Kumm (band)
Encyclopedia
Kumm are a Romania
n alternative rock
band formed in Cluj
in 1997. The band currently consist of Cătălin Mocan (vocals), Eugen "Oigăn" Nuţescu (guitar, vocals, harmonica), Kovács András (keyboards), Mihai Iordache
(saxophone), Uțu Pascu (bass guitar) and John Ciurea (drums). The band has experienced several line-up changes, with guitarist Eugen Nuţescu and keyboardist Kovács András being the only remaining members from the first line-up. Their style has varied greatly, from progressive rock
with jazz
and etno influences to alternative rock and indie rock
(most notably after the release of their fourth studio album, Different Parties).
Kumm toured in countries like Italy
, Germany
, Czech Republic
and Hungary
. They were also included in the line-up of several European festivals, such as Pepsi Sziget (in 2002 and 2008), Sárvár, 4+4 Days In Motion and Peninsula.
Up to date, Kumm released five studio albums and six videos.
, rock
and ethno and asked Oigăn if he was interested to be part of his project. Shortly after, they were joined by saxophonist Meier Zsolt (a former member of Short Cuts), drummer Pap Joco, and a girl named Cilu who sang lead vocals. Their first demo was recorded in December 1997. Some of the songs from this release (such as "Listen to My Songs" and "Dancing On the Wires") were to reappear later on their debut album, while a re-recorded version of the song "Red Coffee" was included on their third studio album, Angels & Clowns. After the recording of the demo, Cilu decided to quit the band.
In February 1998, the band was invited to play in a club from Cluj, called Music Pub. At that time, the band did not have a name, so the members were forced to come up with something. They chose the name Kumm, which is based on a wordplay ("kumm" means "sand" in Tatar, and its phonetic pronunciation means "how" in Romanian
). Their first notable concerts took place in Cluj
and Timișoara
(at StudentFest). In September the band managed to release a demo, consisting on seven songs, which was entitled Listen to My Songs (Don't Listen to My Words). On 4 January 1999, the band was invited to play for the first time in Bucharest
, at Lăptăria lui Enache.
In March same year, after their second concert in Lăptăria lui Enache, the band met Ernesto (Mr. Scarecrow) Bianchi, who later became their manager. Afterwards, Kumm were invited to play in Hungary
at an alternative rock festival at Sárvár; they also underwent their first line-up changes: in April, Pap Joco returned to his hometown, Sfântu Gheorghe, while Meier Zsolt joined the musical project of Harry Tavitian, called Orient Express. They were replaced on a temporary basis by drummer Csergö Dominic (Domi) and saxophonist Petö Zoltán (Zoli); shortly after, Domi replaced Joco definitively.
In November, the band signed with the music label Soft Records and started the preparations for recording the debut album.
Moonsweat March was officially released in April 2000. It received the prize for the best debut album of the year 2000 from Musical Report magazine and was nominated at the category „Best Alternative Album” at the Romanian Music Awards (Premiile industriei muzicale româneşti). During the summer, the band was invited to play at several festivals (including Sárvár, Hungary). The fall of 2000 brought them an invitation to Posada Rock Festival and the release of their first video, "Ce și cum", which was filmed by TVR2.
In March 2001, Kumm composed a second song in Romanian, which was later featured on a compilation (released in June same year), that contained several tracks of other alternative rock Romanian bands, such as Nightlosers
, Luna Amară
or Implant Pentru Refuz. The song, which was recorded at the same time with a new version of "Marty", the fourth track from their album, was called "Șapte seri" (translation: "Seven Evenings"). The band also released a video for the song, which later peaked at number ten in the MCM Romania chart.
During that year, Kovács and Oigăn played a few concerts with Dan Byron under the name Naked Lunch, covering songs by Led Zeppelin
, Björk
and Kumm. Kovács also composed and played live the music for a play entitled "Ithaca Dream". In September, the whole band appeared on stage with the actress Ramona Dumitrean in a spectacle-concert called "Apocalipsa dupa Martha" ("Apocalypse after Martha"), produced by The French Cultural Centre from Cluj. In November, Byron joined Kumm, replacing Oigăn as lead singer. His first appearance on stage with Kumm was at a gig in December. Byron and Oigăn spent some time composing the music for the short movie "After leaving", directed by C. Cârcu. After that, the band entered the studio in February 2002 to record the second studio album.
