Biography
-
Members
- Drapos Gergely
- Erik Sumo
- Pápai István
Erik Sumo, civic name Ambrus Tövisházi, is the surrealist in our band of outsiders, since his business is surreal amusement with a strong influence of musical genres from past decades. The Budapest based producer and singer/songwriter plays in different bands and releases under different pseudonyms. Furthermore Ambrus contributes to soundtracks for both, experimental cinema and TV-shows Anyway, the internationally most famous of Ambrus’ pseudonyms is “Erik Sumo”, under which he released 12’’ on “Pulver Records”. His 2002 release “Just a Woman” was a laid back house-tune that entered many playlists and charts of people like Giles Peterson and of course the souls and bodies of the fans. A lot of time in which the fans surely got nervous passed since than, but finally the waiting is over and Erik Sumo returns to Pulver with a band and a blast. The Erik Sumo Band is a seven-piece combo that consists of two female singers, a percussionist, a drummer, bass and guitar players, and Erik himself on keyboards. The two ladies in the outfit are totally opposite characters – the chillingly charming, and soulful voice of Veronika Harcsa is accompanied by well known Hungarian chanteuse, Erzsi Kiss. Erzsi is famous for both her extraordinary way of singing in an unknown language, and also her outstanding stage performances, which have included many theatre and contemporary ballet plays.
Life as a “Crate Soul Brother” has seen Erik Sumo immersed in rare Eastern European jazz, library soundtracks, twisted funk, and cutting edge Baltic break beats for some time. It may come as some surprise then, that on his debut LP the Hungarian singer/songwriter has mixed up a heady concoction of Western inspired, acid tinged, future blues music that’ll challenge the listener as much as it’s guaranteed to entertain them. ‘This Is Where It Began’: a genre defying and surreal collection of songs that are sure to turn so-called ‘dance’ music on its head. An album inspired as much by Ennio Morricone and Clint Eastwood as it is by post-punk, Portishead and the cosmic sounds of seminal outfits like the RTB Big Band. Strings, harmonicas and infectious hand clapping conspire to mess with your mind, as traditional and future influences provide an unforgettable soundclash. ‘East meets west head on with the wild percussion and wordless vocals of ‘Sirens Of The Dead Sea’, and elsewhere, where The Real Moustache’ owes as much to facially hirsute travellers as it does tough beats for the dance floor. Sumo finds his voice on the title track, a cunning blend of lazy jazz drumming, electric guitars, and a certain cowboy’s heartfelt lament. The refrain then continues across borders to ‘Friday In France’. Here we’re met by a chanteuse of Francophile leanings, before, once again, we’re back on Sumo’s horse, trudging our way across ‘The Map Of The World’. An inspired, dubbed out version of ‘Summertime’ helps us on our way home for a well earned hot meal, only to find on the menu that ‘Babyfoot Is Off Today’! Tövishazi, with a little help from vocalists Juli Fabian and Erzsi Kiss, is due to confound, confuse and amaze with his debut LP. He reaches the summit of his ‘Rocky Mountain’ as has a hell of a lot of fun along the way…now ‘get on your horse, and drink your milk’….
Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
