Doomed Confessionary: Doszi, Martin & Levi (Buzz)
Photo by Geda Viktor
Buzz is an instrumental post-rock trio from Budapest, Hungary. Formed in 2019, the band is known for pushing the boundaries of conventional styles in all of their compositions. Their tingling, instrument-centric themes and expansive tracks have led many to compare them to the soundscapes of Kyuss, the masters of stoner rock, and the legendary Tool.
Their latest EP »Back From Tartarus«, out on August 16th, 2024, is an even bolder and more experimental work than their previous releases.
Buzz are Tamás Doszpoly on guitar, Martin Pastrovics on bass and Levente Kriskovics on drums.
Can you say a few words about your band?
Doszi: First of all, thank you for the opportunity, and welcome to all Doomed Confessionary readers. We’re three guys who love music and try to create songs with a unique atmosphere for each one. By imagining the titles, each song tells a different story that can mean something else for every listener. Our latest single was released in August, and it turned out to be nearly 30 minutes long. We feel it’s our most diverse and meaningful material to date.
Martin: We all listen to different styles of music, which makes composing new songs really exciting because we each bring our own tastes into it. This gives the band its distinct flavor.
Levi: We’re probably hard to describe just by one genre alone (yes, a lot of musicians say that most likely. :)) When we started, the only fixed thing was that there’s not going to be any vocals, and that the general direction will be some sort of post-rock/stoner amalgam. The clash of different tastes and backgrounds resulted in what we play today, and I feel it’s still evolving. Back from Tartarus and Blissful Dystopia definitely have different atmospheres in my opinion, and that wasn’t necessarily a conscious decision on our part.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Martin: The band was about a year old at the start of the Covid period, and we were already planning our first concerts when the lockdown hit. For six months, we couldn’t rehearse, the planned gigs were canceled, and it was hard to get through that period without playing together, especially since we had always managed to have two rehearsals a week. However, at home, we recorded song ideas in our mini-studios and sent them to each other, so the songwriting process could continue during that time.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Martin: In the five years we’ve been together, we’ve played at several iconic venues in Hungary (A38 Ship, National Széchényi Library, Pontoon, etc.), we’ve appeared on TV, and even after all of this, we’ve remained true to ourselves, walking our own path without external pressures.
Doszi: Our track called »Inside« from the Blissful Dystopia album was featured on the “Best of 2022” list by WherePostRockDwells, one of the genre’s most renowned international distributors, alongside tracks by well-known bands like My Sleeping Karma, Russian Circles, Oh Hiroshima, and Lost In Kiev.
In addition, we are proud that we record, mix, and master our songs ourselves (except for the drum recordings), and last time, we even created the cover art. This helps a lot in expressing exactly what we want to convey through our music. It also gives our tracks a unique sound, which is perhaps BUZZ’s most important, “buzzy” characteristic. We often receive feedback that this sometimes grungy, sometimes soft, sometimes dystopian dynamic really suits us.
Photo by Luca Turányi
What was your biggest regret?
Martin: That I only started using a Persian “prayer rug” underneath myself during rehearsals and concerts from early 2023, and not sooner. It gives me a sense of the rehearsal room on stage, and since I’m more of an introverted person, it also provides me a kind of security and brings back the vibe of rehearsals during live performances.
Doszi: I wrote my first post-rock/instrumental piece in 2011, and throughout the process, I felt that this was my world, where I could explore more freely, without being confined by the typical boundaries of styles. It was a composition played on an acoustic guitar, and I still often play it because I really enjoy it. Perhaps I regret that I only continued with this style much later, although what I absorbed in the meantime greatly influenced my current style and sound.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
Doszi: At the beginning of 2023, we had the opportunity to record a live session (with video) in a professional setting at the National Széchényi Library. It’s one of the most beautiful buildings and areas in Budapest. This library preserves the oldest continuous Hungarian text, the »Halotti beszéd«, and the first known Hungarian poem, the »Ómagyar Mária siralom«. Performing here was something that might only happen once in a lifetime.
Martin: Besides that, one of my favorite concert experiences was our September 2024 »Back From Tartarus« EP release show. The crowd was fantastic, and we got to present three new songs, all on the terrace of a concert ship on the Danube, which is known for hosting alternative rock and unique music acts.
Levi: Our gig at another ship-venue on the Danube, Pontoon. The scenery behind us was amazing, and everything just worked as it should.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Martin: It was such a joy to see, even from our first concerts, that our instrumental music could really move people. I remember writing the bass parts for our song »Thrown Out Of A Window In Calcutta« in just a couple of days, during a more melancholic, late autumn mood. Before one concert, a fan excitedly told me that Calcutta is his favorite song, and he hopes we’d play it. It was amazing to think that a song I wrote while feeling down, in my pajamas in my bedroom, was something someone was eagerly waiting to hear live.