The first months of 2003 found some of the Kumm members involved in other projects. Kovács was invited to play on Luna Amară's debut album, Asfalt (Asphalt) (on a track called "Roșu aprins"), while Byron and Domi formed a new band, called Urma, with Mani Gutău as lead vocal; shortly after, they also released an album, Nomad Rhymes.
In the spring, Moonsweat March and Confuzz were distributed worldwide by the French
label Musea Records. In April, Kumm participated at the Iuliu Merca Festival, making their first cover of a Romanian song, Semnal M's "Râul" ("The River"). Autumn brought them a contract with the Italian
label Cramps Records. Shortly after, saxophonist Petö Zoltán left the band and was replaced by Mihai Iordache
(ex-Sarmalele Reci
, ex-Timpuri Noi
). Drummer Csergö Dominic also retired for a while, and was temporarily replaced by Lorant Antal. Following this new lineup change, the band entered the studio, recording five songs in English. Four of them were included on an EP called Yellow Fever, which was officially released on December 5 at Sala Palatului, in Bucharest. At the end of the year, they filmed their fourth video, for the song "Butterflies".
In the summer of 2004, the band toured Italy for the first time. At the Gondola d'Oro Festival from Venice
, the song "Mille Facce" won the prize for the best rock song. After returning in Romania, bassist Keresztes Levente decided to give up on music for architecture. The new Kumm bassist, Uțu Pascu (Blazzaj
/BAU) made his debut with the band at Stufstock Festival. Shortly after, the band left Romania again and spent three weeks touring in Italy.
In February 2005, Kumm officially released Angels & Clowns, first in Bucharest, then in several other cities across the country. In spring, they played four gigs in Germany
, where they met Anja Strub, who was later to become their manager.
After performing at Peninsula Festival and Stufstock
, the band returned to Germany for another concert, which was be their last concert with Byron as lead singer, as he left the band in September. While trying to find a new vocal, the members of the band also found time for their own projects: Iordache appeared as guest on Luna Amară's second studio album, Loc lipsă (Missing Place), on a track called "Din valuri ard" ("I Burn From Waves") and concentrated on his jazz music project, which also featured Oigăn and Uțu Pascu, while Csergö Dominic released a new album with Urma, entitled Anger as a Gift.
In November, Kumm were joined by the actor and singer Cătălin Mocan, formerly the lead vocal of the band Persona from Timișoara
.
) after which they performed a few gigs in Timișoara, Arad
and Oradea
. The official release of the album took place in Bucharest, on June 2.
In March 2007, after several gigs across the country, Kumm started their third tour of Germany, which lasted three weeks. The band performed in Berlin, Stuttgart, Ulm
, Karlsruhe
and Freiburg
. After returning to Romania, they continued to play in different music pubs around the country and participated in the summer of 2007 to many festivals, such as Fête de la Musique, Rock'n'Coke Festival, Școala Ardeleană Festival, Cramps Festival and Peninsula.
On October 29, 2007, Kumm celebrated their ten years anniversary with a concert held at the Romanian Opera, KUMM - 10 ani și 1000 de Chipuri (KUMM - 10 Years and 1000 Faces). They invited Luna Amară, Timpuri Noi
, ZOB
, Travka, Ada Milea and The MOOoD to perform as guests. Each of these bands performed a song on their own and a Kumm song. The former members of the band participated as well. On the same occasion, Kumm also released a box-set entitled Lo-Fi Poetry, with songs, pictures and rare recordings from their ten years of musical activity.
In December, bassist Uțu Pascu left the band, and was replaced in January 2008 by Sorin Erhan (Firma, Urma).
On August 16, 2008, Kumm performed at the Sziget Festival, being the only Romanian band invited. It was their second performance at Sziget.
On March 6, 2009, Oigăn released Sex With Onions, his first solo album, and, according to his own words, his last. The official release was celebrated with a gig at Silver Church. Mihai Iordache, Csergö Dominic, Alexei "Alioșa" Țurcan (ex-Travka), Andrei Filip (Timpuri Noi, L'Orchestre de Roche, The Mono Jacks, RedRum) and Forrest (ZOB) appeared as guests. The album received favorable reviews.
