Napra
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Interviews
Forum Description: Original interviews with Prog artists (which are exclusive to Prog Archives)
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=82704
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Topic: Napra
Posted By: toroddfuglesteg
Subject: Napra
Date Posted: November 12 2011 at 13:29
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NAPRA are a high-octan Hungarian ensemble performing music of Pannonian basin in modern outfit,but also more than that. Staggering, ultra-fast melodical runs get a new dimension when played on electric guitar (as opposed to traditional instruments such are violin or cimbalon), but those folks also have clever, complex arrangements with elaborate chord progressions and rhythm patterns. It's Bela Bartok in prog rock outfit. I got in touch with them and here is their story. #########################################################################################
Your
biography has been covered
in your ProgArchives profile so let's bypass the biography details.
But which bands were you influenced by and why did you choose that
name ?
We merely chose the name ’Napra’ by
its sounding but it also has a meaning in Hungarian: ’to the Sun’.
Our music is influenced by the music of Béla Bartók, the authentic
Hungarian folk music, some Balkan and gypsy music and a so called
Jimmy Hendrix feeling of life.
How is the local music scene in your
area now? Is it easy for you to get any gigs ?
Life is hard for Hungarian bands, there
are few high-quality clubs or concert venues. Our fan base is in
Budapest that makes the organization easier. I am glad to say that we
have enough invitations. In the country unfortunately we are lack of
gigs.  Over to your two albums. Please tell
us more about the Jaj, a világ! album from 2007.
This is our first album. This material
is rather based on the authentic folk music than the second but only
20-30% of it consists of adapting folk music, the rest is our own
composition. Those were written by the authentic way of thinking.
Sweeping dynamism,
energy, virtuosity are characteristic of this
record. For our pleasure we won the ‘Best world-music category
award’ in 2007 at ‘Fonogram Awards’ The producers were Ben
Mandelson and Rob Keyloch.
Then you had a three years long
record break. What happened during these three years ?
We shot a clip on our song ’Pici Ház’
and had many concerts home and abroad. Both Miklos got a request to
make a verse-adaptation record that became an innovative and
unconventional piece. It was released by the name ’Both Miklós:
Radnóti’ This record also got a reward as ’The best teaching
material’ at the National Book Festival. From more aspects it is
the complete opposite of the previous Napra records. We enjoyed this
little journey. That is why the ’Holdvilágos’ album was delayed.  You returned in 2010 with the
Holdvilágos album. Please tell us more about this album.
You can hardly find authentic folk
adaptations on this album, the songs in large part are our
compositions. This is a diverse but integrated piece with many
impacts on it: through the
ballads to virtuosity and from latin pulsation
to grooves. We believe that it became a really mature piece of work.
What is the lyrical topics in your
songs ?
Joy, sorrow, male-female relationships,
often in humorous way. Sometimes the text is characterized by surreal
images.
For those of us unfamiliar with your
music; how would you describe you music and which bands would you
compare yourself with ?
This is an
extremely fast-paced,
virtuoso, progressive world music with
often surprising
solutions. On the other hand it does not miss
the subtleties either. According to our audience,
the force of our shows totally fell
them, so we recommend them to everyone.:)
We can't compare ourselves to any
Hungarian bands we are unique in this style.
What have you been up to since the
release of the Holdvilágos album last year, what is your current
status and what are your plans for this year and beyond ?
We are working on the 3rd album.
Because of the concert season we only have time to compose new songs
from autumn to spring. Our aim is to continue the high-quality music
making in order to entertain us and our audience.
Thank you to Napra for this interview Their PA profile is http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=5934" rel="nofollow - and their homepage is http://www.napra.hu" rel="nofollow -
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Replies:
Posted By: NotAProghead
Date Posted: November 12 2011 at 15:00
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Thanks! Nice band, these guys and lady know how to rock! ------------- Who are you and who am I to say we know the reason why... (D. Gilmour) |