Ghostchant [grim outlook on the world as a whole]

Hi, first chill question: what sort of things can’t you leave home without?

Depends on where I go, haha. Ok, I’m not necessarily proud of this, but I won’t leave home without my smartphone, I just like to stay connected. Every once a while I feel I shouldn’t be this tech-oriented, but we tend to believe the world ends if we’re not connected and up-to-date on a minute by minute basis. That sucks.

Ghostchant is not a band of amateurs. You`ve played in very good bands in the past. How do you look back on the bands you played in? 


I loved being in both Newborn and Bridge To Solace and they both gave me so much on a personal (and of course professional) level. I got to tour, I got to make friends and they opened my eyes on the world in ways I could have never imagined. To tour for 10+ years is one of the best things that could’ve ever happened to me. Both bands have had very strong personalities and therefore a part of it was a constant struggle of enormous egos and youthful idealists who would never compromise their beliefs and vision. I have said this earlier in other interviews, we so often came across as a bunch of assholes, haha. But again, that was the price of doing something good and unique and passionate. When you throw in some crazy personalities in a small unit, it’s going to be like sitting on a powder keg ready to blow, but all the bad things aside, I loved every second of it.

 You have just released a new EP with Ghostchant. I know that the vinyl version of this stuff is already sold out. Is that possible to get any physical copy of 
”Slaves” yet? How have the general reactions to the EP been so far?

I must correct you there, the super limited tape version is sold out, while the vinyls will be available mid-march! The reactions have been great so far, not that we pay too much attention to it. We know what we do is good, because we love doing it, and that’s what matters. If your heart’s not into what you do, you can’t ever expect anyone else to relate to it. So with that said, I think people got into it, because they know this is no bullshit, this is real, this is true and this is something honest and raw and energetic. From there on out, we’re not really concerned, we just want our music to be available wherever possible.

Your EP is available to download on your Bandcamp profile. Do you view downloading/file-sharing as mainly positive?

I’m all for those things, but I can never accept when people wouldn’t look further. We have put Slaves out there for free, we believe our music and music in general should be easily accessible for anyone. On the other hand, myself, as a crazy record collector I believe the DIY community could maintain it’s status because kids support bands, and there’s NOTHING better for me in music than getting to know great bands and supporting them by buying their records. Kids nowadays just don’t always care, but that depends also on the scene they’re in. So while I’m all in for downloading and file sharing, I strongly believe one should never stop and never be satisfied with just collecting files on a computer, but experience something real, go to shows, buy records and just not be ignorant about it. Cause in the end, downloading is – for me at least – a means to an end. And the “end” here is a flourishing community that manages to keep itself alive by the people in it supporting one another.

Ghostchant is a band, which mix a lot of styles – death metal / metalcore / black metal. What type of music was your intention, when you were creating the band? To 
someone who hasn’t heard your music how would you describe it?


We wanted to do something dark and heavy. Our guitarist, Norbi and me have been friends forever and we love a lot of the same music. We just wanted to incorporate all our influences into a heavy mix of pissed off hardcore punk, I think it came out good. I always hated to describe my own art quite honestly, it comes off stupid I think, haha. We have been influenced by bands such as Catharsis, His Hero Is Gone, Entombed, Converge, Neurosis, and a ton more, and that pretty much sums it up, but the listener should decide.

Zoltan, I’ve always liked your type of lyrics. Is the experience of previous bands helps you in creating a lyrical layer for Ghostchant? How big a role do the lyrics 
play for the band, and music? 


Obviously I am more experienced in writing lyrics just because I have been doing this for almost 20 years and I think for someone who’s native language isn’t English, I managed to come a pretty long way. I always took a very critical approach of the world around and that is what I aimed for with Ghostchant. While I’m a big fan of music in general, even listening to bands that have nothing much to say, I would never ever in my life do a band that has no message or anything meaningful to say. That’d compromise my beliefs that hardcore punk should be critical and offer thoughts and ideas. So for me, the lyrics and music are equally important in any band that I’m a member of. I just wouldn’t want it any other way.

