Gypsy Dub from Vilnius’ Slums
Bango is a one-eyed alcoholic gypsy living in the slummy outskirts of Vilnius.
He was found ranting beside a kiosk by Augustinas Beinaravicius, a Lithuanian electronic music producer who realized Bango was the voice he had been looking for.
“He has a whole biography of the gypsy camp in his voice… We took him straight to the studio and sampled his singing,” Augustinas said.
The result is Bango Collective, an album of dub and electronica that samples the voices and stories of Vilnius’s outcast Roma society. Gypsy music doesn’t come more authentic than this. Bango’s wildfire rapping is raspy and real, sung in his own Roma language and set against a grooving beat. Other tracks are more downbeat, reflecting the woe of the women who try to raise their children in pitiful conditions.
B EAST spoke to Augustinas about the year-old project.
These tunes have an awesome beat and an authentic vibe. How did this project come about?
I was interested in undiscovered spaces in Vilnius like the gypsy ghetto. We were walking around taking recordings from people, contemporary ethnography, songs, talking about their lives.
The main idea came after I organized a small festival at the gypsy camp in 2004. Politically and socially it’s a very weak part of our society in Lithuania. Politicians put pressure against them. They want to destroy the camp.
In the wintertime of 2006 they tore down a few houses that the gypsies had built illegally. After that we made the recordings. There is a song of a woman singing about how her house was torn down, how poor she is.
We communicated mostly in Russian, but partly in Roma, their own language, and some Lithuanian.
This is music is your own electronic style. What is their music like?
They have this very traditional folk music. The guy, Bango, he didn’t really understand what our music was about, but he liked the final result. Other people from the camp reacted very positively… they were surprised.
Tell us about Bango…
He’s an old guy, about 60. He is doing nothing, just hangs around and picks up metal to sell. He’s not a junkie, but he kind of is.
We found Bango beside a kiosk, drunken. He likes strong beer. He was very open, and it was not a big problem asking him to do something.
Kids were laughing at him because he lost one eye during the Soviet times. After we released the album, he got a bit more respect.
Kids were laughing at him because he has one eye. He lost one eye during the soviet times. After we released this album, he gets a bit more respect. They yell call him “Bango, our Stevie Wonder”.
What is the gypsy village like?
It’s small, about 250 or 300 people. They live in shitty conditions, unhygienic, no heating or water. There are drug addicts hanging around. Usually they are living from drug sales, but I don’t want to set values about who is doing what.
You will host another festival at the village in June 08…
We are going to the village to try to involve them. It’s not a gypsy music festival specifically. We want to show and develop this cultural communication with the gypsies here in Vilnius. I have invited bands to show what could be possible, like N.O.H.A, gypsies who create drum and bass music.
Do you think their village should be allowed to exist?
They have to be there, in my opinion. They have a strong feeling of the communal life that we don’t have.
www.myspace.com/bangocollective
Check out their wicked track Chuba Chubush here
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