Mad Meg, the Polka-punks are releasing a new album and the Cenotaph No. 8 music video
“Mad Meg, a band who treat it as their personal mission to get your hips swaying” – Songwriting Magazine
The new Who Deserves Balloons And Medals ? album by a Polka-punk band, MAD MEG unites the long history NYC-based collective has passed over the years.
Following the word of the singer and founder of Mad Meg, Ilya Popenko, at a certain point the band reminded a poster child for the melting pot of New York City. “We’ve had members from all over the world including France, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the former USSR and the US” – Ilya sums: “We’re a little more homogeneous now”. Despite the fact that most of the members of the current incarnation of Mad Meg come from post-Soviet bloc, everybody contributes to the creative power that create a unique fingertip.
The current incarnation has been together since the 2017, that both Ilya and Igor Reznik (bass) describe as “the defining” year in the history of Mad Meg: “Undoubtedly, the first big change happened with our first big tour. We were boys when we went on the road and we returned men” – explains Igor. Getting on road for thirty shows of the European tour and playing with Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra allowed the band to fell themselves as a fully formed collective.
“Playing different stages every night for two months made us sound tighter than we ever have before, and all the people we met, the relationships that we formed and the experiences we had made us incomparably better as a band” – adds Ilya: “Our interpersonal relationships within the group was tested and we came out on top, tighter than ever”.
The last addition to the lineup, Alex Dreyshner (bari sax, throat singing) joined Mad Meg family right before the pandemic, when the band went on writing the new material.
“My brain usually blocks out the process of writing each particular song. It’s like a mini trauma that your brain is trying to forget” – explains Popenko, describing his perception of the songwriting. A fixation, that leads to common work in between all the members of Mag Med – discussing the compositional aspects, offering their ideas for arrangements, bringing something to the ageless melting pot.
The newest “Who Deserves Balloons And Medals ?” LP is definitely serves the best proof of their unique opportunity to unite plenty of styles together mixing in in an unconventional way. “Punk Chanson Noir” as Ilya calls it, referring to some of their early influences – Tiger Lillies, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Gogol Bordello, Nick Cave and “whatever we’re listening to while arranging the songs”.
“This particular album was recorded at Bunker Studios in Brooklyn during a 10-hour live session” – explains Reznik, describing the process of work in this particular case. No different than any “typical” recordings for the band. Igor continues: “During the recording, we were in different rooms and played numerous takes of the songs, from which we then picked the best ones to do light overdubbing on. In general, this is how we prefer to record: arrange, rehearse extensively, book a 10-hour session, record numerous live takes, add lite overdubs”
Starting with the opening mixture of ironic poetry, ethnics rhythms and the esthetics of noir titled “Who Deserves Balloons And Medals ?” Mad Meg continues exploring the sound within their arrangements or the compositional structure of the songs.
“What I love about Mad Meg, is that we are all very different, and have completely opposite tastes in Music” – says Igor: “Our musical tastes range from musical theater, to ethnic music, to cabaret, to emo, to classic rock”. A combination that led the band exploring newest venues. Conceptually and esthetically –ranging from what could perfectly fit into a Broadway musical score, like “Beyond Repair” or the true romance to restaurants, cuisines and mixology bars of Brooklyn – “Waiters”.
“Who Deserves Balloons And Medals ?” is coming out on November, the 4th. Available for pre-order now via Bandcamp.
MAD MEG – Who Deserves Balloons And Medals ?
