Twentees: The Mountains Are Higher Next Door And They Understand Our Lyrics
Listen Local interview
Photo: Gábor Lénárt
Living in their mid-twenties, just got out from the university to the life with the capital L. Having crisis in their workplace, try to find their identity, falling in love or getting heartbroken and anyway, just trying to be happy in this chaotic world. The twentees writes their indie-pop songs about the typical issues and problems of the Y-generation, so it is easy to understand when you are in the same shoes, what are they singing about.
Back in 2015 the band released their first album in English, partly as a respect to their idols like Editors, Bloc Party or Vaccines, but also, because they were a bit afraid to write their lyrics in their native Hungarian. For their second album Múlandó Transient they found their sound in their mother tongue, and kept releasing in Hungarian since 2018. Their next EP is just arriving… soon. If you ever catch up with them after the pandemic somewhere, don’t worry if you do not understand Hungarian, just dance with the catchy rhythm.
What you should do if you are in Budapest and where to go during the night? What’s on abroad for twentees? Kátya talked with their front man, Balázs Konrád – or in Hungarian name order, Konrád Balázs.
Where are you coming from?
Actually from a town that nobody knows about outside Hungary, called Hódmezővásárhely. Try to pronounce it! Let’s just say we are from Budapest, I live here. Craft beer bars are highly recommended, but the city has pretty great pubs in general. Walking alongside the river on the Buda side offers a great panorama to the city, which includes the best looking parliament building of Europe. For daytime activities, getting on a bike and going to less busy parts, like the Danube banks Római-part and Kopaszi-gát are nice, or maybe do some downtown record store shopping. For the night time, cruising around the 6th, 7th, and 8th districts will result in good fun.
Where are you heading to?
To Romania, particularly in the direction of Oradea, Cluj Napoca, Timișoara, because there are lots of people interested in checking out their Hungarian friends from the other side of the border and because their mountains are lovely. Bratislava and any towns with a relevant Hungarian-speaking population in Slovakia, for the same reason mentioned before, and because their mountains are also nice. There’s Serbia, too, with towns like Senta, Subotica and Novi Sad, where I was born: the local audience is the most grateful one I’ve ever seen, they are really curious for new music.
As we sing in Hungarian, we try to target regions where our songs can be understood, and of course it would make no sense to go and play in Berlin with our lyrics.
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