Generations of London bands formed an In-Crowd of Outsiders and tried to reproduce a European sensibility in three-minute symphonies to existential angst.
But what’s it like coming the other way?
Two bands, Obiat and Rémember, tell it like it is to arrive here from Europe and try to make a go of it in London’s global studio.
Andrea Sinkovics Terezak rolled the tapes.
We had started our career in our home country Hungary. After reaching a certain level and status in the music industry, we realised that as long as we stay there it will be impossible to reach beyond the country’s borders. We had been releasing records and made three or four videos that were shown on MTV, MTV Europe and MTV2. We also played hundreds of gigs around the European continent and we had a contract with one of the biggest music labels, EMI. Even though we worked hard and had good results, we still couldn’t get any records released outside Hungary and there was no one, no music industry professionals to turn to. Actually, the Hungarian professionals of the industry are not professional at all: they don’t have international contacts and have no knowledge about how to establish something on an international level. That’s why we felt that Hungary is an isolated country in the music industry. If you want to reach a wider audience than the population of Hungary you have to leave your country.
First we were planning to go to Sweden because we had an agreement with a Swedish manager that after Hungary joins the EU we would move there and then he would help us. Unfortunately, this plan didn’t work out because this manager disappeared.
There were many reasons why we chose to come to London, the most obvious one was that as everyone knows, it has the most prosperous music industry in Europe, and also because all of us knew the language. Besides our label company was based in London and we had already had successes on MTV as well. Thus, finally we made a big decision and took great risk in moving to London with our band.
I think we were quite sceptical about starting off in the English music industry, we knew that the chances of ground-breaking success are minute. For this reason we decided that our most important aims would be to gain as much information about the international sphere of the industry as possible.
First of all we had promises from our label that they are going to help us to start up our career and we also thought that as we had a relatively good relationship with some people at MTV that they might also support us. Unfortunately, we had to learn that none of these people wanted to help us at all. Therefore, we had to start everything from zero, since we arrived in the city not knowing anything about the ways in which the industry operates. Hence, what we had to do is to look for information on the internet, buy some magazines, find out where the gigs are, contact these venues, hundreds of them, send demo CDs and try to convince them to give us an opportunity to play. Of course, we had to start playing in really small venues, and had to build up our career from there as if we were absolute beginners. With a bit of luck we slowly managed to book shows at bigger and bigger clubs, and it took us months. During our first year in England we played about 50 gigs around the country most of them in London, and in the end we made it to the biggest venues in London for example we had shows at Coco, Barfly, Club Enemy and the BBC Christmas Show. Also we played a support slot with Baby Shambles, the big stars of the genre in the UK. Furthermore, we made good acquaintanceships with some professionals in the music industry; we had some good reviews and interviews with magazines as well.
The rock music industry in England is mostly based on live shows, concerts and to break through to the big festivals and the media a band needs to get support from PR and publishing companies. Usually there are four or five companies behind a band who deal with different aspects of the band’s career in order to bring them up, to get festival slots and get their CDs sold in the record shops. However, this process only starts after you had built up your own ‘underground’ reputation and your band has signed a record deal with a label.
Actually, this is the point where we got stuck. Even though we have signed a deal with EMI in Hungary they still consider us unsigned in the UK. It was a quite humiliating situation that after working hard in the industry for ten years we had to go through the same process as any other unsigned band starting from zero just because the label did not respect our contract.
As I said, we managed to get into really good venues which were the ones which our label promised to help us get into. Unfortunately, we came to realise that nothing had been kept from their promises, which was quite maddening because we spent so much time building up our career and made so many financial and personal sacrifices to go through all this. For example our girlfriends were left behind in Hungary for one year which put a lot of pressure on the band members. In spite of that we still managed to have a successful year in England, but because we did not get any help from anyone, since no promises were fulfilled, the band started to get disillusioned. After one year our bassist decided to move back to Hungary. At the same time our singer had got into debt, so he had to start working full time, so he had less time for the band. For this reason our progress has begun to slow down. During our second year in England we were slowly getting to a point where our singer asked for time to reconsider what we have been through over the past two years. Even now we are still in this period of reconsideration and it has been lasting for months.
We tried to re-negotiate with our label. Even from the beginning we kept negotiating with them. For the first couple of months we thought that everything was working out right because we met them once a month and gave an account of our achievements. They promised us that when we managed to get a show at Barfly and similar clubs then they would help us. Finally, after six or seven months we got a gig at Barfly, but they still didn’t want to help us. After that, when we got into Coco, which is an even bigger venue, they disappeared, which was not nice of them at all. They probably thought, as they knew our original plan was for six months, that after half a year we were going to give up. Instead, we had a really dynamic start.
Unfortunately, as our contract was exclusive to EMI selling our copyrights to it for the whole territory of the world, we could not approach any other label. Basically, we were trapped. As opposed to British and American musicians who are protected and warned about the dangers of recording contracts, Hungarians are completely uninformed, since most of them have no experience on the international music scene. Therefore, they tend to sign record deals without any legal assistance. Thus, after years you might realise, just like us, that you have signed a one-sided agreement.
