festival with an energetic set". Retrieved December 14, 2020 – via Oxford Mail.
  2. ^ Peters, Xander. "Gypsy punk veterans Gogol Bordello bring their cultural mishmash to the Beacham". Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2020 – via Orlando Weekly.
  3. ^ Boden, Sarah (2008-06-14). "Meet Gogol Bordello, the gypsy-punk oddballs bringing the sexy back". the Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  4. ^ "Gogol Bordello liefern "Coca-Cola-Hymne" zur EM". Relevant.at. Archived from the original on 2012-11-28. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  5. ^ a b c d "Gogol Bordello: Music from 'Gypsy Punks'". In Performance. 2006-04-29.
  6. ^ Ponce, Gina (August 2010). "Gogol Bordello: nthWORD Exclusive". nthWORD Magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-09-18.
  7. ^ "Gogol Bordello: "Let's geht Crazy" mit der Hymne der Euro 2012". Heute.at. 2012-05-22. Archived from the original on 2012-09-03. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  8. ^ Reilly, Dan (2013-08-01). "Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz Sued for Allegedly Stealing $500,000 From Band". Spin. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  9. ^ Michaels, Sean (2013-08-01). "Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hutz sued over alleged hole in band accounts". the Guardian. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  10. ^ Reilly, Dan (2013-08-01). "Gogol Bordell on facebook Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  11. ^ Mier, Tomás (2022-04-20). "'Man With the Iron Balls:' Les Claypool, Eugene Hütz, Stewart Copeland, and Friends Sing an Ode to Zelensky and His Testicles". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  12. ^ "Filth and Wisdom (2008)" at IMDb, retrieved 2007 August 7
  13. ^ "Larger Than Life in 3D" at IMDb, retrieved 2010 January 7
  14. ^ "Tampa Bay, Florida news". Blogs.tampabay.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2009. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  15. ^ "Grain: A short film by Carl Denham". YouTube. 2011-06-16. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  16. ^ Zalben, Alex (2024-12-05). "Every Song In 'Creature Commandos' (So Far)". Comic Book Club. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
  17. ^ Cooper, Ryan (2007). "An Interview with Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello". About.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
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