On 12 March 2009, Kumm received the prize for Best Rock on 2008 from the magazine Actualitatea Muzicală (Musical Actuality).
On 30 May 2009, it was officially confirmed that drummer Csergö Dominic was not part of Kumm anymore, and had been replaced by Paul Ballo (Go to Berlin, The Amsterdams
). Later, Oigăn talked about how they acquired their new drummer: "We made a list with several drummers we liked, we saw him at a live concert, and after that, due to the Mafia that exists on Romanian music scene, where everybody knows everybody, we got his phone number, we met in a bar, he came to an audition and we chose him because he's really talented and very funny."
On October 22 the band announced in a press conference at Clubul Țăranului Român the release of their fifth studio album, Far From Telescopes, which took place on October 30, 2009, at the Silver Church Club in Bucharest.
Far From Telescopes was produced under their own license. The recordings were made at the Vița de Vie studio, with Gabi "Pipai" Andrieș as sound engineer. The mastering was made by Mastervargas Studio, New York
. The album appeared on iTunes on January 11, 2010.
The title was explained by Oigăn in an interview: "It was really difficult for us to find a name. We broke a lot of deadlines, the album almost failed to be produced, yet we couldn't decide. At the end, right when we were playing the lo-fi songs, Cătălin sang that line and we all felt that this was describing the serious part of the album as well as its playful part."
The album featured Rozie, a good friend of the band, as guest vocalist on "Pink Baloon" and the Meloritm children choir on "Fishing in the Swimming Pool"; furthermore, their ex-singer Byron was also invited as backing vocalist on "Mister Superman". The band added three lo-fi recordings on the album: one of them at the beginning, before the song "Mister Superman", the second towards the middle of the album (the song "Bad Day", which is the only lo-fi song that has a title and appears on track list) and the third as hidden track, after the end of the last song, "Fishing in the Swimming Pool". Singer Cătălin Mocan came up with this idea: "These are recorded in a kitchen. We're really aboulic, we contradict each other a lot, so we had a lot of songs we had to give up on. I felt a little bit sorry for some of the songs we gave up. So I came up with this lo-fi idea, and that's how I convinced my mates to put on the album the songs I particularly liked. That's how 'Bad Day' entered the album."
Most of the reviews were positive. A critic called Far From Telescopes "perhaps the most mature and professional Kumm album" In December, the first single, "Pop Song", peaked at number 1 in Radio Guerrilla
's Top Show.
At the beginning of 2010, Kumm changed their lineup again. On 17 February they announced bassist Sorin Erhan was replaced by Alexandru Miu (Go to Berlin). Meanwhile, Paul Ballo composed and released "Chroma", the first song of his new project, Hot Casandra - during the year, this was to be followed by a few more songs.
In March their song "Police" was aired on Radio Guerrilla, entering on seventh place in Top Show and reaching first place two weeks later.
In April, Paul Ballo and his ex-band mate from Go to Berlin, Matei Țeposu started a new electronic music project, called Trouble Is.
On April 22, 2010, Kumm released their sixth video, "Pop Song", at a concert held in Silver Church Club, Bucharest.
On September 25, drummer Paul Ballo announced on his Facebook
page that he was not part of Kumm anymore. His statement was confirmed indirectly by the band two days later, on September 27, when the new Kumm site was launched. A new lineup appeared on the site, with new drummer John Ciurea (formerly with Tep Zepi). The next day, on September 28, Kumm announced the lineup change on their Facebook and Twitter
pages. The first gig with the new drummer took place in Lăptăria lui Enache, on October 2.
In an interview which appeared on October 5, Ballo talked about the whole situation, explaining that he knew that at a certain point he would have left the band, but he didn't expect to be fired. He cited as a possible reason for separation the fact that he was also involved in other projects, so his bandmates believed that he wasn't paying enough attention to the band. The ex-drummer said that he thought at certain moments that, musically speaking, the band was somehow stagnating, adding "I did not have time to get involved in the (album) production, especially the sound of my drums. That was a reason for me to complain, because I wasn't quite satisfied with the drum sound, and they disagreed with me." In the same interview, Paul Ballo also talked about his own musical projects, specifying that he wanted to release a video with Trouble Is and continue as a drummer in Go to Berlin.