Finally, when our label quit responding to our e-mails at the end of last year we decided to publish an open letter to the public and call their attention to the EMI International website on which the listing of all their Hungarian artists and musicians from other Central-European countries had been deleted. We hoped that this would give evidence to the public what unjust things had been going on at the company. We believed that the website would suggest that this was only the tip of the iceberg of a huge problem beneath the surface. Our open letter has had a response from the Hungarian music industry. We received many e-mail and verbal support from fellow-musicians. In spite of all this, EMI has not reacted to it and has not re-edited its website. Therefore, I don’t know if any action will be taken in the future.
We don’t have the power to do serious damage to a huge company like EMI, but if we could manage to spread the word to our colleagues in Hungary, if they could learn from our experience, that might make some difference.
Actually, the most bonding part of our agreement with EMI ended after our first year in England, however certain parts still apply. Right now, we are relatively free to go, so probably we wouldn’t need to change anything about the band to try and escape the contract. There is no pressure to change anything from outside, since when we were playing in front of a good audience the reception was very good. However, the band is already in a bad condition because of the reasons I mentioned, so we will still have to find new ways of working.
We would be free to sign a contract for new compositions, but our previous works would still remain in the hands of EMI. This means that we have to come up with new songs with which we could legally approach labels. I also have to stress that as far as I know it takes an average of three or four years for a band to get a contract. We have only been here for two years, so in theory we should not expect any other labels to be interest in signing our band yet. That is why our only concern was with the record company that had already signed us in Hungary. We understand that to reach a new label with which we had not dealt with in the past it will take us a long time, which for some bands might be even ten years. This is one of the reasons why what I have said so far should not be understood as pure complaint about our situation. Our complaints our only concerned about EMI who has failed to keep its promises and do its duties to support us.
There were lot of good things we have been through. What was a very good experience for us was that within a year we could really progress from zero to a standard level by working hard. Some of our best concerts were at Coco, Club Enemy and Northampton Festival. We also got to know managers and producers working with famous bands, one of them used to work with Led Zeppelin, George Harrison and similar big names. It was quite an honour to speak with them and have dinner with them and get dome good advice. Besides, it was very inspiring to find many unknown bands in small clubs playing really, really good music. Of course, making lot of friends not just musicians was also an important part of our lives here in London. All these things couldn’t have happened to us if had stayed in Hungary.
If we talk about big labels, multinational companies who are experts in making huge profit then its true, the music itself won’t be their main focal point. I’m not saying that they do not care about the music at all, but it will not be their greatest concern, they will be more interested in how marketable a band and their music is. Whether the members speak proper English or not, could also be an aspect of consideration. However, I also have to add that this only applies to most of the big record companies and not for example to independent labels which are usually focusing more on the music and supporting the bands that they personally like. If you search on the internet or read books about the music industry you will easily see this is the logic of its mechanism. Consequently, our band could be offered a contract by a smaller label within three of four years.
Probably, we have to keep our music going even if it’s just three or only two of us in the band, collaborating with other people. We know it is not going to be easy.
How did you start your music career in London and how did Obiat get going?
Ralf: I was playing in a couple of different bands in Poland and I didn’t plan to come to England, and definitely not for good, but there was a moment when I had the idea of a stoner or doom band with the name Obiat which is more that just a band from the basement somewhere in Poland. At that time in Poland no one was really into this kind of music, most of them were punk rock or death metal fans, so we couldn’t find a singer who could sing to this style of rock, a groovy psychedelic sound from the 70s..
Since, I couldn’t see my future in the bands I was playing in I decided to come to England where there are more opportunities: more musicians and venues, so I thought it is going to be much easier to realise what I wanted. Obiat’s first drummer, Adam also came to England and we started jamming. After the last set we put out the advertisement that we are looking for a singer. Within two days we already had a couple responses which meant that people know and are interested in this music, so it is a better place for doing music, and music is on a higher level. Even if you just want to gain some experience you need to play abroad.
Alex: I came to England because of the music. Back home in Italy playing music was only the fun after work. I wanted to reverse this so that’s why I decided to move to England. When I came here, on one hand, I was glad to find so many bands and gigs, so many choices. On the other hand, I had to realise that the money wasn’t good here either and much of the music was underground. What you have got here are the opportunities. In fact Europe is a much better place for gigs, but England is a perfect base from which you can move forward. Here you have got the contacts, the media, etc. So, it is a great place where you can be helped a lot more than anywhere else in Europe and it is inspiring us too, because of the diversity of people: the fact that we are all from different countries and that we work really well already.
Before joining Obiat I have been in a couple of other bands, but after a while I just had enough because most of them, to be honest, only talk and don’t do much to get a step ahead, for example to get gigs at decent places. So I moved on. Then a friend told me that there was a pretty good band (in which Ralf was playing) that was looking for a bassist, so he advised to check them out. I joined the band, but after two years it wasn’t really progressing. Ralf already had Obiat going on which was not only more successful, but more organised and focused as well. So, the next step was to join them.
