celtic rock music

Hi Daniel, Hi Celtic-Rock Fans :)

it's an honour for us that we can play this game with you. Hope that you'll enjoy it, too, and some of you will be happy with our CDs, T-shirts and bottle openers for a firkin' great bottle of beer ;) We are open for any kind of questions, comments, wishes and of course critics, too.

Well, it was about 3 years ago when PJ – our crazy flutist on his stork leg – and David (manager) saw Flogging Molly live and were amazed and inspired by them and realized that there's a need for such music in Hungary, because there weren't too many bands t/here that time in this genre. The guys were very determined to create a band like Firkin. So they did it fast and, fortunately, there was a rapid boom in our fan base in the very beginnings. Unbelievably big boom!

The members: PJ is a highly qualified musician, he had been playing Irish music and classical music over the last 9 centuries :) Some of us like Ese – our stubborn metronome on the drums – had kept the pace in heavy metal, jazz bands and tasted a lot of genre. Our bass guitarist, Peti, is also an omnivorous man from fields of jazz, metal, rock, etc. It was a concept that we didn't want to get only professional musicians, but some really cool, keen, enthusiastic, young people in the band, that's how we found Atti – the solo guitarist with angel face and devil fingers – and Sushi – our ex-violinist. Even we don't really remember how people came, and singers just happen :) Barni and Pali, with voice of a growling bear and voice of an unrestrained theatre director had been trained on English literature, that's how the lyrics to our own songs appear on a white page. Pali has even lived in Ireland, acquired some drinking and singing knowledge from the Irish. Barni did the same in Transylvania – maybe that's the reason for the bear voice. By the way, the name 'Firkin' jumped out of his head and we said: Firkin' good!

At last but not least, there came Lili on the horizon with classical music in her fingers at the very beginning of this year. She had to learn and act out about 30 songs within a month to substitute Sushi flowlessly and pull Firkin back in its 7-membered crazy jumpin' formation. After a month in a band with 6 wild guys in a small tour bus, watching the worst movies ever, playing for hours in a tiny probation room, not to mention that she had never travelled by airpane before, Lili was ready to play a 5-stage Canadian tour in March. She was (and still is) undoubtedly amazing.

Hi Gréti,

thank you for your kind words, we are glad to read your lines and really appreciate it. :)

We thought of shooting a clip, there are some songs that really trigger our/one's imagination e.g. Drunken Sailor, Lord Of The Dance, Beer Almighty, Beggarman – something firkin' energetic. As you may know, our summer is full of concerts, that's why we don't have too much time for the clip. But I can promise that we'll do a crazy one that you can enjoy. But before spending a whole amount of money on that, we'd like to buy an own tour bus to deliver our music to as many places as we can, and thus you can enjoy Firkin live. 

I've asked the guys about their favourite song, and let me tell you that there's no harmony among their choices. Lili, to start with our girl, loves Over here, Atti and PJ votes for Whup Jamboree – maybe because of their solo part :) Maybe that's the reason behind Pali's choice – Lord Of The Dance – where he can express his flutist talent.

Needless to say that Barni is a naught fan of ladies and mountains that he can climb. That's why his favourite song is Mounting Her or as its initial name was: Mwelrea. Mwelrea is a mountain in Scotland and Barni got captivated by her and by her mudflow in the heavy rain fall. That very event inspired him to write a song about a mountain, who may be a girl who shall be conquested. :)

Ese is also a big fan of fairy ladies and silky drinks, so he chose Eileen Og, the girl who went far away. Disappointment in love means a good occasion to drink :)

I would say Peti's masterpiece – Sailing Away – is the best. The guitar part with its massive sound in the beginnig always makes me jump and when the soft rap of Barni begins, I try to jump higher and higher.

And what's your favourite?

Daniel, it was such a great time there @ Castellans Folksommer in 2010. We made really good friends with many nice people, and if everything goes well, we could return to Hörstel next year :) Let's hope for the best!

To answer your fashion-question: our dresses try to show what we are, where we are from and what we really like to be and like to show: crazy-merry people with young souls and cheerful music; and this is related to the imagination/idea what we think about 'punk' merged with folk: we have some traditional or as you said 'conservative' clothes, such as Ese's (drummer) kilt, or Pali's (singer-acoustic guitar) suspenders to his trousers and Peti's (bass) Irish hat, but we would like to refresh the time-honoured Irish dresses by using clothing elements like Atti's (solo guitar) black&red, studded leather belt or a lovely girlish death's-headed skirt to our violinist, Lili. That 'message' – or more lucky to say that this mixture – can be followed in our music, too: we pick some traditional songs and add some speed and our true Hungarian spirit. That's what we call 'firkinizing'. Of course, we compose our own songs as well.

The Hungarian way of life and way of dressing can be seen – mainly – on Barni (lead singer) and PJ (flutist). Both of them were born in Transylvania and they truly bring the country's features inside and on themselves. Barni usually wears a non-Irish hat and a white, cigar-scorched undershirt – only a pipe missing from the Transylvanian idyll. :) To show the Irish part of his heart, he behaves on stage like an Irish boxer in the ring and sings the Firkin-songs with perfectly well-trained accent like a mad and crazy drunken Irish lover. PJ is like the child of Count Dracula and a grasshopper-stork – if such could ever exist. :) He wears very elegant stuffs e.g. decorated vests in an quite informal way, although it's impossible to stay flowlessly well-dressed during a 90-minute jumpin' show.