In December 2010, the song "Beautiful Country" started to be constantly aired at Radio Guerrilla, and soon reached the first place in the Top Show.
On March 2011, Kumm announced on their Facebook official page the departure of Alexandru Miu and the returning of Uțu Pascu, stating: "Our new bassist is our old one". No further explanations were given.
On June 3, the band released a new song, called "Foul Play", during a concert in Clubul Ţăranului Român. The song was aired for the first time at Radio Guerrilla, on June 7.
EP's
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band formed in Cluj
Cluj
Cluj may refer to*Cluj-Napoca, county seat of Cluj County, named Cluj until 1974*Cluj County, Romania*Cluj-Napoca International Airport*U Cluj, a Romanian sports club*U Cluj, a Romanian football club*CFR Cluj, a Romanian football club...
in 1997. The band currently consist of Cătălin Mocan (vocals), Eugen "Oigăn" Nuţescu (guitar, vocals, harmonica), Kovács András (keyboards), Mihai Iordache
Mihai Iordache
Mihai Iordache, born March 13, 1967 is a Romanian saxophonist, improviser, composer and band leader . Currently he is the saxophone player for the Romanian alternative rock band Kumm and leads his own jazz band "iordache".- Biography :...
(saxophone), Uțu Pascu (bass guitar) and John Ciurea (drums). The band has experienced several line-up changes, with guitarist Eugen Nuţescu and keyboardist Kovács András being the only remaining members from the first line-up. Their style has varied greatly, from progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and etno influences to alternative rock and indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
(most notably after the release of their fourth studio album, Different Parties).
Kumm toured in countries like Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. They were also included in the line-up of several European festivals, such as Pepsi Sziget (in 2002 and 2008), Sárvár, 4+4 Days In Motion and Peninsula.
Up to date, Kumm released five studio albums and six videos.
Formation and early years
Kumm were formed by guitarist Eugen Nuțescu (also known as Oigăn) and keyboardist Kovács András, after the disbanding of their former musical projects, Short Cuts and Talitha Qumi. Kovács wanted to form a new band, which was supposed to be, musically speaking, a fusion between jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and ethno and asked Oigăn if he was interested to be part of his project. Shortly after, they were joined by saxophonist Meier Zsolt (a former member of Short Cuts), drummer Pap Joco, and a girl named Cilu who sang lead vocals. Their first demo was recorded in December 1997. Some of the songs from this release (such as "Listen to My Songs" and "Dancing On the Wires") were to reappear later on their debut album, while a re-recorded version of the song "Red Coffee" was included on their third studio album, Angels & Clowns. After the recording of the demo, Cilu decided to quit the band.
In February 1998, the band was invited to play in a club from Cluj, called Music Pub. At that time, the band did not have a name, so the members were forced to come up with something. They chose the name Kumm, which is based on a wordplay ("kumm" means "sand" in Tatar, and its phonetic pronunciation means "how" in Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
). Their first notable concerts took place in Cluj
Cluj
Cluj may refer to*Cluj-Napoca, county seat of Cluj County, named Cluj until 1974*Cluj County, Romania*Cluj-Napoca International Airport*U Cluj, a Romanian sports club*U Cluj, a Romanian football club*CFR Cluj, a Romanian football club...
and Timișoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
(at StudentFest). In September the band managed to release a demo, consisting on seven songs, which was entitled Listen to My Songs (Don't Listen to My Words). On 4 January 1999, the band was invited to play for the first time in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, at Lăptăria lui Enache.
In March same year, after their second concert in Lăptăria lui Enache, the band met Ernesto (Mr. Scarecrow) Bianchi, who later became their manager. Afterwards, Kumm were invited to play in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
at an alternative rock festival at Sárvár; they also underwent their first line-up changes: in April, Pap Joco returned to his hometown, Sfântu Gheorghe, while Meier Zsolt joined the musical project of Harry Tavitian, called Orient Express. They were replaced on a temporary basis by drummer Csergö Dominic (Domi) and saxophonist Petö Zoltán (Zoli); shortly after, Domi replaced Joco definitively.
In November, the band signed with the music label Soft Records and started the preparations for recording the debut album.
