Little Cow

Little Cow are arguably the hottest band in the former Eastern Bloc. The Hungarian sensation’s mix of gypsy music, punk, ska and even indie rock scored them a platinum album on their home turf and a fanatical European following. Now they’re taking their high-energy stage act to the US, with a NYC date on Sept 18 at City Winery. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the band’s self-described “lead vocal, composer, songwriter, at home film director, and writer” Laci Kollar-Klemencz took some time out of Little Cow’s whirlwind tour schedule to chase the devil out of the details with Lucid Culture’s somewhat confused interviewer:

Lucid Culture: How does your set list for a show here differ from what you play in Romania. Woops, I mean Hungary?

Laci Kollar-Klemencz: OK, why a question about Romania? We are from Hungary. Set list is the same, exactly, just we’re singing the songs which have been translated from Hungarian to English.

LC: Do you find that audiences around the world prefer different songs?

LKK: No. Their reaction is sometimes different – short people in Spain jump higher, and tall people in Holland keep just one hand up, but Little Cow is the same.

LC: Are your songs that are big hits at home just as popular on the road?

LKK: Yes, but the most popular at home is Cyber Kid, and we are sick of it and if it’s possible we do not play it here [in the US] – it’s topical song which is very famous in Hungary, but nobody else understands it.

LC: What other countries have you toured? What kind of reaction do you get? It seems to me that for example anyone who likes Gogol Bordello would like you…

LKK: In Hungary people and magazines talk about us something like that. This kind of punk rock based on Balkan rhythm is very famous now in Europe, and if anybody sounds a little bit like that, it’s easy to say GOGOL BORDELLO, but there are lot of thin differences. And you know the devil always hides between the little things. And I think Little Cow talks about much more – philosophy, personal behavior, attitude – than only a style.

LC: I see that you have a smaller acoustic version of the band. Which version of the band is on this tour?

LKK: Both. In theaters we will play the “Melancholic” acoustic program, but in rock clubs and festivals we will do the electric dance songs.

LC: How much of your set list on this tour is in English?

LKK: Half and half, maybe more.

LC: Your songs are often very funny. Are you aware that in the indie rock scene here in New York, people aren’t supposed to laugh or make jokes? Does that seem as weird to you as it is to me?

LKK: Yes, it is interesting, the underground scene never was about laughing – from the 80's dark feeling till today people think underground, or indie band, that they are cool, sad, depressed, or untouchable mad, sick, but some artists – for me Warhol, and many dadaists, and musicians, like David Byrne, Pere Ubu – were pretty funny. And the sadness and the fun are big brothers as we know from Buddhism for example. And I hope people, who see some dark story one night from Grizzly Bear, or Tom Waits, they will go home and will laugh all night, and people who come to see Little Cow, and laugh a lot through the concert, they will commit suicide after the concert. It’s just a good joke, sorry.

LC: How did the band start? I see that you did the soundtrack for a very popular children’s cartoon, the Little Yellow Cow. Is that cartoon something that adults would also enjoy, like the Simpsons?

LKK: Yes you can see it on our myspace... it’s a short film for kids and parents and grandparents, doesn’t matter, it has been on screen in many Hungarian cinemas as the opening film for a Woody Allen film in 2002.

LC: I hear some punk, gypsy music, new wave, even ska in what you play. I know you get this question all the time, but what bands have influenced your sound?

LKK: It’s not only the bands, it’s many things. Mostly not one music, much more one girl, or one sickness, or a trip, or a bad relationship. I’m always thinking about a feeling, and never about a style, band etc. How I feel, myself, now, and how can I balance it if it is too wrong or too good? Otherwise I’m always looking for that kind of artist who can open one new window in this dark depth blind cultural level, where humans exist now. And there are many artists, and musicians. Last year my favorite was Sigur Ros, MGMT, Beirut, now Grizzly Bear, the Decemberists… From indie music, but BACK…it could be an artist who can be one of my musical influences as well.

LC: Your last album went platinum in Romania, I mean Hungary. How many albums do you have to sell there to go platinum?

LKK: In Hungary? Twenty thousand.

LC: Tell us about your huge hit Cyber Boy, which set a record for most downloads and most ringtones in Hungary. What’s it about?

