Ivan & The Parazol
Budapest, Budapest, Hungary | Established. Jan 01, 2010 | INDIE
Music
Press
"As long as there are garages, literal and metaphorical, there will be bands like Ivan & the Parazol. The Budapest quintet bashes out four-chord melodic rock & roll based more on Sixties values than sonics … First LP Mama Don’t You Recognize Ivan & the Parazol smokes.” - Michael Toland
“I had one of those mind-blowing SXSW surprises, courtesy of a quintet from Budapest, Hungary called Ivan & the Parazol. Powered by spectacularly wheezing Vox/Farfisa organ, rollicking R&B-inflected rhythms, vocalist Iván Vitáris channeled the young Mick Jagger by way of the Fleshtones’ Peter Zaremba for a timeless blast of mid-’60s garagerock joy.” - Jim DeRogatis
"De avond wordt geopend door de Hongaarse band Ivan & The Parazol. De vijf heren uit Boedapest weten erin te slagen het binnendruppelende publiek te boeien. De band speelt opzwepende garagerock met vleugjes sixties pop. Naarmate de set vordert probeert frontman Iván Vitáris met wat grapjes het publiek naar voren te halen. Dit lukt, en de toeschouwers in Vera genieten zichtbaar. Kortom, Ivan & The Parazol is een meer dan uitstekende opener voor Birth of Joy."
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English:
"The evening was opened by the Hungarian band Ivan & The Parazol. The five gentlemen from Budapest had to succeed and fascinate the trickling public. The band played rousing garage rock with hints of sixties pop. As the set progressed frontman Ivan Vitaris told some jokes to move the audience forward. Successfully, the spectators visibly enjoyed Vera. In short, Ivan & The Parazol is a more than excellent opener for Birth of Joy." - Daan Hofstee
For the second year in a row, Ivan & The Parazol is a featured band at South by Southwest. genConnect caught up with Ivan and the Parazol at SXSW 2014 to talk about their music influences, how they are an international band, their experience at SXSW, and how they are breaking the mold as a Hungarian rock band. Watch our interview with them and listen to why they are such a global hit. - genConnect
"That's not the right expression that there was a party on the A38 ship. The crowd was constantly clapping even those standing at the back of the room, the girls were screaming and the only thing we were thinking about was to which guy to throw our boxer shorts, the drummer or the guitarist."
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Hungarian:
"Az nem kifejezés, hogy buli volt a hajón. Egészen leghátul is folyamatosan tapsoltak az emberek, a csajok sikítottak, mi pedig a saját társaságunkkal azon tanakodtunk, hogy a gitárosnak vagy a dobosnak dobjuk-e fel a boxeralsónkat." - David Sajo
"Absolutely that's the answer. Have a goal in your life! Make your life meaningful! Rock music is on the one hand about being lost, but on the other it's about finding something. You can find something calming, that there is a meaning and there is a goal of your life."
Hungarian:
"Abszolút ez az üzenet. Legyen célotok! Legyen értelme az életeteknek! A rockzene szól egyrészt elveszettségről, de a megtalálásról is. A rockzenében megtalálsz valamit, amit megnyugtat, abban, hogy van értelme és célja a világnak." - Endre Domotor - Recorder.hu
"If you missed this one it's highly recommended to follow the band's news on concerts, because it's worth to catch the feeling how early Rolling Stones concerts surely were in the '60s when they played smaller venues."
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Hungarian:
"Aki most lemaradt, nagyon figyelje a zenekar hamarosan megjelenő új koncerthíreit, mert érdemes elkapni azt az érzést, hogy milyen lehetett egy The Rolling Stones-koncert, amikor a ’60-as évek elején még kisebb klubokban léptek fel." - Laszlo Reszegi - Recorder.hu
"Ivan & the Parazol – the Hungarian band behind this year's Sziget Festival theme song – take inspiration from '60s and '70s rock 'n' roll and meld it with the indie sounds of today. The result is very much their own sound – something much more than a simple nod to the past. In its own right, the music of Ivan & the Parazol is full of character and definitely worthy of attention. The best indication of this band's success (aside from playing on the main stage at this year's Sziget) is that they've played America's biggest showcase festival, SXSW, two times now. We Love Budapest spoke to the band about their success so far, the zeitgeist of their generation, and how they feel about Budapest."
