VAGALATSCHK

Biography

Vagalatschk is Weird Eastern Rock band active since 2005 consisting of seven musicians, all living in Geneva, of Polish, Italian, American, French and Swiss origin. Voice, clarinet, violin, trombone, electric accordion, electric guitar, electric bass and drums are the instruments they use to create an odd universe inspired by gypsy Balkan music passed in garage-punk filter. In the spring 2012, the band released its third album, Compressorschk, and in so doing, its third show.
Indeed, a concert from Vagalatschk is a show in which a story is told: you will find an evil shaman, a giant medusa, an alcoholic baby bear, a knife sharpener, a whorehouse manager, the last Genghis Khan’s descendants, a daughter of a white pork breeder and a few other dreadful characters.

« You can create music from an imaginary geography. That is what Vagalatschk does. »
Le Phare, journal from the Swiss Cultural Center in Paris, February 2010.

« A unique musical universe, festive and crazy. Hard not to jump all around while listening to the lyrics in a language understood only by the singer. (…) Watch out: before the concerts, be sure to have enough energy, because they aren’t exactly restful.»
Murmures, 21st October 2010.

Six years, 350 concerts in bars, streets, festivals and clubs
The Chat Noir in Geneva (2007, 2008, 2011), the Case à Choc in Neuchâtel (2007, 2008), the Festival Hors Tribu in Moutier (2007, 2010), the festival de La Petite Toile 2007 in Régnier, the Festival de Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert 2007, the Palais Mascotte in Geneva (2008, 2010), the Tabtap in Schaffausen (2008), La Java in Paris (2008), the Festival de la Cité 2008 in Lausanne, the Paléo Festival in Nyon (2008, 2009), the BScene Festival in Basel (2009) or also the Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana (2009), Bädli Openair Trogen (2009), Rock’n’Poche (2009), Les Fondus de Macadam (2009), Le Théâtre de Verdure in Annemasse (2009), les Nuits de la Roulotte à Chambéry (2010), the Festival du Gibloux (2010), the Equitable Café, Marseille (2010), the Enthropy, Marseille (2010), the Alhambra, Geneva (2010).
All or part of the band participate in theatrical creations among which M… l’Hypocondriaque at the Galpon Theater (2010) or Le Vilain petit mouton at the Théâtre de marionnettes de Genève (2011).

Three discs: Compressorschk (2012, autoprod.), Krasnaïa Valaschia (2009, VDE-Gallo) and Marina (2008, autoprod.)

"Compressorschk" (2012) is a disc whose title is a giant medusa’s name. This medusa is radio controled by Dundolina, the evil shaman. In a merciless struggle, Compressorschk will disperse Vagalatschk upon the raging waves that covered Pursmorsk, the vlagachian main city. This 5-song album presents a few strong moments from the new 2012 show.

"Krasnaïa Valaschia" (2009) is a disc accompanied by a 36-page booklet, which tells the story, via text and paintings, of the young Pietrouschka from Vlagaschia. The talented illustrator Sylvie Wibaut created 15 pictures: each of which shows a sequence from the tragicomic adventures which lead Pietrouschka from her sordid native village, to an atrocious house of ill repute in a somber capitol city, all the way to the joyful liberation. This liberation will be possible through the formation of a ballroom music orchestra named Vagalatschk. Text, image and music respond to each other and create a dense universe with earthy characters who find the strength to leave the world of violence and hate thanks to their sense of sharing and their love for music. Krasnaïa Valaschia is a visual and musical gem of vlagachian literature.

"Marina" (2008) is a 6-song disc. The sound is both urban and rustic: it smells simultaneously like the haystack into which the snappy youth would like to tumble and also smells like a smoke filled basement that is sweating beer. This disc is sold out.