Isatha in Vadvirág

After keeping vigil at Tündérgyár, I’ve sort of become enlightened. Not in the traditional sense, of course; but in connection with music. Until the Virrasztók concert I was reluctant to listen to folk metal, black metal, and other similar genres. Now I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty of this sort of music. When my friend, Attila, asked me again to have a folk night with him, I couldn’t refuse. His band, Isatha, was slated to perform in Vadvirág tánház. Little did I know about the hell that was about to break loose that night.

Vadvirág is located in the XIV. district of Budapest, not far from Stadionok Station. To get there, you can use any kind of public transportation: trams 1, 1A; trolley-bus 75, 77, 80, 80A; bus 95, 130, 178; and metro 2 can also get you there. I went there by metro, and after getting out from the metro station you should turn left into Kerepesi Street and walk past the Hungária boulevard intersection. After five minutes of slight walking, you should find the club on the left hand side. It is easy to find, right?

Gate opening was at 7 p.m., but I was only interested in my friend’s performance, so I got there around 9.30. Vadvirág is another underground pub; it was the most appealing from all of the previously visited ones. The pub places huge emphasis on rock music; a small list about the genres you can listen to: rock, rock and roll, rock a billy, punk, dark ghotic, heavy metal, folk. Translating an excerpt from the introduction page of the site describes what you can expect from the place: “we wanted to establish a place that would be home to people who love Rock, Drinks, Girls (Boys); who are zealous, frowzy, tattooed, and pierced.” And indeed, I was standing out; the introduction was no joke.

It was almost ten o’clock when I headed towards the restroom to inject the 10 units of insulotard I need every night, and I had a funny experience while carrying out this task. Both of the two closets were occupied, so I thought I will not wait and inject the stuff in front of the sink. I took out my pen, pulled up the sleeves of my shirt and stabbed the insulin pen into my arm. As if he was waiting for this very moment all this while, one of the closets opened, and the guy coming out of it froze in his tracks. He has been staring at me for 5 long seconds when he finally cried out: “What The Fuck Are You Doing?!“ This was a funny experience I doubt I will ever forget; after explaining the situation he calmed down and we went back to the pub together. I ordered a drink; the place is cheaper than the previous ones, 1dl coke light cost 90 HUF, so 270 for 3dl sugar-free drink is really inexpensive, I must say. Now that the diabetic straight edge dude has taken care of everything, it was time for the concert to start.

Isatha is the name of the band my friend, Attila plays in. They are a striving folk metal band, whose concert I’ve been waiting for ever since he told me about their possible appearance. Their performance was superb, and it was unbelievable how much they hyped up the audience despite this being their first concert. They literally took Vadvirág apart, shredding it to pieces. However, as I give an objective account about events, I must mention the slight technical problems that occurred: the sound tech guy was messing around, and the mic died occasionally. After the concert, my friend was kind enough to answer some of my questions, so here I gladly present my 3rd interview:

Leslie: When did you form the band exactly? Who are the members?
Attila: Isatha was formed on January 21, 2010; I was the one who mentioned the idea to form a folk metal band to Borsi.
Since then, the lineup changed a little bit. These are our current members:
Judit Dauda (clean female vocal), Péter Rajna (scream), Bettina Kovács (violin), Róbert Dékány (rhythmic guitar), Tamás Tombor (solo guitar), Tamás Győrbíró (drum), and myself Attila Bulenda (bass guitar).
L: Don't you find it difficult sometimes to work together with 6 other people?
A: Leading a folk metal band is never an easy task. This is especially true in our case, as there are 7 of us. Many ideals and conceptions need to be harmonized. This can be a really unnerving task sometimes, but it has to be done, otherwise the band would fall apart. Basically, democracy rules among the members; all of us has an equal say in the matters regarding the band; however, if there is a stalemate in a crucial debate, I have to measure and make a decision I think is most beneficial for the band. The hardest thing is to find time for practicing; time that is suitable for all of us. There are instances when we practice without 1 or 2 members. Once we played without drums; we played that prerecorded part from an mp3 player and the rest of us played on that.
L: Who is responsible for writing the songs? Who writes the lyrics?
A: We compose the songs together. All of us contribute our own ideas to them. That's why our musical style is so miscellaneous; all of us represent a different musical style, so you can find elements from all kinds of genres in our music. Usually, we start with Betti writing the violin theme, and then build up the whole song based on that; but there was an instance when the violin was later added on a finished piece. Even now we work on a song that's going to receive the violin theme after it is done; but I must admit, it is much harder this way. As for the lyrics, those are usually written by me; after all, the majority of our members have just recently entered the world of folk metal. Exception is the song Álomsövény; its lyrics were written by Peti.
L: What bands influenced your work?
A: Truth being told, I don't think that our band was influenced by anyone. There certainly are some ideals who could be followed, like: Finntroll, Niburta, or the Virrasztók; but our music does not resemble theirs. Perhaps the music of Ásmigen is the closest to ours, but then again, they are a Norwegian folk band, and that is alien from us.
L: Do you plan to stick to the folk metal style now?
A: You know, I wouldn't even call us at the moment a true folk metal band. Instead, I will say that what we play is 70% folk metal and the other 30% is a mixture of black metal, pagan metal, heavy metal. Rock bands are constantly changing. During their time they evolve, and with that comes a change in sound. During this one year our music has changed so much, I can imagine us playing totally different songs in the future; however, we plan to stick to the pagan-black-folk line.
L: What’s your opinion about the concert on Saturday?
A: The concert on Saturday, you ask?! IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME! It was our very first concert and we were amazed how many people turned up to see us perform. That applause we received at the end was simply unbelievable, we never imagined this much of a success. We play for the sake of our audience, we wanted all of those who came to go home with an experience they would never forget, and I think we managed to give you that experience.
L: Any news about the second concert?
A: The exact date and the location of our next concert is pending. Chances are that you can expect it sometime in July. At the moment, it looks like we will have the chance to play with foreign folk metal bands; what is more, we got an invitation from one of Hungary's striving folk metal bands, Niburta. We hope to do more and more concerts in the future to give our fans similar experiences like we did on Saturday.

Closing this blog entry I must say that I really loved both Vadvirág and Ishata. The pub is easy to find, and cheaper than other rock bars. The repertoire of musical styles you can find here is vast. I recommend visiting the place, especially when there is a concert. At the end, I would also like to thank Attila for answering all of my questions.