The tenth episode of Discovery takes us into the waters of garage rock, alter and surf punk! Hovahaza, the debut album of Lakható Sár, was released last year, bringing something new for the fans of these styles. You can find out more about the album and one of its songs, Csirkedal, which received a music video, by reading this article, along with the band’s backstory! Stay tuned this time too!
Band: Lakható Sár (HUN)
Genre(s): Garage Rock, Alter, Surf Punk
Current line-up:
- Péter “Petúr” Draganits – vocals, guitar
- Bálint Bieder “BB” – drums
- Krisztián Maczák – bass guitar
- Ferenc Rákóczi – lead guitar
DISCOGRAPHY
Hovahaza (LP) - 2021
What should you know about the Lakható Sár? Who inspired the band? Why did Csirkedal get a music video from the album? These questions will be answered one by one in this episode of Discovery, but you’ll also get to hear about other topics! Let’s get started!
How would you describe yourselves in a few words?
BB: The party pack (haha).
Where did the name Lakható Sár (Habitable Mud) come from? Whose idea was it?
BB: Originally, the name “Lakható Sár” didn’t refer to a band, it was just the brainchild of Petúr. It was the name under which he and his cousin recorded very strange songs in a caravan at the end of their garden.
Petúr: The name “Lakható Sár” came about because a long time ago, back in the days when I was just learning my 4 favourite chords that I still use today, we used to play there a lot. We used to consume an interesting amount of alcohol and when we felt it was time, we would start making music and singing whatever came to mind. We would listen back to them the next day, because we had the foresight to start recording in time. Due to the above circumstances, there was quite a lot of rubbish and mud in the habitable car, which is how the hobby project got its name in the first place.
BB: Later, when the band was formed, we lived together in a commune in a huge house. Because of the constant mess, chaos and hustle and bustle, we started calling the place a mud house and mud castle. We started practicing there as a band, so when it came to choosing a name, it seemed obvious to use the name Lakható Sár.
Petúr: Here, everyone joined in the music making, because for some reason there were a lot of instruments, so those who didn’t play any instruments by default also enjoyed the strange, collective noise. Then it slowly became clear that there were people for every position to form a band, so we decided to start one in 2019. I think it’s also evident in our music that the members come from quite different musical backgrounds and experiences. The rest of us grew up on more classic rock music, I was more into the rocking, screaming lineage of the twenties. Then we pushed these divergent trends into common ground in our music, with more or less success.
BB: We mix a lot of things, there’s never a recipe.
What bands or musicians have inspired you?
BB: As a band, Aussie surfpunk, garage rock, and Hungarian alter are the main ingredients. Fidlar, Skegss, Dune Rats were our biggest influences, that’s the direction we started from, but it was inevitable that everyone had to bring their own influences, which were really, really diverse, from classic rock to metal to emo-punk.
Petúr: I think I could mention two bands from abroad, Avenged Sevenfold and My Chemical Romance, and in Hungary the trio of Lovasi, Likó and Bérczesi come to mind.
Do you have any personal favourites among the songs you have released so far? If so, why would you choose that one?
BB: Every day is different for me. I love the way I can get lost in the lyrics of the Petúr songs, even in the older songs I always stumble upon something new that grabs me and helps me to roll the current shit.
Petúr: For me, maybe Garázsmenet. That’s a new generation song from the album, at the time our lead guitarist Feri joined the band and we put it together, the four of us. It is fun to play and outlines the mood I want to portray in our music.
Last year you released your debut album, Hovahaza! What themes does the album cover? What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Hovahaza?
BB: The truth is that we didn’t really have a concept when we made the album. When we put the band together, we started with Petur’s existing songs, we had the lyrics and chord progressions, and we just put our ideas on top of that. But maybe we all had a feeling of uncertainty at that time, of wanting to change and not wanting to change at the same time. The title Hovahaza and all the songs are an imprint of our everyday life at that time.
Petúr: About two thirds of the album is made up of my older songs, which are mostly about being sad.:D But jokes aside, the hopelessness, the search for a way forward, the feeling of being lost is in our music in some form. The title of the album is something like that. I think you can really tell from the album which are the songs that we’ve brought and which are the ones we’ve done together. They have a completely different vibe, they’re more hopeful, more exciting.
The album also has a unique artwork. What inspired it and which song do you think best reflects what it depicts?
Petúr: We thought a lot about the album cover because although we had a lot of sketches and ideas for it, none of them really expressed what we stand for. And then a friend of ours made the current one, which I like because it’s terribly simple, a bit cold, a bit sad, and that’s enough for this record I think.
BB: If you have to mention a specific song, I think of it as “Érzem“, it illustrates the cold loneliness described in it.
How far in the future would you stick to the line that Hovahaza represents? What would you keep and what would you change?
BB: When it comes to new songs, we never think too much, we tend to write on instinct and then we argue about them when we do the recording. We never plan ahead and it’s worked so far. All we know for sure is that we’ve changed a lot since then, so the songs have evolved, both musically and lyrically. But no one needs to worry, we haven’t learned to make music since then.
Petúr: The first album was a great experiment, we looked at how we could collaborate, how we could incorporate ideas and work together in a basic way. I think it became a kind of a bonding material. We recorded it all in a basement, I think you can hear that on it. Sometimes there’s too much of it, sometimes there’s too little of it, but we put it together, it’s done and we can see where we go from there.
You also made a video clip for Csirkedal, one of the songs from Hovahaza! Why did you choose this song? Can you tell us about the process of making the music video?
BB: When we were refining the songs, we came up with ideas for video clips for several of them. In the end, Csirkedal and Mit tennék were made because the others were forgotten. If I remember correctly, the animation was my brainstorm, I still don’t understand why. It’s not an easy thing to do, but we found Heni Kormos, a graphic designer, who had the patience to work with us. We threw ideas back and forth and that’s how it ended up.
What does this song mean to you? What is the message?
BB: It’s a chicken and egg thing, you know.
Petúr: I think the message is that life is unpleasant in all circumstances.
Which other song would you shoot a music video for? What story could you imagine?
Petúr: I have a lot of weird ideas for music videos, but none of them are related to anything, they just look funny or interesting as I imagine.
BB: I would like to release Petúr on PET bottles into the Danube in a clip one day. We hope he overcomes his fears.
What are your main goals for the coming years?
BB: We are currently working on the second album. We’ll definitely celebrate when it’s done and then dive into touring.
Petúr: My personal goal for the future is to learn to sing a little bit, maybe play guitar. It’s hard to imagine the future years in advance, and anyway.
If you don’t want to miss out on Lakható Sár, or if you just want to get more into their first album Hovahaza, you can find everything you need by following the links below!
Lakható Sár
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lakhato.sar
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lakhato.sar/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6JLmb1BZ8PfxwrcyYx_Tbg
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3KYUrMDu7kaaYPCjwS4KOV
by: Wolfy
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