Gypsy punk

Gypsy punk is the term used to describe a hybrid musical genre that crosses traditional Romani music with punk rock. The origin of the term is unknown, but bands playing Gypsy punk have existed at least since the 1990s. One of the first rock groups to incorporate elements of punk and Eastern European music was Motherhead Bug, which was active mostly in the early 1990s. The term became well known to a broader audience after the band Gogol Bordello released the album Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, with front man Eugene Hütz describing their performance as a "Gypsy Punk Cabaret".^[1] The term has also been subject to the debate that it exploits Roma culture. Gogol Bordello have since insisted it was just the name of their album, which was then taken and used by the music press as a term to define the genre of their music and similar artists — not an offshoot term for authentic Gypsy music.

Gypsy punk bands usually combine rock beats and instrumentation with more traditional Gypsy instrumentation such as drums, tambourine, accordion, fiddle, trumpet and saxophone.^[2] In addition, due to the varied ethnic makeup of the Gypsy culture, many bands sing in several different languages, often switching language many times within a single song.

There is a Gypsy punk internet radio show called Gypsy Part of Town, broadcast on WNYU-FM every Sunday from 8–10 p.m..

Gypsy punk bands

• Afenginn (though the band itself prefers the term "Bastard Ethno")
• Alamaailman Vasarat
• Balkan Beat Box
• Blackbird RAUM
• DeVotchKa
• Dorlene Love
• Firewater
• Gogol Bordello
• Golem
• Jason Webley
• J.U.F.
• Katzenjammer
• Kultur Shock
• Motherhead Bug
• The Penny Black Remedy
• Roy de Roy
• Sirius.B
• The Tower of Dudes
• Zdob şi Zdub
• Zydepunks

See also

• Anti-folk
• Cabaret
• Folk punk

References