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"I'm really proud that we didn't copy someone else's style. We didn't practice and say: OK, here's '60s and '70s music from Deep Purple – "Machine Head", the Rolling Stones – "Exile On Main St.", and Led Zeppelin – "II"; listen to all that and that's what we'll be. No. We got together with our keyboardist, István Beke, and we wrote songs, and our own sound is what came out of that process.It's the same with the Sziget Festival anthem. We wrote our album (eds: "Mode Bizarre") and Sziget came to us and asked us to write a theme song. So we gave them our album and said: here, pick from these. They chose Together and we agreed. Thank God – and this is what I'm really proud of – we never had to get anyone's approval, we never wrote songs based on what was cool overseas or what the Sziget Festival wanted. It was always the people that chose our music – because they like our music." - We Love Budapest
"Last night’s concert in Budapest, Akvarium Club was full of energy and power. The guys made every single girl and boy rock ’n’ roll in the audience and it is no surprise. Hearing their best songs live is really a knock-out and not just for the music itself. Everything they do is very organic: from each and every sound, through the lyrics, the style, their clothing and the way they rock on the stage. Ivan’s voice is captivating in the atmosphere the band creates, which made me feel: oh my god, this guy is a little bit of Jim Morrison with a little bit of young Mick Jagger. Go Ivan & the Parazol, I will surely be there next time too. Will you?" - Reka Szentesi
"This young garage rock quintet traveled all the way from their native Hungary to rock Austin for SXSW. And rock they did!
They served up a high energy set despite being cramped on a small stage, with lead singer Ivan in a nearly constant state of motion. The band’s sound had a strong Rolling Stones vibe as it reverberated throughout the room and out into the street." - Mayer Danzig
"...your attitude has to be like we are the best band, we gonna achieve, what we want to achieve and if it's like this, it's gonna happen. If our attitude is like okay we made it to SXSW and something will happen, then exactly nothing will happen."
Hungarian:
"...úgy kell hozzáállni a dolgokhoz, hogy ti vagytok a legjobb zenekar, te fogod elérni, amit el akarsz érni, és akkor be is fog következni. Ha úgy állunk hozzá, hogy kimegyünk az SXSW-re, aztán majd lesz, ami lesz, akkor nem fog bekövetkezni semmi." - Bence Inkei
"It might sounds stupid, but we really try to open the gates to the West for the good Hungarian bands, who produce quality pop and rock music otherwise. We are not the first band who tries this, but we have an opportunity from the country, the fans, the booking agents and helpers and we believe that this is not only our success alone, so we want to share this. "
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Hungarian:
"Bár ez elég hülyén hangzik, de mi tényleg próbáljuk az egyébként nagyon erős és igényes magyar könnyűzenének megnyitni az utat nyugatra is. Nem vagyunk zászlóvivők, csak kaptunk egy lehetőséget ettől az országtól, a közönségünktől, a külföldi szervezőktől, ezért úgy érezzük, hogy ez nem csak mi sikerünk, osztozni szeretnénk rajta." - HVG
Discography
Yellow Flavour - EP - 11/2011
Take My Hand - SP - 02/2012 (national radio no1 hit)
Sellin' My Soul - EP - 03/2012
Mama don't you recognize Ivan & The Parazol? - LP - 03/2012
Mode Bizarre - LP - 03/2014
Modernial - SP - 03/2015
Photos
Bio
Hungarian rock ‘n’ roll group Ivan & The Parazol was formed in 2010 in Budapest after the members met at the same music school. Their 21st century rock ‘n roll blends the good old beat music with some fresh touch.
The EP ‘Yellow Flavour’ in 2011 and steady gigs in Budapest clubs and in other Hungarian cities earned them a devoted audience. Their debut LP ‘Mama Don’t You Recognize Ivan & The Parazol?’ was released in 2012. The album was praised by the Hungarian press and the result was not left out. Ivan & The Parazol made to Austin, Texas to play at the SXSW showcase. The good performance resulted them a spot at the New York CBGB festival and the group also achieved the attention from music industry professionals so later on their song ’Take my hand’ was chosen to be the promo song of SXSW 2014.
During the past years the band toured a lot, and became one of Hungary’s most popular upcoming band. In the winter of 2013 the band won an MTV Europe Music Award in the category Best Hungarian Act. In February 2014 they got the opportunity to open for Deep Purple in the Budapest Sportarena in front of 8.000 people.
Their second album, ‘Mode Bizarre’ came out in March 2014 and got positive feedback from both the fans and critics. SZIGET Festival, the well-known European Festival and Hungary’s biggest one, has chosen the song ’Together’ to be the anthem of the festival in 2014. The guys are a regular act at festivals and clubs all around Hungary and also played shows in London, New York, Austin, Houston, Amsterdam with acts like the Birth of Joy, Fun Loving Criminals and Hanni El Khatib.
Band Members
Links