Dirty Slippers is a four-member pop-rock band from Budapest. The band quickly became popular, as their first music video “Élned kell” was played on MTV Hungary in 2009. With 3 MAHASZ top- charting LPs, 10 songs on various hit lists, 3 European tours and more than 1,000 live concerts behind them, the band has become one of the most concerted Hungarian bands in recent years. They hugely impressed us with their most recent single, Honest Kid, So we decided it was time we and our readers learned more about this fast-rising band.
Tell us about the music scene in Hungary right now. What genres are popular?
Well, in the last few years, so many underground genres have grown up and become popular. There are so many rap and hip-hop acts and bands, but I honestly say, I always focus on rock and alternative music. We have a lot of great bands, mostly playing quality pop-rock music, which I really like! I have a radio show called Premier in the Panda Radio and often I invite members of these bands.
Your tour dates show that you guys are incredibly busy. Do you book your own shows or do you have an agent? How do you go about promoting your shows in new areas?
Yes, the booking is my work (Lazar), our drummer, Bebi, and our managing assistant, Dora, helps us a lot. I made a management office called You and Media back in 2010, – when we arrived back with our first album recording from Cleveland, USA,- which handled our career and we helped a lot of great bands, musicians and celebrities to PR campaigns and bookings too.
You’re clearly very ambitious and driven. Where do you see the band heading in the next few years?
I hope we can “make waves” in the international music scene, especially in the UK. That’s my dream with BBC airplay, make magazine interviews just like yours and do great gigs and tours with bands like The Sherlocks, The Lathums, Sam Fender, and hopefully one day with Liam Gallagher. And of course, we would like to work hard for the UK festivals too, I hope our dreams will come true!
What’s the best gig experience you’ve had?
We played on the main stage of the famous Middle-European music festival called Arad Open Air Festival and had gigs with the amazing Irish band, The Coronas, in legendary clubs like Markthalle, Hamburg, where Nirvana, RHCP and so many great bands played previously. But I love all of the gigs, each is unforgettable to me with different memories.
What’s the worst gig?
After Covid, some festivals, including the smaller ones, had financial problems, sadly. That’s why organizers cannot choose the best sound company, they need to book cheaper sound technicians for the festivals, and sometimes that makes very bad and hard situations. But we always try to “cook the best” from the technical backline, we never cancel shows, always figure out something that could play to the audience, if the backline is good enough or not.
Tell us about the inspiration behind the songs on your forthcoming album.
To be honest, I think that will be our strongest album. On the one hand, about the Covid and quarantine situation, we finally had enough time for the songwriting and we could try great ideas in the studios. On the other hand, we worked with amazing producers like George Shilling (Oasis, Mike Oldfield, Blur) and Tim Palmer (Bon Jovi, U2) and we could record songs at Abbey Road Studios. So all of the details were the best ever. I hope the people will love the songs, and we are already grateful because a dozen English radios started to play Honest kid, our new single.
Can you tell us a bit more about each of the members of the band? Who plays what? Who does what?!
We are a 4-piece band from Hungary. Every member of us is from a different musical background. I think that could help us to make the songs better and better. Our drummer and my wife, Bebi Ferenczi is an award-winning drummer, she’s a great person for the women energy of our band. Really emotional and she’s got pretty good ideas when we are working on a new song. We had a new bass player, called Dominik Felleg, he is a good musician and a good fella, we just did a few gigs together, and I like his playing style! Daniel Vikukel is our keyboard player and he is really talented, he’s the guy who is a music machine in our band. When I write a song, he always wants to change the chords and work more and more and more and more to the song’s structure. Finally, I am a British-style rock n roll guy. I am a huge fan of British music from the Beatles to Sam Fender, I am always listening to British music, so I take this energy and performance to the Dirty Slippers. Different people, and different ideas, but we want the same. Play great concerts in the UK with amazing bands!
Tell us a bit about your live show. What can the audiences expect?
We will play on the maximum, because the show in Guildford on 17th March will be our first gig in the UK. I am a really energetic singer and songwriter, so I think the audience will see a high-level rock n roll concert and we will count the days back! I really like to play in clubs, I am really happy when I see sparkling eyes and big smiles! So, we will play our best songs and I will form close contact with the audience.
What do you talk about when you’re together but not playing?
Mostly music (laugh). I try to push more actual British music to the others. Some musicians don’t listen to new bands and new music. I think that’s a big problem. If you are a touring band, you must know the other bands of your genre. But when we sit in the tour bus, we always talk about our personal life, actual politics and so on. Just normal things. Bebi and I are huge movie fans, that’s why we always tell stories and spoilers of the new movies 😀
Do you have any upcoming shows to tell our readers about?
Yes, we will play a great club gig in Guildford, which is really close to London on the 17th of March. I hope a lot of readers could join us for an unforgettable evening. We will open, and after us, a talented young band will come: the Modern Guilt. Marseille will headline this evening, they make a month-long UK tour in March!
Thank you for the interview, Dirty Slippers!! We look forward to hearing much more from you in the future. Find out more about the band here;
https://www.facebook.com/dirtyslippers
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4HUqCTYHR6kbAIW6Dvmdfc
https://www.youtube.com/c/DirtySlippersOfficial/
https://www.instagram.com/dirtyslippers_official/