The Optimist

Stewart Rickert

Staff Writer

Little Cow, a band originally from Hungary, played at the Lotus Festival last year and plans on playing there again this year. Little Cow plays a mix of pop and rock and was very popular last year at Lotus. I had the opportunity to talk with Laszlo Kollar-Klemencz, the leader of the band.

Q: How was the band started? Whose idea was it to start it?
A: I wrote the Little Cow song, and my partner Igor did an animation. The animation was shown in cinemas before a Woody Allen movie, and in the next year the song and cartoon became very famous. I had the possibility to do an album. While I composed the album, I was looking for musicians to record.

Q: Is there a difference between playing in Europe and the United States?
A: Yes, in this tour of Little Cow in the U.S. it is very interesting because mostly the audience is not different. I think the love of music is the same everywhere. In Hungary we are very famous and there are huge audiences and here they are smaller, but I think it’s very different here because people here really can feel the beat. It is very nice to play for people here because they are more sensitive to the beat. It is very nice to see the reaction to rhythm. It’s much nicer for me to play this kind of funky ska [a mix of reggae and rock] type music. It is very danceable. I like that they really feel the rhythm.

Q: Who are your inspirations while writing music?
A: Sometimes I am being inspired through my area, just a town, just life style, how people are able to live in the world. It means more than music. For example, two days ago we went to Sebastopol. It was very nice. I saw something which I never see before. It could open something for me. Places… it’s many things… people…

Q: You played at Lotus Festival last year and plan on playing there again. Why do you continue to play at Lotus?
A: It was a great concert and the audience was great too. It was a big success for me and the organizers. Last year, we were the headliner of festival and the audience really loved the music and called us back for encore. I think we were the first band that got called back. It’s a nice city, lots of students living there. We, Little Cow, are in first steps to grow in States, so we should play best festivals. We were happy to say yes to invitation to come back again.

Q: Do you enjoy the multiple venue setup at Lotus(different areas for each band)?
A: In Europe it is a very usual thing. I was wondering, when we were at festival in Chicago, there were only two stages, a few meters apart. In Europe at the festivals, there are many stages at festivals. Different stages for different kinds of music.

Q: Is there a reason behind your band name?
A: It is funny. First the band name was Music For Rabbits, but nobody could understand what it was. It doesn’t sound like band name. And people didn’t connect Little Cow song with this name. At festivals, they just put Little Cow on posters, so maybe it was just easier to be Little Cow and not Music For Rabbits.

Q: Who are some of your favorite artists?
A: I can say — the bands and music now I really love — for example, here, I really love Regina Spektor, but ten years ago my favorite was REM and the New York Underground. I really love that cultural time, which means Lou Reed and John Cale and not just music but what’s behind Warhol and many other artists like that. And I really love Radiohead. I think they are at the top level of rock and roll. It’s not only beat, it’s much more. I don’t know… A lot… Classical composers from Europe, my area. It’s all together inspiration for us.

Little Cow plays on September 24th and 25th at the Bluebird and then also at an outdoor venue. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.lotusfest.org/LotusTickets.html or at the Sunrise Box office.