From the lyrics for „Slaves” is pouring out sadness and disappointment of the world in which we live. Can you be considered as a negativist also in everyday life? If 
so, what gives you support in the everyday existence?

Now that’s a tricky question. Am I negative? To some extent surely. But just because my lyrics are negative and disappointed outbursts against the society we live in, doesn’t mean I’m moping around on a regular basis. I am an overly critical person, someone who’s never really satisfied with anything and I’d call myself some sort of crazy creative maximalist with a huge ego. I am always analyzing everything and see what I could have done better (or different). So with that naturally comes a grim (or maybe just realistic?) outlook on the world as a whole, but I’m actually a pretty fun dude, haha. So no, I’m not a negative person, I’m just trying to stay both feet on the ground and be realistic and I’m having my bad days just as much as I’m having good ones. However, being in bands and being able to write helps me and is very therapeutic. I can get rid of my little demons by creating music, lyrics, etc.

Could you describe the symbolism of the cover to „Slaves”? The people, who are holding their hands has to identify the lack of independence in the functioning in 
modern times? Do you think that one of the biggest problems we face today is the lack of personal freedom?

Well it’s plain and simple. You see the angered Justitia statue standing behind the oppressed with a sword and a mask, so there’s not much fucking around, haha. Now that’s something I’d describe as pretty direct. The people holding their hands are the people who’ve had enough. I love how my simplistic concept was put on paper by my friend Barnabas at Barber’s Art. He’s a super talented artist and one of my best friends, if I were to have a younger brother, I think he would be it. He shares a lot of my vision for music, lyrics and art. I basically described him poorly what I want to see on the cover, told him the lyrical concept and he came back with this. So he’s not just a gun for hire, but he is his own unique kind of crazy who completes my lack of talent when it comes to drawing. He wonderfully found what I was looking for. He is already working on the cover of our 2^nd EP, Nations and that’s going to be amazing as well! Now back to your question regarding the lack of personal freedom. It’s hard to say. I’m sure many people would label me as a crazy conspiracy theorist, but none of us are truly free from the shackles of modern day society. Now to analyze this, it would take days and long pages of answers, but the lack of personal freedom in the illusion we like to call democracy is definitely one of the main problems the world is facing today.

„To prosper at the cost of those in need / Is just the flawed side of democracy”. What exactly did you have in this phrase mean? Politicians who by the position of 
power use it for their own purposes forgetting about the people who voted for them? Is the Hungarian government / parliament observe a lot of acts of corruption, 
fraud, lying to people straight in the eyes?


I meant that while we love the illusion of democracy and out of the many political / economical systems, it is the one that seems to be working best (or let’s say the least flawed out of many horrible systems), people often misinterpret democracy and claim they can do whatever they can, because “hey it’s capitalism!” or “hey, it’s democracy!”. The Slaves EP is not necessarily about politicians, it is about the last couple years of economic struggles the world and this region and my country is facing. We tried not to single out only politicians, but bankers, financial lobbies, and in general those people who blindly build up a system that will eventually fail the ones believing in it. The song Prosperity Through Enslavement talks about how under the disguise of democracy and capitalism people are blinded and forced into participating in a rat-race that results in buying, buying, buying and jumping into mortgage and taking credit loans in order to have a bigger house, a faster car, and the ones making these deals don’t really tell people the backside of this. Thus “to prosper at the costs of those in need”. In Hungary, most of the bank loans were given out Euro or Swiss Franc based and the local currency was artificially strengthened so that the Hungarian economy would have an artificial boom. Now when the recession hit and the artificially strengthened Hungarian Forint’s value significantly weakened, the loan business collapsed, exchange rates got sky high and people’s lives took a dramatic turn for the worse. And the politicians and the financial sector knew this could go down. Yet people weren’t made aware of the high risks of an irrational currency exchange rate fluctuation. And now, when poverty hit Hungary like a wrecking ball, the local financial sector prospered here and out of the whole European Union, it was in the top earners during the years of recession. And when people are desperate and want answers and want their lives to be better, this sector operates with the “nobody put a gun to your head to take those loans, so don’t blame us when you lost your house” analogy and that’s how we end up with “the flawed side of democracy”.

