HERE'S MY FULL STORY

(OR SCROLL DOWN DIRECTLY TO MY CV BELOW) 

RAISED ON GOULASH

I was born and raised in Hungary. (Nooo, not in Budapest.) I come from the eastern, more agricultural side of the country where people know how to grow quality food and spices. It’s also home to the world-famous goulash (gulyas), which actually means cowboy. (Nooo, not that brainless American dude on a horse shooting "bad Indians" and anyone else who confronts him.) I mean real cowboys—men who take care of cows like shepherds care for sheep... Anyway, these cowboys, or gulyas as they were called, prepared amazing food out of typical Hungarian bacon, onions, meat, dried or fresh veggies, paprika powder...whatever they could find and carry with them in their sacks out on the plains. That’s where delicious goulash comes from, and it will never taste the same anywhere else. Although I do make a pretty mean goulash up here, at Casa Paprika... 

Now back to my background. I grew up on quality cowboy food prepared by my mother, a folk singer with a perfect pitch, and my father, an industrial anti-spy agent who still knows it all. We were living in one of the dumbest human eras: Communism. WTF, right? I know. 

A GRAND PIANO THROUGH THE WINDOW

One day, I watched my father and his friends trying to push an old grand piano through a small window in the living room. Eventually, the window was removed and the piano in pieces found its way to the corner of the room. I started fooling around with it right away, and after a few weeks, my parents forced me to take private piano lessons from a strict old lady who had only girl students. I was 8-9 years old at the time so, to me, this was pure hell. Sure, I enjoyed playing around on the keys, but I wanted to be a BMX champion to beat the boys from the hood—until, that is, I learned to play some of the popular songs on the piano and realized that this impressed my classmates. I remember feeling pretty special, and that moment changed everything for me. Fuck BMX, fuck competitions. It was time for Rock&Roll.

At 16, I started working in the only recording studio in my hometown, which was located behind the only music store in town. My first project: helping to record my mom's five-piece gypsy folk band. That was a priceless experience. Next thing you know, bang! I moved to Budapest and started playing hundreds of shows as a session musician, from gigs in small pubs to sold-out concerts in stadiums. After a busy few years, I had a correctional leg operation and needed time to recuperate. I realized that I also needed a break from Rock&Roll, so when a lovely lady friend invited me and a few musician friends on a two-week trip to Australia, it was the perfect escape.

AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE

In a flash, two weeks turned into six months. I found some long-lost family members who’d settled on the Gold Coast decades before and I spent another year there. I connected with Aboriginal music and culture, made all kinds of musician friends, and even played a few gigs. Then right when exciting artistic possibilities started opening up, visa complications quickly cut the fun short. (BTW, I was bummed at the time, but seeing the fascist state of Australia now—even more than before—I am grateful for the way things worked out.)

OFF TO MONTREAL, AND BEYOND

I returned to Hungary and jumped back into the scene. I collaborated on award-winning recordings, film music, and tours with major artists. In 2002, I met a Canadian-Hungarian girl (now my wife) in Budapest, and in 2005 we moved to her hometown of Montreal, Canada. Soon, I found a home as a session musician, composer, and sound engineer in a post-production studio, where I worked on Discovery Channel programs, newscasts, documentaries, and publicity music for different TV stations. I also participated in a number of award-winning albums in all different genres. Except for the winters and the price of imported quality wine and food, life was pretty good.

In my spare time, with amazing local Jazz, Afro, and Latin musicians I recorded an instrumental Urban Jazz solo album called Rhodes Trip by Tomisheep. After the launch, I was invited to play two concerts at the Montreal International Jazz Festival with my seven-piece band. Let me tell you, dreams do come true!

MY GRAMMY STORY

Not much later I replied to a random Craigslist ad and started working on a song for Christopher Tin. His album Calling All Dawns soon became a double Grammy award-winning, classical crossover album. Whoa, dreams do come true!

I started managing the beautiful Mechanicland Studios, which was built in an old wooden-roofed chapel, and worked with some of the coolest vintage gear ever. Along with a handful of other projects, this is where I recorded my EP, PreDestiNation. 

BACK TO THE SUNSHINE

In 2013, my wife, daughter, and I made the move back to the old continent. Hungry for sunshine, quality food, and real culture, we ended up in the southeast of France, at the foot of the Pyrenees, where we spent two years indulging in amazing cheeses, seafood, and wine. One day we met an organic fruit vendor from Andalusia who said that where he came from, everything was much better quality and much cheaper—and that the music was way better. (Désolé les français, your live music scene sucked.) So we packed up and drove straight down to the south of Spain, and we’ve never looked back. We followed our six senses and eventually found our way to these mountains. Here I decided to open a restaurant and recording studio-workshop combo—only a few of those exist in the world. And so Casa Paprika Studios was born…