What was the beginning pint for your music career? How did it all start?
I got into music completely by accident. I was a professional gymnast and sport was pretty much my everything. I unfortunately landed badly on my feet which resulted in a spine operation when I was 14 years old. I had to recalculate my life and fill the gap that my sports career had left behind. It was a difficult reality to accept at the time. The physical pain was nothing compared to the hole in my soul that I tried to fill. That’s how I found music and a couple of years later, ended up forming The Hellfreaks in 2009.
Was there any bumps on the road? What kind of challenges did you have to deal with?
I’m not a lullaby selling type – being a rock musician in 2020 means a bunch of bumps in the road! This won’t be a shiny answer, more of a brutally honest one. I think there are two things that every band has to struggle with at some point: time management and the financial part. Everything is really easy as long as you’re a student. You have time, you have options, you may not have money but at that age, no one has. But when life gets serious, everyone has other issues to solve, everyone has other priorities and responsibilities and that’s the point at which it gets really tricky. You need to be able to compromise with the band members and you need to accept that it’s impossible to involve everyone in the same way. Some of you will work way more than the other and if you can’t deal with that, you will have a very hard time.
We’re in a special situation because this band is more than just a hobby. It’s more than just a free time activity so we put more into it. Basically everything we do, aside to the music, could fill a full time job. We’re also not making a living from it so we have to figure out a way to live as active musicians and be able to earn money elsewhere. This is a hard balance to keep and this is only possible with a lot of acceptance from everyone involved.
What was the most fulfilling and satisfying moment so far?
If I have to point out one moment, then I would pick the moment when we accepted the invitation to the US, California based festiva,l Ink’n Iron back in 2015. We split up with the band in 2014 because of a million reasons and it broke me into pieces. I already gave up. But thanks to that invitation and thanks to the motivating words of our former drummer, we reunited with new members, a new mindset and took back control. I didn’t know back then just how important this decision was. Today I feel very lucky because I’m not a teenager anymore and still have and live my dream. I think that’s something that many of us lose on the road. I mean I still don’t think that I’ve ‘made it’ but I have something that I really burn for and that’s something special.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
I would consider ourselves a modern, punk metal band. We’re the sound for kids who grew up with rock’n roll, punk, metal and hardcore – because that’s what we’re into! And we love to mix these elements and spice them up with a modern touch.When it comes to the question “to which bands do you sound similar to” it takes me ages to give an answer.
I believe that this has to be a sign that we’re doing a good job because it’s hard to compare us to any other band, which means that we’re really doing something unique and that is one of the main goals when you’re writing music.
What is your creative process like?
When it comes to the instrumental part, our head of operations is our bass player Gabi. Of course also our guitarist Jozzy and our drummer Béla give their input to the songs but the main bricks are always laid by Gabi who writes the songs in a tiny little room at his home.
When it comes to the vocal melodies and lyrics, it’s all on my desk. This is always the second step of the process. First the instrumental part is written, just after that comes my part.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
I love the fact that thanks to social media we can get so close to our fanbase and can have direct contact with anyone who wants to, even if they live on the other side of the world. It’s hard to imagine that basically not even thaaaat long ago, concerts were the only chance to get to know your fans. But, social media can be very nerve wracking at the same time as there is so much pressure to be present all the time … you know from time to time I wish I could just dive into the creative process, to forget myself and sink into the music to disappear for a while. But this is such a luxus. You simply can’t if you don’t want to be forgotten.
If you were asked to give a piece of advice to upcoming bands, what would that be?
I don’t think anyone warned me about the downfalls back then when I started to play in a band. You might think that it only affects you, but trust me, it’s simply part of it. Everyone faces an endless amount of closed doors before they knock on one open one. The difference is in how quick you can stand up and straighten your crown.
What has been the best performance of your career so far?
Without playing shows for 10 month now thanks to Covid, every show memory seems to be like paradise.
If you didn’t become a musician, what would you be doing now?
I guess I would be an environmental engineer, as that’s the bachelor degree I have.
What is new with the band at the moment? What are you currently working on and would like to share with the world?
Oh yesss… we are already working on our new album and we’ve also prepared some other surprises! But we’ll raise that curtain a bit later. Till then, make sure to follow us on our pages so that you don‘t miss anything!
Website: www.thehellfreaks.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheHellfreaks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehellfreaks/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehellfreaks/
