Peter Novak came to rock music with a background in folk music and folk dance, one of his favorite bands is Vízöntő, and he also loves Illés' songs inspired by folk music. In addition to all this, the work of the bands LGT, KFT and Budapest Underground had a great influence on the career of the former Kimnowak band leader.
A friend of my friend is my friend, as the saying goes. But is it the same with music? Do we love our favorites? Or do we want to know them? All this can be seen through our series in which we ask the most important and famous representatives of Hungarian popular culture about the musical experiences, performers, recordings, songs, concerts and festivals that defined and influenced their lives and careers. them in some way.
This week, Peter Novak, songwriter, actor, director, singer and former frontman for the band Kemnawak, answers our questions.
Social messages
“During my research, three bands of different genres had a decisive influence on me. The first can also be considered the inventor of world music AquariusThat is, because it is known that I come from the direction of folk music and folk dance, and they served as mediators for the transition between folk music and light music for me. I can also say that they were a bridge between the folk music roots I was born into and my favorite rock and roll.” LgtAs estimated
To this day, I admire all their eras, and it was a great honor to be the director of the last two concerts… That four completely different talents create such an amazing unity is not a rare thing in the history of music, but that the chemistry and cohesion remains even after the members change, and develops, It is a rare blessed condition. All their records are successful, they managed to give an accurate picture of Hungary in the 70s and 80s, while their work was also completely understood globally, and it is no coincidence that they were on the verge of international success several times.
“Since my youth came in the 1980s, the period just before the regime change, the boom period of college clubs and the heyday of the Budapest underground, European publishing house I can't ignore the bands that defined my musical career either – continues Peter Novak. – When I went to a Jenőés Menyhárt concert for the first time, it affected me very strongly, because they realized everything I thought about new art, new wave, punk and the formulation of social messages in songs.
This may seem good in retrospect, but I have to recognize the feeling that was destroying me and everyone else – even then. It should be noted that in this dazzling era, music was also played by many lineups that have now become cult – e.g UrgA Control group or Lake Balaton – Which I really liked as well, and we got a lot of energy in this underground environment.
Favorites of favorites
Peter Novak also picked out his favorite records from his favorite bands. From Aquarius A Gitania ExpressFavorites, fueled by the musical roots of the Hungarian and Carpathian Gypsies, features many beautiful arrangements. It shows the inevitable imprint of the largest minority living in our country on the traditions of folk music of the Carpathian Basin. In LGT a Luxy It became the end.
I was only 10 years old when this song came out and my jaw dropped when I first heard it. I was impressed not only by the songs, but also by the sense of proportion with which the recording was edited. It became clear that popular music also had the ability to tell a larger, interconnected story, where each song could stand on its own. Everyone has hands, feet and a head – as Uncle Bessie says
– The musician, also known as the director, who has long wanted to put Presser's masterpiece on stage in some form, explained his decision.
“From the European Publishing House A Pop musicBecause its appearance in 1987 can be considered a huge breakthrough. After many copies of concert recordings of terrible quality, this was the first underground recording officially released, without compromise. To me it was like a revolutionary symbol,
I even mounted its cover to the wall at home.
You can hear on the tracks that were born from working for several years in a very creative creative workshop, and the opening song, Pop musicI memorized its words when I first heard them, even though they were neither short nor simple,” the singer summarizes.
KFT and company
Although he is the “inventor” of light music in the Hungarian language Elijah The band was primarily a favorite of his parents' generation, and the songs of the Szörényi-Bródy composing duo meant a lot to Peter Novak as well. When he heard that When I was a little kid Introduction to the mandolin, he felt in his gut that he already knew this music from his past in folk music and folk dancing. By placing ancient Balkan melody in a modern setting, he felt and understood how different generations and styles intertwine over time, even over hundreds of years.
It brought a different kind of recognition Ltd You are a doll When he saw it performed by musicians with painted faces and gestural movements at the 1981 Dance and Pop Song Festival.
Through this song, KFT showed that the formal language of theater can also appear on musical theatre. Together with members of my student band, Cég, we immediately became fans of KFT, and often went to the KFT club in the Lágymány Community Hall, where they organized avant-garde, folk art and dramatic concerts. Since they liked the fact that we were playing music at such a young age, they let us play in their practice room, loaned us their instruments, and one day we were even their backing band.
-We learned from Peter Novak.
“URH.” Deliver me from evil! His song is also associated with the heyday of the Hungarian underground, but more so with the person of Peter Siamy Müller, whose work as a lyricist was just as crucial as it is to this day, as the musician continues. – This song contains nihilism and destruction, resurrection and rethinking, and the volatile state of mind in which the 80s floated… It also expresses the feeling of well-being in the era before the regime change, but in reality it explains the eternal question of existence and non-existence. I feel that this song is a narrative The shocker was a huge hit, because everyone could find their own drama in it. What else should songs do?
Possibility of an island
Peter Novak's first musical experience was at LGT in 1978 To feed He held a party when he was eight years old, accompanied by his sister and her friends. He'll never forget how simple the music, the crowd, and the rain that fell just then made everyone drenched to the skin in seconds. In addition, as a testament to his fanbase, the rainfall also melted the temperature from a piece of paper with the inscription LGT on it,
He painted his face and all exposed skin blue.
He was also a little boy who, thanks to his father, was able to go to the concert organized at the National Sports Hall in Ellis in 1981. Although he did not know the band at all before, he went crazy at the concert. In one clip of Gabor Koltai's concert film, he can be seen wrapping it around someone's neck, at the same time showing the effect this music can have on a person who hears the songs for the first time. “I recently watched the film again, and even now you can feel that the Leventis pushed it with amazing force, as if only the Rolling Stones were playing,” he adds.
Third party A Kemnawak He had a show in 1994, the second on what was called Student Island at the time Island Festival.
“It is a special experience for me, because the island has always been an imprint of the outside world, so at that time it reflected the atmosphere of the period when we still believed that freedom could mean something to us. There, on my level, everything happened in a way that did not There is a boundary between the performer and his audience, that is, we went up on stage, played our tunes, then returned to the players and went to another band's concert together. We spoke the same language. The place somehow brought us together. Unfortunately, today the festival has become an arena in the air Absolutely, but this is not the fault of the organizers, but rather a sad reflection of our attitude towards consumer society and our needs,” concludes the musician.