Moonsweat March
In February 2000, Kumm spent three weeks in the studio Glas Transilvan from Cluj to record their first album, entitled Moonsweat March. The album featured ten songs and a bonus track, called "Ce și cum" (translation: "What and how"), which was their only song with Romanian lyrics. After finishing the recording phase, saxophonist Meier Zsolt left the band and was replaced by Petö Zoltán. During the recording, Oigăn played guitar as well as bass guitar, but, as this was impossible during live shows, Kumm were soon joined by bassist Keresztes Levente.Moonsweat March was officially released in April 2000. It received the prize for the best debut album of the year 2000 from Musical Report magazine and was nominated at the category „Best Alternative Album” at the Romanian Music Awards (Premiile industriei muzicale româneşti). During the summer, the band was invited to play at several festivals (including Sárvár, Hungary). The fall of 2000 brought them an invitation to Posada Rock Festival and the release of their first video, "Ce și cum", which was filmed by TVR2.
In March 2001, Kumm composed a second song in Romanian, which was later featured on a compilation (released in June same year), that contained several tracks of other alternative rock Romanian bands, such as Nightlosers
Nightlosers
Nightlosers is a Romanian ethno-jazz-blues band. The band consists of Hanno Höfer , Octavian Barila Andreescu , El Lako Jimy , and Geza Grunzo...
, Luna Amară
Luna Amara
Luna Amară is a Romanian alternative rock/grunge band. The name means "Bitter Moon" in Romanian, and is borrowed from the Roman Polanski movie of the same name, inspired by the eponymous novel written by Pascal Bruckner.-History:...
or Implant Pentru Refuz. The song, which was recorded at the same time with a new version of "Marty", the fourth track from their album, was called "Șapte seri" (translation: "Seven Evenings"). The band also released a video for the song, which later peaked at number ten in the MCM Romania chart.
During that year, Kovács and Oigăn played a few concerts with Dan Byron under the name Naked Lunch, covering songs by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
and Kumm. Kovács also composed and played live the music for a play entitled "Ithaca Dream". In September, the whole band appeared on stage with the actress Ramona Dumitrean in a spectacle-concert called "Apocalipsa dupa Martha" ("Apocalypse after Martha"), produced by The French Cultural Centre from Cluj. In November, Byron joined Kumm, replacing Oigăn as lead singer. His first appearance on stage with Kumm was at a gig in December. Byron and Oigăn spent some time composing the music for the short movie "After leaving", directed by C. Cârcu. After that, the band entered the studio in February 2002 to record the second studio album.
Confuzz
The second Kumm album, Confuzz ("confuz" means "confused" in Romanian), was released in June 2002. Unlike their first album, Confuzz is mostly sung in Romanian. On this album, Kumm started to make the transition to alternative rock, but they kept their ethno influences and added psychedelic sounds. Following the release, the band started to promote it across the country; they also had the chance to perform at several festivals, such as Days of Cluj, Fête de la Musique (Bucharest), and, most notably, Pepsi Sziget. Furthermore, Csergö Dominic, Petö Zoltán, Oigăn and Byron appeared in a play called "Pâine, orbi și saxofoane" ("Bread, blind men and saxophones"), for which they also wrote the music. In the fall of 2002 the band filmed their third video, for the song "1000 de chipuri" ("1000 Faces"). The video was directed by Szakáts István and featured actor Sebastian Marina.The first months of 2003 found some of the Kumm members involved in other projects. Kovács was invited to play on Luna Amară's debut album, Asfalt (Asphalt) (on a track called "Roșu aprins"), while Byron and Domi formed a new band, called Urma, with Mani Gutău as lead vocal; shortly after, they also released an album, Nomad Rhymes.
In the spring, Moonsweat March and Confuzz were distributed worldwide by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
label Musea Records. In April, Kumm participated at the Iuliu Merca Festival, making their first cover of a Romanian song, Semnal M's "Râul" ("The River"). Autumn brought them a contract with the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
label Cramps Records. Shortly after, saxophonist Petö Zoltán left the band and was replaced by Mihai Iordache
Mihai Iordache
Mihai Iordache, born March 13, 1967 is a Romanian saxophonist, improviser, composer and band leader . Currently he is the saxophone player for the Romanian alternative rock band Kumm and leads his own jazz band "iordache".- Biography :...
