RotFront is the brainchild of two Berlin
emigrantskis. One half of the
RussenDisko is
Yuriy Gurzhy, who joined forces with Hungarian musician
Simon Wahorn, initiator of the HungaroGroover Soundsystem, to create the
Emigrantski Raggamuffin Kollektiv RotFront. Founded in 2003, it played its way almost overnight to ranking as Berlin’s ultimate party band. Whether there are seven, twelve or fifteen musicians on stage at any one time – nobody is going to be alone on the dancefloor for long. Right from the start, with the opening songs, the boundary between stage and dancefloor dissolves into nothingness. Rolling back boundaries is RotFront’s mission – and in that sense they are a political band. They may not talk the talk, but they certainly walk the walk: instead of singing about politics, they actually live the easy-going, harmonious interaction of nationalities, ethnicities, musical genres and cultures. And it works. A Ukrainian, two Hungarians, an American, an Australian and five Germans mix
Ska, Reggae, Dancehall and
Cumbia sounds with
Klezmer, Berlin’s own in-your-face brand of Hiphop, Eastern European
Turbopolka, Mediterranean melodies and
rock riffs.
Russian, Hungarian, German and
English lyrics tell of life in Berlin and the adventures of immigrants in the city.