What about your general views on the present political climate in your country? I know, that you`ve a lot of right-wing/nationalist tendencies in Hungary.


Oh boy, I could rant for hours about this. It is next to impossible not to get wrapped up in talking about the political climate. We live in a deeply corrupted state and face poverty this country hasn’t faced in a long time and that obviously generates extremities. I hate what Hungary has become and I do feel that people here are so busy fighting over bones that we tend to forget that neither the governing party, nor the opposition can offer shit anymore. We’re way past left VS right here. Not only here, in the whole world. I think we are facing a class war where the corrupted, political elite can do whatever they want, however they want, while we’re busy with our mouths foaming like rabid dogs to go at each other’s throats and calling names. This is all just a theater for the under-privileged, under-educated to get in the ring and throw their stones at each other. This is why the system has failed us. Hungary has reached the point where there’s no political force who can offer a way out of this economic mess, where we are just a small country torn between bigger powers and we just silently walk to the slaughterhouse and we’re so busy screaming and generating a vision of enemies to whatever standard our own little beliefs allow us. In my opinion, the governing party is building up an ugly little state in the heart of Europe, and the people here have zero guts to stand the fuck up to it, because we’re just so busy fighting over the bones they threw us.

On your facebook profile you have expressed recently your anxiety about the current situation in Ukraine. What are your feelings when you see a video of the fights in Kiev?


I was in shock and awe to see the reports. No people should die the way people have been in Ukraine. It was gut-wrenching to see how the system failed the Ukrainian people and I was hoping the resolution they have recently found is for the benefit of them, but now with Putin’s troops entering Crimea is more dangerous than before.

Do not you have the impression that the fighting in Ukraine have so complicated dimension that for people outside the motivations of the opposition may be not quite well understood?


I actually do. But I also strongly believe that it’s not up to us to rush to judgment from our comfortable homes. I have heard/read so much over the past few weeks. Some called this the revolution of Jewish financial interests, some called this the revolution of the puppets of the EU/USA loving liberals, some called this the revolution of fascist football hooligans. Everybody has a great analogy for this, while they forget one thing – they should shut the fuck up from the safety and warmth of their homes. I cannot even begin to understand what the people of Kiev went through. And while we’re all busy justifying the riots / revolution in Kiev to our own set of beliefs, we forget something important. There’s all kinds of people on the streets, regardless of their religious and/or political beliefs, because a deeply rotten and corrupted system has failed them. Ukraine had enough. Venezuela had enough as a matter of fact, but we’re not that concerned with that, as it’s not happening in our very own backyards. And what deeply saddens me is that people do not look at the big picture. And the big picture is, no people should die like that, no system should fail it’s people like that.

 Many people protested that the European Union and the United States has no intervention on Ukraine. Some, however, compare the possible intervention with the 
actions in Afghanistan or Iraq. Do you think it is correct to compare these situations in your opinion? 


Why would they intervene? We’re in Cold War 2. The EU and the US and Russia let the Ukrainian people do their dirty work, as long as they’re out there fighting, they don’t have to intervene and they can just stand in the back. Now it would be ignorant from me to compare the evil of a EU and US coalition to the evil of the Ukrainian government, but one these evils sent snipers up on rooftops to kill the people fighting for their freedom. Could you have imagined the ramification of a joint EU/US intervention against a government backed by Russia? Putin’s vision of rebuilding something similar to what the former Soviet Union used to be would be seriously harmed by a strengthened, more open and enlightened Ukraine. The EU also needs Ukraine to be strong, as an ally right next to Russia ain’t bad for them. However, these powers participating wanted to have this settled without direct intervention – which resulted in the people of Kiev fighting their own battles. Now with Putin invading and the whole situation being days away from a declaration of war, the whole story took a different turn. But again, I do not believe the EU/US forces would intervene. It’s a power play and we’re sitting on fucking powder kegs ready to blow. Nobody really wants to risk that.

When you expressed your opinion on the situation in Ukraine, you said that one of the things that we can do for these people is say a prayer for them. Therefore, 
what is your relationship to faith? You are in some way a believer?


