Go ahead, try to classify Kultur Shock's music. Balkan punk? Gypsy folk metal? Staccato world thrash? However it's defined, the Seattle-based band of immigrants has carved more than just a small world music niche. No less an authority than Jello Biafra said that Kultur Shock's music was "where punk should go" at a recent Seattle appearance.
On the heels of "We've Come to Take Your Jobs," Kultur Shock's fourth CD, and just prior to the group's upcoming European tour, the band makes an increasingly rare Seattle appearance at Neumo's on Friday, March 23.
That Kultur Shock is a musical melting pot is in no small measure due to the cosmopolitan nature of its members. Founder and singer Srdjan Yevdjevic, aka Gino, hails from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegivina, and came to Seattle not long before the Balkan war ended in 1995. Guitarists Mario Butkovic and Val Kiossovski are from Croatia and Bulgaria, respectively, while bassist Masa Kobayashi spent his first 20 years in Japan. Drummer Chris Strongquist and violinist Matty Noble are, remarkably for this band, from the United States. In pre-war days Gino was one of Sarajevo's most successful pop stars, with three albums to his credit and a fourth ready for release when the Balkan war started in April 1992. (His label's office, complete with the master tapes, were destroyed during the first week of shelling.) During the war he teamed up with guitarist Amir Beso to stage an updated, Bosnian version of "Hair." The production, often performed without electricity when the war was at its worst, garnered international attention. Noted admirers included Joan Baez, Susan Sontag and film director Phil Robinson.
On the heels of such attention, Gino and Beso wrote "Behind God's Back," a first-person musical and theater piece. As fate would have it, the production was staged to considerable acclaim at Seattle's old Group Theater.
Surprisingly, perhaps due to the law of unintended consequences, the musicians stayed in Seattle. Not long after its run, an early version of Kultur Shock started performing locally. More acoustically based at first, the group for a time had a regular gig at Serifina, played several times at the Speakeasy and had a featured slot at the 1996 Folklife festival.
By 1997, band turmoil led to a hiatus that could have signaled the end of Kultur Shock. But Gino pressed on, adding a variety musicians from seemingly all corners of the globe. The "Live in Amerika" CD, recorded at the Crocodile Café, was released in 1999 and produced by then-bassist Brad Houser, he of New Bohemians and Critters Buggin' fame. The ball was clearly rolling. Three studio CDs have followed, as have numerous national and international tours. Kultur Shock has won Seattle Weekly readers polls for best world music band in 2003 and 2005.
In recent years, Kultur Shock has performed more in Europe than in the United States. Last year, in Skopje, Macedonia, Kultur Shock hit the stage after Iggy Pop. The tour also included a triumphant performance in Sarajevo, Gino's first performance in his hometown in nearly 15 years.
"It was nice to ride into town on a white horse," he said. "Sarajevo's not known for supporting their own. Having that performance was a validating experience, I must admit."
In mid-April, the band heads back to Europe for a few months for dates in Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, France and, for the first time, London.
Gino said the key to the group's evident chemistry comes down to experience and respect.
"We're foreigners here, so we naturally respect each other's culture," he said. "We've become each other's family. We didn't grow up together so we don't have a shared, youthful history. No one has messed around with anybody's girlfriend."
Another key: humor. Kultur Shock is a band not afraid to have fun. If a rockified Macedonian folk song in a decidedly non-western time signature cuts into "Wild Thing" or a few bars of "Smoke on the Water" it's pretty clear that a wink is involved. Listeners can expect a great deal of subtle and not-so-subtle irreverence.
"The moment we become serious about ourselves is the moment we change from who we are," he said. "We play music in weird time signatures, in seven different languages. You have to be a little crazy to play this and to listen to it. Our audiences have to be tolerant."
Saturday's Neumo's show features a rare performance with Zulum - Gino, Amir Beso and Nedim Hadjihamzic, the group's original Sarajevo bassist. Expect a set reminiscent of the "Balkan Cabaret" shows Kultur Shock was known for in 1996. The evening also serves as a CD release party for Scorpinox, Masa Kobayashi's side project. This way, Gino said, Kultur Shock is able to open for itself.
"We love what we do," Gino said. "But it definitely isn't rock and roll. I'm too old to be a rock musician. But I'm still young enough to play Balkan gypsy folk punk."
Kultur Shock, with Zulum and Scorpinox, performs on FRIDAY, MARCH 23, at Neumos, 925 E. Pike St. For more information, call 709-9467. More information is available at www.kulturshock.com.[[In-content Ad]]