Simply to say: our mixed dressing is part of the show, of course, and the guys get sweaty for the end of the party, which can be considered as a sign or symbol of 'punk' ;) The best – or worst – marketing course would be to step on stage naked – who knows? Anyway, they wear this and that, jump up and down, it seems they are firkin' crazy, but they really love to entertain the audience with their focused presence and songs of high standard.

Hi Daniel and Gréti,

I'll try to answer your questions in the order of your asking. Of course, we have lots of hobbies and they are almost as distinct as our 'favourite songs' :) We don't have too much free time, especially not in this period of the year, because we're full with concerts. But now we've decided to take out 5 days (Monday-Friday) when we just relax. Some of us go on holiday for a tiny bit, so your question has a perfect timing.

Pali (singer, ac. guitar) is a talented theatre director – and sometimes an actor at the same time-, and that's his main job and hobby, as well. For him, Firkin is a relieving job and hobby, too, and he can express his feelings on stage. (Talking about jobs and hobbies means, that we take both of them seriously to get and stay professional.) I've been to Pali's theatre pieces, and they were not pieces of … :) I recommend them to all of you. As far as I know, he's been to Ireland a couple of times, and also lived there for a while.

I'm sure, Barni (lead singer) has also been to Ireland, Scotland, Wales but only on the occasion of a holiday. In his full-time job, Barni edits texts to TV2, no wonder that he likes to write poems, lyrics and everything, which is related to letters, words, poetical vein and blood. ;)

Atti (solo guitar) is a totally different person from the two guys above. He is a very materialistic, precise and accurate engineer apprentice: in his free-time he puts pieces of amplifiers together and plays his guitar a lot. When he goes on holiday, he spends his time mostly at Lake Balaton – many of us do the same. It's pretty close, beautiful, there's a lot to see, and not too expensive. But behind an engineer look, there's a tender heart: he fosters kitties :)

To get deeper, our bass guitarist, Peti is a professional musician, according to his job. To tell you the truth, just like every musician, he is also a big kid: he plays with his football/soccer manager and strategy PC games, but also reads a lot. He's one of the two Firkin-guys, who can sleep easily in the tour bus.

Ese (drummer) is the other one: 'hand in hand' with Peti, they read a lot and sleep a lot :) He is the only father in our band, no wonder that his hobby can't be else than spending time with his beautiful daughter, named Lili. They – and of course with Ese's wife – usually make an excursion in the scenic hills where they live (50-60 km from Budapest).

If Ese has a Lili, than we must have another Lili (violinist) to compensate his joy and pleasure with a sorf of retinal petting. Our Lili is a real party-face – what else could a 20-year-old university student girl be?! – she loves spending her time with her friends, doesn't matter if it's a huge party in a nightclub or a small house party. I'm sure she has never been to a Celtic country, because when we flew to Canada, that was her first flight. We should have taken some photos of her frightened face.

Not only Lili can enjoy the parties: there are some really good house-parties at PJ's (flutist). Firkin is getting 3 years old in August: a great grill party is to come with Hungarian red wine :) PJ is not only the flutist, but also a producer of Firkin, that's his full-time job. When he tries to relax, he goes outside and does the gardening or takes a stroll with his wife and his dog in the hills of Buda, where he lives. Now, he's spending the firkin' short holiday in Croatia.

Gréti, I hope you enjoyed the video that I embedded here above :) I don't know why Barni said that about the Fields Of Athenry. Never say never! :) We're all glad to hear that you liked the new version of that song, and maybe it was only a sarcasm of Barni – after refreshing a song – that we won't play it anymore :) I hope we'll have the chance to play at a place where you can come to and listen to us live.

Unfortunately, I can't see it either. It was Blood For Blood, that I tried to embed after the paragraph about Barni. I try to do it again :) Hope for the best :)

Oops, there's a question left. :) There's no such thing that we wouldn't be listening to.

Barni is a big fan of The Beatles, Frank Zappa and even Johann Sabastian Bach. It seems strange, but the roots of our music are in classical music, too. PJ – for instance – can relax when classical music is on, especially Mozart and Bach. Of course, as a musical producer, he listens to a great many bands of contemporary music, too.

Ese is the synonym of rock'n'roll, no wonder that he listens to bands of the heroic age of rock music. He knows hundreds of songs by heart. Just like Peti; there's no such song in the field of rock, jazz or metal that he has never played before with his bass guitar. His favourites are Toto, Victor Wooten, Dio and Rush. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't reach Pali to ask him about his favourites, but I can tell you he is just like Ese and Peti, but in a quite different way: he knows lyrics of the most weird cartoons, sings musicals and croons classical music. He has a mixed taste. Just opposite to Atti, his style dates back to Gary Moore and Whitesnake. He is always trying to play Steve Vai's solos as precisely and fast as he can. I believe, one day he's gonna be the next 'Steve Vai'.

I thought she was just lying or kidding me, when I asked Lili about her favourite bands. She told me that before she became a member of Firkin, her favourite one was our band. She knew many of our songs by heart. Usually, she listens to bands that play a so-called pump-jump music e.g. our friends, Ocho Macho.

And let me tell you a very strange story that is 100% true: once, about half a year before Lili became a member of Firkin, she dreamt that she would be a member of Firkin one day. That's what I call witchcraft, indeed! :)