About A.G.S.O.
The Band
Antwerp city, with its harbor, has always been a melting pot of different cultures. The Antwerp Gipsy-Ska Orkestra reflects that openness in an intriguing way; seven musicians from all over the world - each with a very diverse musical background – have teamed up to combine the pure, raw energy of authentic Roma Gipsy melodies with the ultra-danceable ska groove.
This band has it all! A charismatic front man, street credibility, incredible energy on stage, a vast variety of styles and rhythms that stretch the boundaries of what we know as ska music, striking melodies that soar with joy and dive with melancholy, improvisational skills to match a jazz combo and best of all… their own sound that is so rich and natural that one can’t help but wonder why nobody came up with this idea before.
You can see that classifying AGSO as just another ska band would be a mistake that one is not likely to make after seeing them at work.
Based solely on their live reputation they played the Melkweg (Amsterdam) with Balkan Beat Box and left the audience screaming for more. A few months later they performed at the prestigious Eurosonic festival in the ‘Stadsschouwburg’ (after the Magic Numbers) which confirmed their popularity status and has them headlining many festivals in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The debut CD which was released in June 2007, was unanimously applauded by the Belgian Press as a masterpiece, terms like all hits, no misses got the band many interviews and frequent airplay on Belgium’s Radio 1. Since the last of the band’s illegal immigrants received his permit to stay just before the release, “Tuttilegal” seemed an appropriate title.
The succes of the CD saw the band going farther and farther away from Antwerp city. The band found distribution in Germany and was stunned to have their album enter the top 10 of the German Radio College charts at number 2. In between Metallica and Oasis of all places… This was of course followed up by some extensive touring.
From then on AGSO started playing many more European countries, topped by a superb performance at the Sziget 2009 in Budapest, the biggest festival in Europe.
In December 2009 the band hit the studio accompanied by London based Michael Zimmerling, a sound engineer/producer with outstanding credentials (Simply Red, Grace Jones, Einstürzende Neubauten, Depeche Mode, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Nina Hagen to name a few). This CD is being mixed in London and is expected to be the band’s ticket to international recognition.
More videos @ http://www.youtube.com/gipsyska