(ex-Sarmalele Reci
Sarmalele Reci
Sarmalele Reci is a Romanian rock band that was formed in 1993 in Bucharest.-History:The group was formed by Florin Dumitrescu in 1993...
, ex-Timpuri Noi
Timpuri Noi
-History:Timpuri Noi was formed in 1980, and remained an underground act up to 1991. This was mainly due to what was perceived as "subversive lyrical content" in the Ceauşescu era. Incidentally, the name derives from a cliché of the period: its literal meaning is "New Times" , used to signify...
). Drummer Csergö Dominic also retired for a while, and was temporarily replaced by Lorant Antal. Following this new lineup change, the band entered the studio, recording five songs in English. Four of them were included on an EP called Yellow Fever, which was officially released on December 5 at Sala Palatului, in Bucharest. At the end of the year, they filmed their fourth video, for the song "Butterflies".
Angels & Clowns
At the beginning of 2004, Kumm finished composing the songs for their third studio album, Angels & Clowns. The band spent the first month of spring in the studio, recording the new album. This release included the English version of "1000 de chipuri", called "Million Faces" (later the band also recorded an Italian version, "Mille Facce"), a new version of "Dictionary", a song from their debut album, with Byron singing lead vocals, and a rewritten and improved version of "Red Coffee", one of the songs from their first demo. Angels & Clowns, the title track, was the first Kumm song to reach the first place in a music chart.In the summer of 2004, the band toured Italy for the first time. At the Gondola d'Oro Festival from Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, the song "Mille Facce" won the prize for the best rock song. After returning in Romania, bassist Keresztes Levente decided to give up on music for architecture. The new Kumm bassist, Uțu Pascu (Blazzaj
Blazzaj
Blazzaj is a Romanian Acid Jazz band founded in 1996 by Eddie Neumann and Florin Barbu as FunkinLeFree. Since August 1998 the band is known as Blazzaj...
/BAU) made his debut with the band at Stufstock Festival. Shortly after, the band left Romania again and spent three weeks touring in Italy.
In February 2005, Kumm officially released Angels & Clowns, first in Bucharest, then in several other cities across the country. In spring, they played four gigs in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where they met Anja Strub, who was later to become their manager.
After performing at Peninsula Festival and Stufstock
Stufstock
Stufstock is a music festival that has taken place each year since 2003 in Vama Veche, Dobrogea, Romania, to protest against what some people may consider bad quality music Stufstock (Stuf - Romanian for reed - and stock from Woodstock) is a music festival that has taken place each year since 2003...
, the band returned to Germany for another concert, which was be their last concert with Byron as lead singer, as he left the band in September. While trying to find a new vocal, the members of the band also found time for their own projects: Iordache appeared as guest on Luna Amară's second studio album, Loc lipsă (Missing Place), on a track called "Din valuri ard" ("I Burn From Waves") and concentrated on his jazz music project, which also featured Oigăn and Uțu Pascu, while Csergö Dominic released a new album with Urma, entitled Anger as a Gift.
In November, Kumm were joined by the actor and singer Cătălin Mocan, formerly the lead vocal of the band Persona from Timișoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
.
Different Parties
The first concerts of Kumm with the new lineup took place at the end of January 2006. In March and April the band entered the studio and recorded a fourth album, Different Parties. It was considered their most diversified album to date. Before the official release, the band made a three weeks tour of Germany, with ten concerts (last three of them in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
) after which they performed a few gigs in Timișoara, Arad
Arad, Romania
Arad is the capital city of Arad County, in western Romania, in the Crişana region, on the river Mureş.An important industrial center and transportation hub, Arad is also the seat of a Romanian Orthodox archbishop and features two universities, a Romanian Orthodox theological seminary, a training...
and Oradea
Oradea
Oradea is the capital city of Bihor County, in the Crișana region of north-western Romania. The city has a population of 204,477, according to the 2009 estimates. The wider Oradea metropolitan area has a total population of 245,832.-Geography:...
. The official release of the album took place in Bucharest, on June 2.
In March 2007, after several gigs across the country, Kumm started their third tour of Germany, which lasted three weeks. The band performed in Berlin, Stuttgart, Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
, Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
and Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
. After returning to Romania, they continued to play in different music pubs around the country and participated in the summer of 2007 to many festivals, such as Fête de la Musique, Rock'n'Coke Festival, Școala Ardeleană Festival, Cramps Festival and Peninsula.
