Béla Lugosi
"Night Shift"
Musicians
- Misha "Mishap" Bodnar: Accordion, Bass, Cello, Drums, Guitar, Piano, Violin
- Ingrid "Ingrate" Bodnar: Violin, Vocals
- Xanthe "Danger" Bodnar: Background vocals/glockenspiel/miscellaneous per
Upcoming shows
None scheduled
Genres: Classical, Experimental / Noise, Jazz / Avant-garde
Sound description: Two Saturdays ago, outside Reds and beneath an inflatable screen silently exhibiting the 1932 film Murders in the Rue Morgue, you might have caught a vaguely demented-looking cellist sawing his instrument while a classically trained keyboardist, a drummer, and a woman painting on canvas in between singing and playing percussion instruments performed along with the film’s image. Though the scene seemed a bit demonic, the music was avant garde, power pop-y, and, from time to time, angelic.
Since arriving in Santa Barbara 10 years ago, Béla Lugosi—made up of Misha Bodnar, his spouse/singer/violinist Ingrid, and friends—have released six CDs. Béla’s cellist and founder is Misha, of the madly skilled musical Bodnar family. (His mother runs an art conservatory in town and his sister is famed violinist Nina Bodnar.) After surviving an intense series of classes at USC and the Paris Conservatory, and a short stint with the Marseilles Opera, Misha found more salvation. “I was saved by Iggy Pop,” he said. After a few years playing in the French punk band Venus Bitch, he came home and created Béla Lugosi after watching Tim Burton’s Ed Wood.
“I would describe the band as a little piece of Burning Man on a street corner,” said Misha. Consider them a performance group rather than an original rock/classical mélange, à la Beirut or Man Man. On their last CD, We Suck Hard, Misha and his bandmates cover Siouxsie and the Banshees, Khachaturian, and play some of their own enlightened post-punk reveries. Maybe it sounds like an uncomfortable mix, but it’s endlessly incisive—particularly when you hear the improvisational drama the Bodnars employ when interpreting classical music. —D.J. Palladino
Web site: http://www.imbelalugosi.com
Related links
History
Béla Lugosi was created in the streets of Marseilles, France, in 1994 by Misha Bodnar. But the story of Béla Lugosi begins long before that when Misha was only eight years old. The small boy was discovered playing his cello in the streets of Santa Barbara, CA by the Hungarian gypsy virtuoso cellist Gabor Rejto. Under the tutelage of Rejto, Bodnar progressed in his music studies at an alarming pace, eventually becoming the youngest student ever to enter the U.S.C. music program at the age of thirteen. At sixteen, after a violent fight with his family over money owed to his father, Bodnar ran away to Paris. After falling in love with the imposing facade of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, he became determined to attend the prestigious school. A grueling month spent practicing into the night and competing against 120 other gifted cellists payed off when Misha was offered a full scholarship to study within its ancient stone walls. He was one of eight chosen. During his time at the conservatory Bodnar won the Royaume de la Musique, a nationwide competition sponsored by Radio France.
After graduating early with highest honors, Misha worked with the Marseilles Opera Orchestra to survive, but quickly became disillusioned with the attitude of his fellow orchestra players. He decided to ditch the paycheck and go back to his roots; playing in the streets for small change and sandwiches.
The streets of Marseilles were full of musicians of different sensibilities and cultures. It didn't take long for Misha to hook up with a group of rabble rousers named Venus Bitch. He stuck a pick-up on his cello and snatched the lead guitarist's amp thereby becoming the first electric punk rock cellist ever. With this band Misha travelled Europe opening for acts like Suicide, L7, Lords of the New Church, The Legendary Pink Dots, and punk legend Johnny Thunders. After the tour Misha felt his home town calling and decided to take the best of Venus Bitch home with him. They crammed into a tiny studio once inhabited by Charlie Chaplin and renamed themselves Béla Lugosi. They recorded eight albums and took over the local clubs and press for almost a decade. The city of Bodnar's youth was changing, becoming more gentrified and sterile, and clubs began to shut down (or Béla Lugosi was banned from them). But they won't give up and continue to haunt the dark allies and dank clubs still remaining in this sunny seaside town to this very day.
One thing Bodnar takes seriously is the quality of performers he works with, and though Béla Lugosi is a motley gang of musicians, dancers, strippers, cross dressers, comedians, guerilla theater actors and painters, they are all artists at the top of their game.
Formed
1994, Santa Barbara, CA
Influences
Pablo Casals, Piatigorsky, J du Pre, Iggy and the Stooges, Fantomas, Melt Banana, Suicide, Venus Bitch, Tom Waits, Serge Gainsbourg, Velvet Underground, Mia Zapata, Kinto Sol.
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