Full interview here. Pieces below. After The Jump Fest is on Saturday - less than forty-eight hours away!So there has been some debate going around about where the name Golem orginates from? Can you enlighten me?
The Golem is the Jewish Frankenstein. Actually, rumor has it that the idea for Frankenstein was inspired by the story of the golem. A golem is a human-like creature, created by man, which isn't human (like a robot). The most famous golem was in 17th century Prague, created by a certain Rabbi Lowe out of clay. The golem, a huge monster, was supposed to protect the Jewish community from trouble, but he was a little too wild, so had to be put back to clay eventually. Too wild for his own good.. just like us!
There aren't a lot of bands out now that sound like Golem. What inspired your sound and what inspired you guys to get together?
Our sound is inspired by very old music (Jewish, Gypsy, Slavic).. we're a bunch of punks playing songs from the 19th century! But we play music from Eastern Europe that has so much life and energy in it, it melds perfectly with our own contemporary mindset. We play the music in the here and now.
I noticed that you're playing the Jewish Music Festival in Warsaw. How did you get that opportunity? How do find that crowds abroad differ from audiences that you have played for here in the US?
We've been getting some reknown as the iconoclastic folk-punk band.. and people want to hear what's that's all about, especially in Europe, where people are familiar with the type of folk music we're riffing on. So I'd say it's a more informed response in Europe, but no less hearftfelt, and audiences there are even more surprised with what we're doing with this music. This time will be our first time in Poland, however, and we're really looking forward to it. Of course most Polish Jews were killed in the Holocaust, and it will be incredibly emotional to go there and scream our hearts out on stage and show how alive both we and this music are!
MP3: Golem - Warsaw Is Khelm
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