Foreign View: Mark Mizsei (Hungary, Human Error)

In the past year, we had the idea of interviewing foreign musicians and other people from the underground scene about Ukrainian music. Finally, we got to the realization of this plan! The first hero in this topic is Mark Mizsei from the Hungarian crust/grind band Human Error. He is well acquainted with the local punk scene.

Mark and his band played in Ukraine in 2005, 2008 and 2012, and he frequently expressed support for Ukrainian bands in Hungary.

About the whole scene

A few main features of the Ukrainian underground scene are very big diaspora, huge dispersal, small gigs, a very active audience, that usually does not know the bands too well.

Distance is definitely - the main problem of the Ukrainian scene as for me. The country is very big, so the scene is very dispersed, but it's kinda nice too.

Ukrainian and Hungarian underground scenes are fairly close, I think. I make it a point to book bands from Ukraine when they come around. Not many Hungarian bands tour Ukraine but the ones that do all have made close personal friendships with the artists and fans there.

About bands and artists

I know many Ukrainian underground artists. The Symbioz, Displease, Skruta, Epicrise, Dan Stark, Gaz-66 Intrusion, Remorse, Castrum, Vulvulator, Zrada to name a few. I heard them live mostly when I toured Ukraine with my band Human Error. I also trade with Trismus Records. But I can't name any popular Ukrainian band or artist.

The common feature of Ukrainian performers is passion. I found out that the underground scene I was exposed to had different kinds of bands and styles of music. Still, they were all extremely passionate and knew each other, despite often living far away from each other.

I quite like Slavic languages in general, so I do not find the Ukrainian language strange. There is the stereotype in the West that these languages are not melodic, but I disagree.

About releases

Usually, І hear about releases of Ukrainian artists from Kolya (Trismus Records) and Laci from Displease.

In my personal collection I have the 3 way split with Skruta, Gaz-66 Intrusion tape, Remorse CD, Displease CD, Diskobra/Displease split tape, Epicrise CD, Dan Stark CD and a few more.

I did not notice the merch of Ukrainian bands in Hungary.

About concerts

I was at many concerts in Ukraine, and I played them too. The audience is usually very wild, you can tell they are often starved for music, especially in the Transcarpathia.

I have also been at the concerts of Ukrainian bands in Hungary. Ukrainian bands tend to bring a lot of energy and spirit to their performances. Ukrainians are very fun-loving in my experience, whether at home or abroad.