Have you been involved in any genres other than electronic music?
Yes, I began in what I suppose you’d call a rock band, with Ligeti Gyuri of The Puzzle around 15 years ago. We were called The End, and lived in Kaposvár at the time. We did blues and rock and some covers, like Jimi Hendrix, The Doors etc. After I started to study jazz and improvisation, then I played in an alternative punk band called Starving Nuns and finally I began to move into electronic and dance music – Gyuri has called me “DJ” as a result ever since...

And where did electronic music take you after that?
Actually, my first experience with electronic music was before the rock bands. In secondary school, I began working with another friend in Kaposvár. We started to write very simple sound generator programs in basic language on a Commodore 64. By 1986, we were performing with keyboards alone, with no screens, using the shortcuts we’d learned by heart. The sound was a bit like Kraftwerk or Jean Michel Jarre, but less serious. We called ourselves Masters of CM.

How was this progressive, experimental music received in Kaposvár (a small town in Hungary, a few hours from Budapest)?
It wasn’t so progressive. With this formation, we did about two gigs at some kind of student ceremonies, but the audience and our class mates thought we were totally crazy; what we were doing was seen as a very freaky thing. About ten years later, I met Yonderboi at a new year’s eve party in Kaposvár, and we decided to move to Budapest together – we had so many plans...

You then began working with Yonderboi. Can you speak a little about that?
We began to produce tracks under the name Trevira Modern. Trevira’s an old skool tie and clothes brand, which became some kind of retro symbol for us. At that time, we realized we were interested in that kind of stuff (clothes, styling and fashion) not just music. Later, as Trevira Modern, we released a couple of tracks on vinyl. In 1999, Yonder started to produce his debut album (Shallow and Profound) and I helped him - I played Fender Rhodes and other keys on the record. We didn’t expect it to be so successful, but it worked. We toured Europe, including almost every capital city, between 2000 and 2002.

What moved you and Yonderboi apart, musically, in 2002?
He didn’t want to play on stage any more at that time. He wanted to make a new album and focus on that; he preferred composing to performing. I’m more of a performer. The band ZAGAR was formed from parts of the Yonderboi quintet. When we established the group, though, our sound became a bit different. We began to use elements like live drums, and tried to make it more like a dynamic rock band on stage, but with electronic sounds.

For someone who’s never seen you perform, how would you describe a ZAGAR live show?
It’s hard to describe a performance – I suggest seeing and listening to one! I don’t like categories, but if I had to use one I’d say we produce psychedelic electro music influenced by rock, hop-hop, dub and the mood of Eastern European film soundtracks, along with theatrical visuals.

What kind of films do you mean, and how do they influence your music?
I mean especially Hungarian and Eastern European movies, like Huszarik Zoltán's Szindbád or films by Tarkovsky or Menzel. Sometimes we use samples and quotes from these movies, but many times we just try to capture their mood in our sound; it’s a kind of bitter sweet mood – like that of some Hungarian and Eastern European people. Sometimes listeners have described our music as “very cinematographic”.

Your sound seems like it would lend itself well to theater or dance – a little like groups like Lamb. You’ve been involved in theater here in Hungary; can you tell me more about that?
I think Lamb is a fair comparison. We’ve worked with The National Theater, for example, producing music for two studio plays. We’ve also composed and recorded music for the performance Apacsok at the Radnóti Theatre. The music we’ve produced at these times has differed from our usual sound, but the creative journeys the collaborations with directors have led us on have been interesting – a track can be born in so many ways and from many inspirations. A particular highlight amongst these kinds of performances was, for me, two years ago in Poland. We played live at a film festival in an opera house, accompanying a 1920s silent film. In February, we were invited to the MUPA Concert Hall, where we made a surrealistic audio-visual show with female dancers, huge projections and a special setting behind us – we tried to create some kind of ‘a trip’ on stage.

Do you prefer theatrical collaboration or more traditional live shows?
I’m realizing that one of the band’s strong points is connecting film, theater and live electronic music. So much of the time, though, people expect powerful rock and dynamic dance music from our live shows. After MUPA, though, I said I wanted to go straight to the festival stages to play rock music! I missed the crowd’s energy. It’s more artistic to play at places like MUPA, but I enjoy playing powerful music as a rock band more; maybe when I get older it will change.

You’ve recently begun a new project, Demon Superior. What’s it about?
I suppose I’d describe it by saying that I like exotic cuisine, but I like cheap hamburgers, too: Demon Superior is my junk food. It’s my brother Ákos (who’s also ZAGAR’s bass player) and me. I enjoy working with him, and with this project there’s no responsibility. We’re an electro live act, with a style that’s more dancey and artificial sounding than ZAGAR’s – like French electro music nowadays, but a bit cynical. It’s an ironic look at popular dance music. With this side-project, I wanted to show another side of my personality; people say I’m such a serious, deep guy, and I wanted to show a different side.

You’re supporting Depeche Mode this month. There have been rumors of them personally selecting you... how did it come about, and how are you feeling about it all?
Yes, that’s right. Live Nation, Hungary sent our material to their management and the band chose us to support them. It’s the biggest thing. I’m a huge fan of theirs – their songs were on the radio many times when I was programming Commodore 64s in the '80s! So, it will be a strange thing playing in front of my idols. Although, not many people know this, but I’ve played with them once before – when Yonderboi supported them with Placebo a couple of years ago.

You’re often viewed as an underground act. However, since 2008, following the huge success of Wings of Love, you’ve arguably become increasingly mainstream. Which do you prefer to be seen as?
That’s an interesting and a difficult question. I think we simply make contemporary, independent music. Maybe some tracks, like Wings of Love, suit the radio more than others, but I think we’re mainly interested in deeper, more atmospheric music than hit-potential. We don’t have commercial success in mind when we create, but some of our work ends up being successful. We don’t feel the push of a record label, as we’re independent now; although, we’ve just signed with a German label, and our latest album
(Cannot Walk, Fly Instead) along with Wings of Love remixes (there have been many!) will be released across Europe, Japan and The Far East later this year.

All of ZAGAR's lyrics are in English. What was behind the decision to use English instead of Hungarian, and what effect do you think it has?
We’d like everyone to understand our lyrics, without borders of nationality. I think the Hungarian flavor of the music doesn’t depend upon the language alone; you can convey a special mood in a foreign language, too. And finally, the language of electronic music and rock 'n' roll is English.

Which festival (in Hungary) are you most looking forward to playing at this year, and why?
In Hungary, we’re most looking forward to Balaton Sound, because its profile is mainly based upon electronic music, and we’ll be performing there with Demon Superior as well. But we’ve also been invited to a Polish, a Czech and an Austrian festival, so we’re looking forward those gigs too.

 

ZAGAR will be performing on Friday night (September 18th) of the The CineFest International Festival of Young Filmmakers, Miskolc. How will it differ from other ZAGAR live shows?

At CineFest we plan to play a compilation of our ‘cinematographic’ instrumental tracks; we plan to do a kind of transcription of a couple of songs. We’ll be using special VJ projections, by Kemuri, including film and literary influences. In summary, we’ll be trying to create a bit more of a theatrical performance than usual. Hopefully it will be like a live soundtrack for a movie that has never been shot.