THE PROJECT

For the last 5 years I have had the pleasure of organising and participating in the highly enjoyable Gypsy Fever gigs and tours in New Zealand featuring gypsy/balkan bands from Aotearoa and myself djing as DJ Balkanetic.

Now for the first time I am compiling and releasing a compilation CD featuring 12 of the best gypsy/balkan/klezmer bands from New Zealand and Australia. As far as I know it will be the first ever compilation of its kind.

Here is a sneak preview of the album, although keep in mind it is not yet fully mastered and a couple of the tracks will probably change: Gypsy Fever compilation preview.

We will be releasing the album through my label, Monkey Records, and putting on gigs round the country featuring several of the bands from the compilation in January/February 2013. All the tracks have been recorded but we need $1,000 for the production of a limited run of 200 CDs which will be sold online and at shows. Rewards are downloads of the album, CD copies and free tickets to some of the shows from the tour. By supporting this project you will secure a copy of this great compilation and help make it a reality. In the unlikely event that we don't meet our target, the funds will be used for a smaller run of CDs. If we happen to exceed our target, we wil do a bigger run...

Here's a Gypsy Fever playlist on Youtube if you want to take a look at the bands involved although these aren't the tracks featured on the compilation.

HISTORY OF GYPSY FEVER

Starting with a legendary warehouse party in Auckland in 2007 featuring The Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band (above) and DJ Balkanetic, Gypsy Fever has grown into a national phenomenon with many packed out events in Auckland and Wellington, four national tours and appearances at several major festivals including Splore, Parihaka and Prana.

The shows have been wildly embraced by audiences all over the country with the infectious and uplifting East European melodies and rhythms appealing to all demographics and tastes. This is intoxicating, joyous, sometimes intense but always social music that grabs a hold of you and has you twirling madly around with the nearest friend or stranger or attempting to dance like a Cossack. We've even had people of East European origin travelling for hours to come to our gigs, dancing around with linked arms and weeping for joy at hearing songs from their motherland once again.

GYPSY FEVER COMPILATION LINEUP

As far as we know this is the first ever compilation of its type celebrating East European music from Australasia and the album features well-established bands such as Niko Ne Zna, The Jews Brothers, Monsieur Camembert and The Mamaku Project plus relative newcomers on the scene such as Bella Cajon and Black Spider Stomp. Most of the tracks will be newly recorded or recently released plus there'll be a couple of old classics. Lovingly selected by DJ Balkanetic, this could be the soundtrack to your very own Gypsy Fever party at home - opa!

NIKO NE ZNA: Explosive 9 piece balkan brass band from Wellington (the balkans of New Zealand) Niko Ne Zna are a truly authentic ensemble. They can roam while playing, and enchant the audience into dancing, singing, clapping and stomping all night long. Niko Ne Zna will be touring to promote the compilation as well as their long awaited debut album. Download a track for free here.

THE JEWS BROTHERS: well-known for their exhilarating foot-stomping hand-clapping repertoire, both original and traditional featuring wild Eastern-European dance medleys, neo-40s' New York swing, gypsy "hot club", schmaltzy waltzes and funky dance grooves. If you can't dance to this band you gotta problem!

MONSIEUR CAMEMBERT: Triple ARIA Award winning group Monsieur Camembert has been at the forefront of Australia's Gyprock scene for the past 8 years.

THE WOOHOO REVUE: A fiendishly talented sextet of horns, strings and drums from Melbourne, The Woohoo Revue have forged their reputation throughout Australia as a festival favourite with their signature sound and an adrenalin-fuelled celebration fit for dancing, drinking, and ignoring tomorrow.

CLUB MANOUCHE: Auckland's zaniest, premiere French gyspy swing band play riotous, uplifting swing and French style jazz and Chanson avec l’esprit de Manouche.

THE MAMAKU PROJECT: Eastern European influences blend with French and Pacifica mixed with cutting edge electro oriental club sounds and a dash of cabaret.

BELLA CAJON: incorporate the dancing grooves of gypsy music, driven by hand powered percussive beats and punctuated by horn licks and sweeping string arrangements.

BARONS OF TANG: Lashing Tango, Rockabilly, Metal and Gypsy feels together with hard hitting guitar riffs, double kick blast beats and massive horn arrangements, The Barons of Tang have been driving audiences wild all over the world with their incendiary live shows.

THE MARGARET STREET PROJECT: proudly play authentic Roma Gypsy melodies infused with Tango, swing and Mexicana and original songs inspired by life in Inner-Western Sydney.

THE BENKA BORADOVSKY BORDELLO BAND: Hailing from the slums and ghettos of Auckland (the Prague of the South), the highly theatrical Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band fronted by the flamboyant and usually shirtless flaming-bearded Benka played at every single Gypsy Fever show till they spectacularly combusted at the end of their last tour early 2011 (but the music lives on). Download for free a track by the Benkas here.

BLACK SPIDER STOMP: Wellington-based band playing traditional Gypsy Swing Jazz original compositions in the style of Django Reinhardt and early swing jazz classics.

NADYA'S 101 CANDLES ORKESTRA & DJ CLICK: Sydney-based Nadya Golski sings Eastern European/Gypsy and Klezmer inspired songs with Gospel jazz and Latin influences. She sings in English, French, Polish, Serbo Croatian, Romany and Spanish. DJ Click is a highly sought after Parisian-based producer and DJ.

GYPSY FEVER RELEASE TOUR

Dec 30 - Jan 1: PRANA FESTIVAL w/ Niko Ne Zna & DJ Balkanetic

Thu 10 Jan: THE FREEHOUSE, NELSON w/ Niko Ne Zna & DJ Balkanetic

Fri 11 Jan: MARAHAU PARK CAFE, MARAHAU w/ Niko Ne Zna & DJ Balkanetic

Sat 12 Jan: MUSSEL INN, TAKAKA w/ Niko Ne Zna & DJ Balkanetic

Fri 18 Jan: FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, NEW PLYMOUTH w/ Niko Ne Zna

Sat 26 Jan: CHICKS, PORT CHALMERS w/ DJ Balkanetic

Fri 8 Feb: SAN FRANCISCO BATH HOUSE, WELLINGTON w/ Niko Ne Zna, Bella Cajon & DJ Balkanetic

Fri 22 Feb: KINGS ARMS, AUCKLAND w/ Niko Ne Zna, The Jews Brothers and DJ Balkanetic plus special guest MC Benka Boradovsky

Sat 23 Feb: LEIGH SAWMILL, LEIGH w/ Niko Ne Zna, Club Manouche and DJ Balkanetic plus special guest MC Benka Boradovsky