On October 29, 2007, Kumm celebrated their ten years anniversary with a concert held at the Romanian Opera, KUMM - 10 ani și 1000 de Chipuri (KUMM - 10 Years and 1000 Faces). They invited Luna Amară, Timpuri Noi
Timpuri Noi
-History:Timpuri Noi was formed in 1980, and remained an underground act up to 1991. This was mainly due to what was perceived as "subversive lyrical content" in the Ceauşescu era. Incidentally, the name derives from a cliché of the period: its literal meaning is "New Times" , used to signify...
, ZOB
ZOB
ZOB can refer to:*Jewish Combat Organization*Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center*Berlin Zoologischer Garten railway station*Electronic Music Producer...
, Travka, Ada Milea and The MOOoD to perform as guests. Each of these bands performed a song on their own and a Kumm song. The former members of the band participated as well. On the same occasion, Kumm also released a box-set entitled Lo-Fi Poetry, with songs, pictures and rare recordings from their ten years of musical activity.
In December, bassist Uțu Pascu left the band, and was replaced in January 2008 by Sorin Erhan (Firma, Urma).
On August 16, 2008, Kumm performed at the Sziget Festival, being the only Romanian band invited. It was their second performance at Sziget.
On March 6, 2009, Oigăn released Sex With Onions, his first solo album, and, according to his own words, his last. The official release was celebrated with a gig at Silver Church. Mihai Iordache, Csergö Dominic, Alexei "Alioșa" Țurcan (ex-Travka), Andrei Filip (Timpuri Noi, L'Orchestre de Roche, The Mono Jacks, RedRum) and Forrest (ZOB) appeared as guests. The album received favorable reviews.
On 12 March 2009, Kumm received the prize for Best Rock on 2008 from the magazine Actualitatea Muzicală (Musical Actuality).
On 30 May 2009, it was officially confirmed that drummer Csergö Dominic was not part of Kumm anymore, and had been replaced by Paul Ballo (Go to Berlin, The Amsterdams
The Amsterdams
The Amsterdams are a Romanian indie rock band formed in Bucharest in 2005. Their current line-up consist of Andrei Hațegan , Andrei Ungureanu , Augustin Nicolae and Ovidiu Bejan .The band toured in countries like UK, France, Spain, Holland, Italy, Hungary and Czech...
). Later, Oigăn talked about how they acquired their new drummer: "We made a list with several drummers we liked, we saw him at a live concert, and after that, due to the Mafia that exists on Romanian music scene, where everybody knows everybody, we got his phone number, we met in a bar, he came to an audition and we chose him because he's really talented and very funny."
Far From Telescopes
On August 14, 2009, Kumm released the video for the song "Morsa" (translation: "Walrus") during a concert in El Grande Comandante. The English version of the song, "Man in a Can", was to appear on their fifth studio album.On October 22 the band announced in a press conference at Clubul Țăranului Român the release of their fifth studio album, Far From Telescopes, which took place on October 30, 2009, at the Silver Church Club in Bucharest.
Far From Telescopes was produced under their own license. The recordings were made at the Vița de Vie studio, with Gabi "Pipai" Andrieș as sound engineer. The mastering was made by Mastervargas Studio, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The album appeared on iTunes on January 11, 2010.
The title was explained by Oigăn in an interview: "It was really difficult for us to find a name. We broke a lot of deadlines, the album almost failed to be produced, yet we couldn't decide. At the end, right when we were playing the lo-fi songs, Cătălin sang that line and we all felt that this was describing the serious part of the album as well as its playful part."
The album featured Rozie, a good friend of the band, as guest vocalist on "Pink Baloon" and the Meloritm children choir on "Fishing in the Swimming Pool"; furthermore, their ex-singer Byron was also invited as backing vocalist on "Mister Superman". The band added three lo-fi recordings on the album: one of them at the beginning, before the song "Mister Superman", the second towards the middle of the album (the song "Bad Day", which is the only lo-fi song that has a title and appears on track list) and the third as hidden track, after the end of the last song, "Fishing in the Swimming Pool". Singer Cătălin Mocan came up with this idea: "These are recorded in a kitchen. We're really aboulic, we contradict each other a lot, so we had a lot of songs we had to give up on. I felt a little bit sorry for some of the songs we gave up. So I came up with this lo-fi idea, and that's how I convinced my mates to put on the album the songs I particularly liked. That's how 'Bad Day' entered the album."