LKK: It’s kind of Hungarian punk wedding music… typical Hungarian tone, with danceable rhythm, and crazy lyrics about - Lucid Culture

Stewart Rickert

Staff Writer

Little Cow, a band originally from Hungary, played at the Lotus Festival last year and plans on playing there again this year. Little Cow plays a mix of pop and rock and was very popular last year at Lotus. I had the opportunity to talk with Laszlo Kollar-Klemencz, the leader of the band.

Q: How was the band started? Whose idea was it to start it?
A: I wrote the Little Cow song, and my partner Igor did an animation. The animation was shown in cinemas before a Woody Allen movie, and in the next year the song and cartoon became very famous. I had the possibility to do an album. While I composed the album, I was looking for musicians to record.

Q: Is there a difference between playing in Europe and the United States?
A: Yes, in this tour of Little Cow in the U.S. it is very interesting because mostly the audience is not different. I think the love of music is the same everywhere. In Hungary we are very famous and there are huge audiences and here they are smaller, but I think it’s very different here because people here really can feel the beat. It is very nice to play for people here because they are more sensitive to the beat. It is very nice to see the reaction to rhythm. It’s much nicer for me to play this kind of funky ska [a mix of reggae and rock] type music. It is very danceable. I like that they really feel the rhythm.

Q: Who are your inspirations while writing music?
A: Sometimes I am being inspired through my area, just a town, just life style, how people are able to live in the world. It means more than music. For example, two days ago we went to Sebastopol. It was very nice. I saw something which I never see before. It could open something for me. Places… it’s many things… people…

Q: You played at Lotus Festival last year and plan on playing there again. Why do you continue to play at Lotus?
A: It was a great concert and the audience was great too. It was a big success for me and the organizers. Last year, we were the headliner of festival and the audience really loved the music and called us back for encore. I think we were the first band that got called back. It’s a nice city, lots of students living there. We, Little Cow, are in first steps to grow in States, so we should play best festivals. We were happy to say yes to invitation to come back again.

Q: Do you enjoy the multiple venue setup at Lotus(different areas for each band)?
A: In Europe it is a very usual thing. I was wondering, when we were at festival in Chicago, there were only two stages, a few meters apart. In Europe at the festivals, there are many stages at festivals. Different stages for different kinds of music.

Q: Is there a reason behind your band name?
A: It is funny. First the band name was Music For Rabbits, but nobody could understand what it was. It doesn’t sound like band name. And people didn’t connect Little Cow song with this name. At festivals, they just put Little Cow on posters, so maybe it was just easier to be Little Cow and not Music For Rabbits.

Q: Who are some of your favorite artists?
A: I can say — the bands and music now I really love — for example, here, I really love Regina Spektor, but ten years ago my favorite was REM and the New York Underground. I really love that cultural time, which means Lou Reed and John Cale and not just music but what’s behind Warhol and many other artists like that. And I really love Radiohead. I think they are at the top level of rock and roll. It’s not only beat, it’s much more. I don’t know… A lot… Classical composers from Europe, my area. It’s all together inspiration for us. - The Optimist - Bloomington South Newspaper

Gypsy music is definitely in. First Johnny Depp backs the Romanian band Taraf de HaÔdouks; then New Yorkís Gogol Bordello do their Poguesy take on the Roma sound; and then US bands such as Beirut and A Hawk and a Hacksaw embrace accordions and Eastern European roots music. Now, from Hungary come the rather strangely titled Little Cow and their downright boastfully titled Iím In Love With Every Lady. With its quirky folk art cover, the record serves up a truly wonderful and infectious mix of Hungarian and English lyrics wrapped in Gypsy-tinged ska-funk pop songs. Sounds difficult to imagine? Donít let that put you off. This record is captivating and has you immediately tapping your feet and even singing along in made up gibberish (unless you understand Hungarian, of course).
L·szlÛ Koll·r, the bandís frontman, is a musician and animator who made a popular kids cartoon in Hungary called Little Cow. He wrote songs for the yellow bovine beast that became so popular that he formed a band of the same name. ëCyber Boyí, the second track on this record, was their first release and was a big hit in Hungary. Other fine songs, such as the gently beginning ëThe Chocky is Meltingí and weird lyrical content builds with a throbbing bass line into what must be a thrilling live performance, without overplaying itself at all.
They describe their music the ëcultural wedding soundí, ëcrazy listeningí or ëvillage Beatlesí. Whatever, its mix of melancholy and joy, humour and lyricism is fresh, exciting and full of life-affirming chutzpah. - Mark Espiner - Song Lines Magazine