How are you celebrating your anniversary?
We are not going to overdo it, there will be no self-praise, balloons, a roadshow or handing out free samples. But we are writing our story and publishing it on our webpage, updating it monthly. We have chosen a special birthday date to coincide with our show at Fishing on Orfű.
Was there ever a moment during the past ten years when you thought you would give up, or when you were especially glad that you decided to get together with your bandmates?
I have not had that experience, either contemplating surrender, or being especially thankful. Existing as a band seems like such an evident choice that we don?t think much about it. Well, if we do, we make sure to write a song.
Can you divide the past ten years into phases?
Certainly not by rehearsal rooms, vans, kilometres, concerts, albums or stages. But we have always been too lazy to think about the phases or to assess them. If it matters to anyone what 30Y meant in different periods, they may carry out an assessment, but I won?t do it for them.
Which is you favourite album and why?
By us or by anyone else? Well, regardless, I can?t give you an answer.
Being in tune is a great merit that 30Y has demonstrated in terms of personalities and also in music. But each of you may also have very different tastes. Who dictates the trend? Who are your influences and whom do you influence?
We have divergent tastes. Ádika has recently asked me to dye a new pair of trousers for him and I think I got it right. Ever since he wears these new yellow-green trousers, his bass plays hippy sounds. What I actually want to say is this is how we work: our every aspiration is expressed through music. Simply because we are a band.
What are the advantages or disadvantages of coming from outside Budapest?
The commonplaces that appeared in Hungarian rock journalism over the past forty years are all true. Fortunately. I would not function in Budapest.
The focus on lyrics can be a reward but also a curse. Which is which?
Being focused on lyrics is an evident choice for me. Why would you want to listen to music with dumb words? You should rather avoid the words altogether then. So if a band plays songs, then that?s what has to be in focus: songs with music and words, it?s as simple as that.
Your lyrics have become part of the syllabus, there is ongoing discourse about your ?poetry.? How do you react to that? What?s your inspiration when writing lyrics?
I am not a poet and I do not write poetry, especially not if you put it in quotation marks. I write songs or I get immersed in making music with others. The rhythm of the text and the melody become part of musical improvisation, a few quick lines that slowly develop into lyrics.
You are a musician and also a university professor. This can create a number of contradictions. Are you a rockandroller or rather an academic?
A few weeks ago, I would have said that I am not a professor but an assistant lecturer. Today I can say that I am a senior lecturer. The university professor title means wisdom, professional prestige and unavoidably more grey hair. For the time being, I tend to read up in the group?s van rather than in the university library.
What would you wish for the band?s birthday?
Objects I certainly would not. And solutions neither. Only the mutual and permanent transformation that is impossible to predict. Tha which has surrounded us since the beginning.
Interviewer: Sisso / Photo: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