Most of the reviews were positive. A critic called Far From Telescopes "perhaps the most mature and professional Kumm album" In December, the first single, "Pop Song", peaked at number 1 in Radio Guerrilla
Radio Guerrilla
Radio Guerrilla is an Romanian FM radio station broadcasting from Bucharest. The station's target audience is young middle-class people between the ages of 25 and 34...
's Top Show.
At the beginning of 2010, Kumm changed their lineup again. On 17 February they announced bassist Sorin Erhan was replaced by Alexandru Miu (Go to Berlin). Meanwhile, Paul Ballo composed and released "Chroma", the first song of his new project, Hot Casandra - during the year, this was to be followed by a few more songs.
In March their song "Police" was aired on Radio Guerrilla, entering on seventh place in Top Show and reaching first place two weeks later.
In April, Paul Ballo and his ex-band mate from Go to Berlin, Matei Țeposu started a new electronic music project, called Trouble Is.
On April 22, 2010, Kumm released their sixth video, "Pop Song", at a concert held in Silver Church Club, Bucharest.
On September 25, drummer Paul Ballo announced on his Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page that he was not part of Kumm anymore. His statement was confirmed indirectly by the band two days later, on September 27, when the new Kumm site was launched. A new lineup appeared on the site, with new drummer John Ciurea (formerly with Tep Zepi). The next day, on September 28, Kumm announced the lineup change on their Facebook and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
pages. The first gig with the new drummer took place in Lăptăria lui Enache, on October 2.
In an interview which appeared on October 5, Ballo talked about the whole situation, explaining that he knew that at a certain point he would have left the band, but he didn't expect to be fired. He cited as a possible reason for separation the fact that he was also involved in other projects, so his bandmates believed that he wasn't paying enough attention to the band. The ex-drummer said that he thought at certain moments that, musically speaking, the band was somehow stagnating, adding "I did not have time to get involved in the (album) production, especially the sound of my drums. That was a reason for me to complain, because I wasn't quite satisfied with the drum sound, and they disagreed with me." In the same interview, Paul Ballo also talked about his own musical projects, specifying that he wanted to release a video with Trouble Is and continue as a drummer in Go to Berlin.
In December 2010, the song "Beautiful Country" started to be constantly aired at Radio Guerrilla, and soon reached the first place in the Top Show.
On March 2011, Kumm announced on their Facebook official page the departure of Alexandru Miu and the returning of Uțu Pascu, stating: "Our new bassist is our old one". No further explanations were given.
On June 3, the band released a new song, called "Foul Play", during a concert in Clubul Ţăranului Român. The song was aired for the first time at Radio Guerrilla, on June 7.
Additional projects
Many of Kumm's former members, as well as the current ones, have additional musical projects. Csergö Dominic and Sorin Erhan are part of Urma, a band in which Dan Byron sang as well. Oigăn released a solo album, called Sex with Onions, while Iordache released two albums with his funk jazz band.Discography
Studio albums- Moonsweat March (2000)
- Confuzz (2002)
- Angels & Clowns (2005)
- Different Parties (2006)
- Far From Telescopes (2009)
EP's
- Yellow Fever (2003)
Current members
- Cătălin Mocan - lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
(2005–present) - Eugen Nuțescu (Oigăn) - lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
(1997–present) - Kovács András - keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
(1997–present) - Mihai Iordache - saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
(2003–present) - Uțu Pascu - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(2004–2008; 2011) - John Ciurea - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(2010–present)
Former members
- Meier Zsolt - saxophone (1997–1999)
- Pap Joco - drums (1997–2000)
- Petö Zoltán - saxophone (2000–2003)
- Keresztes Levente - bass guitar (2000–2004)
- Dan Radu (Byron) - lead vocals (2001–2005)
- Csergö Dominic - drums (1999–2009)
- Sorin Erhan - bass guitar (2008–2010)
- Paul Ballo - drums (2009–2010)
- Alexandru Miu - bass guitar (2010–2011)