Doszi: I find it incredibly interesting that reinterpretations of various styles are living their golden age. Nowadays, more and more post-rock, post-punk, post-metal, and modern-metal bands are emerging, creating increasingly exciting songs. We are living in an era of remastered versions in films, games, and stories, where modern technological advancements allow us to experience creations that were previously limited in their execution. This ‘post-everything’ era feels a bit like that too, but here musicians aren’t just reimagining old works in a modern form; they are working with a more modern approach and instrumentation while still preserving the essence of earlier styles. I’m incredibly curious about when and what the next major paradigm shift in music will be.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Levi: Hard question. Those lists are constantly in a state of flux, except for a few constant elements like Tool, Porcupine Tree, Wheel, The Pineapple Thief, My Sleeping Karma or God Is An Astronaut and Rush. Currently this list is complemented by Night Verses, If These Trees Could Talk, Glasgow Coma Scale, Opeth, Soen, and with a few older classics like Led Zeppelin, King Crimson. As I said, a hard question.
Doszi: I listen to many different styles, and it often depends on the season what mood strikes me. I tend to turn to heavier music during colder, more melancholic times. That’s when a lot of Kyuss, Melvins, Russian Circles, Rage Against The Machine, Fu Manchu, Suicidal Tendencies, and of course, Truckfighters are playing.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Doszi: That an album can’t be finished, only stopped (haha). I spent hundreds of hours mixing our »Back From Tartarus« EP, and if you count the time spent designing the cover versions, that number could easily pass a thousand hours. And that’s not even mentioning the songwriting… Some of our songs had 10-12 different versions over the years (like Rainblur). We eventually agreed that from a certain point, we just wouldn’t change anything anymore, or we could’ve kept tweaking it for years…
Levi: Try not to compare your musical proficiency too much to others; just enjoy what you do. Music isn’t a competition, no matter what they say in YouTube comments :).
Martin: These days, when people can devote their time, money, and energy to so many things, the greatest recognition is when they come to your concert and dedicate those 1-2 hours to your music. For us, it doesn’t matter if there are 20 or 200 people at a concert; if we see with the guys the crowd is enjoying it and have taken time out of their lives to be there, we give everything we have to musically move them as much as possible.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Doszi: A shared favorite of ours is the “L’art Pour L’art” comedy group (English humor in Hungarian). We often quote the funny characters of Miklós Galla, Róbert Dolák-Saly, and András Laár.
Levi: We collect plastic figurines of Paleolithic animals in the rehearsal room. Yes, on purpose.
Martin: Actually, we like to eat a lot. After the release of our latest EP, we planned to go to a whisky tasting event, but instead of that, we ended up in an all-you-can-eat restaurant, and destroyed ourselves haha.
Photo by Eugene Tooms
Can you say something more about the current music scene in Budapest?
Doszi: Luckily, there are a lot of great concert venues in Budapest, and many promising bands. There’s also life outside the capital—plenty of great summer festivals, ruin pubs, and clubs. Public taste is becoming more open to unique music. There are good initiatives for less mainstream bands. It’s great to see that bands of all styles are thriving, from post-punk to stoner or doom metal. Though some genres that have been around for 20-30 years on other continents are only now reaching Hungary, they’re inspiring great bands here.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Martin: This year (2024), we’ve played two concerts in Budapest – one at a post-rock-themed event with two excellent Hungarian post-rock bands, and the other was the legendary A38 Ship, where we introduced our new EP, »Back From Tartarus«. Next year, we’re planning a tour in Hungary (possibly abroad as well) and a solo show in Budapest.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Doszi: That’s a great question. What’s certain is that we don’t want to become boring or write songs that are expected from us. We already have a few new song ideas that are quite different from what we’ve done so far, of course within reasonable limits. We want to experiment with new pedals, and even new instruments, and try to dream up less typical song structures. And we finally want to make a real music video, with a story that we write ourselves. We already have some well-formed ideas and can’t wait to bring them to life.
Levi: Creating new atmospheric layers with a few samples, effects and short loops using trigger pads is also among our plans.
How can people best support your band?
Martin: One of the best ways to support us is by coming to our concerts and enjoying the music with us live. A post-concert chat can give us a huge motivational boost, which we can draw from later, whether it’s for songwriting or making future plans. Also, if we’re talking material support, people can buy our CDs or T-shirts, either at our shows or online.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Doszi: First of all, we’re very happy to see so many open-minded people who enjoy the kind of music we play. Thank you for all the kind comments and support over the years. Keep listening to the music you love, not what others love. Thank you for being there, and if our songs have brought joy to anyone, it was all worth it. If you like our work you can follow us HERE.
Martin: In a world of Reels and TikTok videos, where attention spans shrink to 20-30 seconds, it’s truly uplifting to know there are listeners who carefully listen to our 8 or even 11-minute songs, and maybe not just once haha. Stay unique, and don’t get swept away by the mass of songs that are praised as new but offer nothing original compared to past decades’ artists. So thank you for appreciating the kind of songs bands like ours write.
Links:
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Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well