What I like about Obiat is that everyone is doing something to support the band, not only one person. It is lot of hard work, you not only need to be a musician, but manage your self as well.
Fabrice: I have been playing music for 13 years and played in few bands in France, but it has only been three months that I have come to England and joined the band and so I don’t think I can tell much about the English music industry.
What is your first impression?
Fabrice: I think there is good activity out there.
What’s it like to become part of a new band? Is it hard too adapt?
Fabrice: As long as I like the kind of music they play it isn’t difficult.
Laz, and how did your career start in England?
Laz: The reason why I came to England was because I wanted to learn English. I started to work as an au pair. I hadn’t had a music career in my home country since playing music was against the will of my parents, so I only began playing music when I was at college and formed our first band with my friends. After learning the language I wanted to do some more music. I brought my brother to England who is a singer, guitarist and composer and formed a band, Needful Things, with two of our friends: an English guy and a Japanese one. After getting two EPs out because of family problems the band couldn’t go along. In Reading I couldn’t find anyone proper so I went to London to Notting Hill Gate where I saw an advert that a band named Obiat is looking for a singer, so I went to the rehearsal where I meat Adam and Ralf, the two Polish members of the band.
Ralf: Laz was the first to respond to our advert. There were a couple of other guys who were interested, but they seem to be just ‘talking’, whereas Laz texted us straight away asking where our next jam was. So we though this guy was ready, so we set up a jam. When we first saw him he looked like Martin, the guitarist of Faith No More: sunglasses, long hair, big beard and we thought that’s the right guy for our band. When we started jamming he joined in singing to the music straight away. So he joined the band and that’s when the real Obiat was born, in England. Before that the band lived only in our ideas. Without a singer it was like a body without the head. So that’s when we started to put our ideas together, to create our own style, complete our compositions. After six weeks we were ready to play our first show and after two months we recorded our first album.
Are there a lot of opportunities to record an album?
Ralf: As opposed to Hungary or Poland there are recording studios everywhere in England. You just need to pay some money and you get a professional studio with all the pro equipment. If you work here it is not that expensive especially if you share it between four people. The other good thing about London is that there are so many venues to start you career.
Laz: If you want to achieve something in music you can either succeed in the States or in the UK. That’s the top class.
And there are plenty of venues here where you can promote yourself?
Ralf: Laz knows the most about this because he is our promoter.
Laz: If you want to arrange a gig you can’t just go there and say I have done some music I want to play. If you don’t want to rely on booking agents or managers it takes hours and hours of hard work, via the internet and on a personal level. We didn’t want to give them their twenty percent share for doing a job we can do on our own. You can call it networking: going to venues, paying your entry, meeting people, listening to their music, buying them drinks and after a while you get to know how people are related within the industry. It is like a big-big pond full of sharks, hyenas and parasites.
Do you think it would be easier to succeed if your style of music was closer to the mainstream?
Alex: The mainstream is full of bands, the competition is even bigger, and you would need really strong contacts to succeed. Most of those bands seem to repeat each other and follow the big bands because they go for the money, because it is business, but they give nothing to the people.
This is what I would never do. I tried to play with some guy, who composed populist kind of songs, but I couldn’t, it is simply not my style. I wouldn’t even play other bands’ songs for a living, it doesn’t feel the same. I think if you have fun playing your music the audience will have fun too. What is worth playing is playing in your own way.
Laz: People say we are influenced by acid, I think we like to make our audience get into a trip, and if they think that we are acidy then that’s good because then they really are tripping. Even though our music is psychedelic it is not drug driven. We just like to create an atmosphere around us.
Do you think that the nationality of the members of a band determines how fast they can progress in the industry?
Laz: The English just as any other nation like to keep their music empire to themselves. For example, it happened that a promoter had booked our show and later texted Ralf that ‘I’m not doing it’ which could mean many things. It logically means there will be no show, but they could use the language as a means of power a source of confusion or misunderstanding especially for foreigners, so you have to read between the lines. At the same time, those who have been born in England may still have an advantage over us, because they have had the chance to establish their music career starting from their childhood. However, we also had bad experience with Hungarians who let us down in the recent past.
Ralf: Notwithstanding, we hadn’t had any nationality issues. I really feel like part of the London music scene. In fact, the music is the level on which we, all join together.
Laz, how do you handle that besides Obiat you also sing for other bands?
Laz: Actually, I don’t, I just try my best, aim to fit together as many jobs as I can.
What do you think, what do you need the most to succeed in the music industry? Is hard work and talent the most essential?
Laz: Luck, friends, family, networking: to be at the right time at the right place and there is no priority between these.
Alex: I agree with Laz that you need luck, but I think will power is also important. In fact, if you really want it, if you really try then luck will come along.
Andrea Sinkovics Terezak is a reporter for Rising East
© 2004·06
The arts are placed fourth among the top invisible export earners
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