Awesome Hungarian bands who make music in English

There are many great Hungarian artists out there, and there are quite a few who also make music in English. These are few of the most popular Hungarian bands whose music you can enjoy even if you do not speak the oh so difficult Hungarian language very well. The following three Hungarian bands represent various styles of music, they are all very different, and they are all pretty awesome.

Irie Maffia

Irie Maffia was formed in 2005, and their music is based on reggae and dancehall, which they blend with hip hop, funk and rock. Members are: Ákos Baranyai a.k.a DJ Future (DJ), István Busa a.k.a Busaman (singing, rapping, vocal), Sena Dagadu (singing, rapping, vocal, spoken word), Tamás Dési a.k.a Monsieur Büdoá (drummer), Márton Élő a.k.a Dermot (trombone), Horváth Gáspár a.k.a Jumo Daddy (keyboardist), András Kéri a.k.a MC Columbo (singing, rapping, ragga, vocal), Ádám Meggyes a.k.a. Mézi (trumpet), Antal Oláh a.k.a Zsömi (percussion instruments), Ádám Szekér a. k. a Szeki (guitar), Kemon W. Thomas a.k.a MC Kemon (singing, rapping, vocal), Péter Matus a.k.a Kölyök (bass).

The band also has a sound system formation called Irie Maffia Soundsystem, where MC Columbo sings ragga lyrics on the reggae/dancehall riddims played by band leader Dermot and Jumo Daddy.

Fun fact: in 2007, Irie Maffia took part in the Italian Rototom Sunsplash, one of the greatest reggae competitions of the continent. They came in second.

The band’s first recording was released in 2006 by Germaica Records, Europe’s leading reggae/dancehall record company. Irie Maffia’s first video clip, shot for their most popular song, Hands In The Air, came out in the spring of 2008. Their song Easy As One Two Three was the official anthem of the 2015 Sziget Festival, one of the biggest music festivals in Europe.

Brains

Brains is definitely one of the most popular Hungarian bands within the electronic circles. It does not matter if it’s an open-air festival or a club in Budapest, their concerts are always full. The band was founded in 1994, but members (as well as styles) came and went in the first couple of years. Nowadays their style is drumandbass-based, but dubstep, drumstep and electro are all incorporated into their music.

In 2016, the band won the Fonogram Award for best electronic track of the year and they won a Petőfi Zenei Díj [Petőfi Music Award] for best orchestration.

Current members are: András Kéri (rap, vocal), Norbert Varga (guitar) Viktor Vörösmarti (drums), Dávid Endrei (bass), Levente Lukács (keyboard, sampler). They have collaborated with several international artists such as Sian Evans, Dynamite MC, Topcat and Tenor Fly.

The Biebers

A The Biebers was founded in 2012. They are a modern pop-rock band.

One of the leaders of the band Peti Puskás is well-known for participating in the popular Hungarian talent show called Megasztár [Megastar].

He and his brother Ádám Dániel Puskás founded the band together. Current members of the band are: Péter Puskás (singer), Ádám Dániel Puskás (singer, keyboard), Bálint Ekanem (singer), András Rusz (guitar), Gábor Belegrai (bass), Dániel Gerendás (drums).

Featured image: Facebook.com/iriemaffia