It was more of a figure of speech. I have no relationship with god. Simply because, I am what you may call agnostic. I haven’t seen it all, nobody can prove anything and just because there MIGHT be a god out there, why would I spend my life worshipping? On the other hand, I believe in the true and unbridled power of Mother Nature.

 In the song „Where nothing is sacred” you ask if „were we the ones to sign our fate by turning our heads the other way”? Do not you think that, overall, our 
species is too focused on their own interests and unable to act to ever could it be otherwise?


I agree. We are focused on our own interests, humanity by nature is an evil and selfish species. I also believe that in this fast new information age people can get their hands on alternative information regarding alternative methods of living. When ideas are introduced on a larger, wider scale, people do have a better chance to figure out what to do with their lives. The information is out there, it’s everyone’s own decision to pick it up. It is partly utopian to think how the whole of humanity will be enlightened and good at it’s core, but people are becoming more spiritual in general and with their freshly opened eyes, people can look at life itself differently. We live in a day and age, where everyone feels the weight of this world crashing down on us. Over-population, poverty, pollution, greed, re-distribution of the world’s wealth is a dark shadow following us all. People need to be more conscious and self-aware – but as I said, the information is out there, it just needs to be picked up. I certainly hope more people will get involved with the bettering of their own lives.

How do you think the order of the world would look like, if from the beginning was stuck in people the belief that reincarnation is a fact? Is the way of looking 
the people on this world could be different?


Haha, this might be too philosophical of a question to answer this correctly and shortly, but I like it. Well, I’m asking back. What do you think would be the way to go? A.) “we’re coming back anyway, so what the fuck, fuck everyone or everything or B.) “I have to cherish this life and this place for I am to return here”?

Are there any books, movies that lead you to this critical type of reflection about our world? What’s in this aspect would you recommend?


I love a good documentary as much as the other guy, as for movies, I’d say the Matrix and Fight Club are both prime examples of blockbuster movies that are related to critical thinking. Books, books… I have loved Herman Hesse’s Demian and Hungarian author, Imre Madách’s book “The Tragedy of Man” – both have been very important books for me that I loved and cherished when I was an angry teenager. I am also a big fan of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I have read some of his books – Of Love And Other Demons and Hundred Years In Solitary. I loved these grotesque outlooks on society and tradition. All in all, I gotta admit, I need to read WAY more.

Ok, in other hand, do you have any hobbies, interests, collections etc outside your bands that you can tell us about? 


Football and dogs! I’m a big fan of our local team, Újpest, as well as Chelsea and Real Madrid, but my main love is Újpest. My father took me to my first game when I was 3 years old – sadly Hungarian football is no longer any good, but I grew up in that part of Budapest where my team is from and I am a proud supporter to this very day, no matter how shitty we sometimes are. A couple years ago I actually took Mitts and Freddy from Madball and Armand from Sick Of It All to one of our home games before a show I did for them in Budapest, that was a lot of fun. Our guitarist Norbi and me are season ticket holders and we’re almost everywhere when our time allows us to be. Also, both him and I own a couple dogs. Our pack is five crazy dogs when my girl and our mutual crazy dog is with us. Norbi has an amazing and very special dog, a pitbull and amstaff mix, who was left beaten, abandoned and sick when she was a pup and Norbi spent hundreds of euros to get her back on her feet while most of the people would have given up on her. She became a very loving dog and a perfect example of how these “aggressive” breeds can be when trained and handled properly. And well, music is also a pretty big thing in my life, I own a pretty cool record collection that I keep growing. That’s an expensive hobby, haha!

What next do you have planned for the band? 


We’ll see. The good thing about this band that we get to do whatever we want, whenever we want. As I said before, the vinyl version of Slaves is dropping mid-March, we’re actually one week into the pre-orders and the feedback is pretty good. We also started phase two of the band, we are recording demos and ideas for our next EP, Nations. Originally I was thinking in terms of lyrical ideas that last for four EPs. Now I’m thinking we could do 5 EPs and I got concepts for surely one and maybe two full-lengths. The future is exciting, let’s see how far we can take this!

Thanx for the interview, I hope it wasn`t your waste of time

I thank you, Marcin, I really enjoyed doing this!