American Wedding (The Gogol Bordello Experience)

Have you ever been to American Wedding?

The question may seem silly at first. Obviously, there are many of us who have attended a wedding in this country at one time or another. These seven words are actually an inquest into the deepest regions of our souls. The question asks us to look way down deep in the cockles of our hearts, where things like math and logic go to die and only feelings exist.


It also happens to be the question posed by Gogol Bordello's charismatic frontman Eugene Hutz in the opening moments of their hit song "American Wedding". If you're not familiar with them, Gogol Bordello hails from our very own Lower East Side and formed during an era just long enough ago when you might have still remembered what "cool" tasted like. Their own brand of alcohol-fueled sex magic ice cream comes only in Gypsy Punk flavor, and they offer no apologies for that. They speak in a traditional voice, but with a new feel. Freedom for all, love thy neighbor, be inclusive, don't hurt the ones you love (but wail when they hurt you), don't keep a permanent mailing address for too long, that type of stuff. Influences of folk music, a dash of Klezmer, some excellent fiddle playing, lots of accordion, all that good stuff are apparent.


When released on their latest album, "Super Taranta", "American Wedding" may not have been the ultimate fan favorite outside of the humorous context of it's lyrics. Luckily for all of us, when it came time to start thinking about this song the band as a whole came to the same realization as we all do when we're going steady long enough with a girl we really like: "It's time to make a video!" Here's the scene- We're in CoolTown, USA (per usual). The time and date: February 26 or 7ish, 7:45 AM . The mood: Sleepless and as always, afraid of diabetes. The location: I'm in the basement of the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Church in Brooklyn. Yes, It's one of those "cool" parts of Brooklyn (You know, where everyone walks around saying things like "Yeah, me too").

I hit the pavement on one of those very crisp mornings in the county of Kings. The kind that really gets the nips hard (if you know what I'm sayin'). I think mine are unusually tiny and...... Anyway, I had no idea I was on my way to what would turn out to be such a memorable experience. I arrived on set late and hung over, but hey this was a big deal. It's fucking Gogol Bordello for crying out loud. It seemed only appropriate I should not be in possession of all my faculties when working with them .

First, time for seating arrangements. After wardrobe approval and looking at the seating chart, there are a couple of weird looks as I approach. I instantly knew the casting director who told me about this was really looking out for me. Keep in mind the call was for "Polish/Ukrainian 50-65 years old" and "Children, 9-13", blah blah blah. I'm a huge fan, and obviously fitting into neither of these categories I had to temper my social status as an "extra", with the carefree enthusiasm of a kid who just likes that old time rock n' roll. I'm placed at a table where there's a kind older lady who runs a Ukrainian amateur theatre and a couple of other nice young ladies who are big fans of the band and from whom I also feared some random lightning round trivia question regarding the band coming on.


The day starts off slowly, as usual. From any previous descriptions of my not so glorious times being an extra, I've already told you these things can go on forever. I'm at my table no less than 20 minutes before a member of production comes to move me because apparently, a Puerto Rican at a table of Slavs won't bode too well for the cinematic 'feel' of this particular video. At my new table, just far enough away from the one Asian girl in attendance (as to not ruin the visual scape), and they begin preliminary shots. I must have been giving off some kind of bored or tired vibe, maybe like I wish I was somewhere else, because before I know it they're setting up the camera directly across from me, pointed right at my phiz. And as we all know by now (those of us with eyes at least) "it's a neatly chiseled, well groomed, drop dead handsome face!". I might not have the glorious accolades that come along with a traditional higher learning education, but I'm damn proud of being a graduate of the Handsome Boy Modeling School.

I sigh deeply, chin resting on hand. Shuffle a bit, struggling to keep my eyes open.... "Keep doing that, it's perfect!", the assistant director with that air of 'I just got out of film school' enthusiastically responds. "Swirl that wine glass" (cranberry juice) he tells me. "Not like that", "Too jerky" he tells me. The concept of the video, like the song, is the idea that weddings in this country are boring. We've thrown aside our personal cultural identities during these things in favor of a stifled, ordinary and routine ceremony. Disguised as catering wait staff, it's Gogol Bordello's job to ruffle some feathers, inject some excitement and otherwise just "shake things up". Later in the day I volunteer to be the one who Elizabeth Sun (one of two foxy young ladies in the band), slams a wine bottle down in front of as Eugene, Pam and herself storm through the reception area. I soon paid the price when a high-spirited Elizabeth slammed the bottle down during one take, relieving it of it's cork and introducing my fancy suit to droplets of the "dirty" side of this business. She was very sweet about it though. Ah, the state of mind us artists get into when we're really "feeling" it and firing on all sexy cylinders, you get the idea......



Day Two:
Yesterday was a long day, at least 12 hours. Today promised to be longer, but even more exciting. I could hardly sleep the night before in anticipation of today, when we would be treated to the rest of the band and an all out party after conclusion of the video's major shots. Yesterday only Eugene Hutz, Elizabeth Sun and Pam Racine were in attendance. Today the rest of the band would make their appearance in the video, along with their instruments and a spirit that promised to give the second day a more communal and 'musical' vibe.


Throughout this post, please enjoy some exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage, taken up close and personal by my own skilled hand.....

My table was off in the corner, so we were pleased to be in the midst of Thomas (bass), Oren (guitar), Pedro(percussion), and Yuri (accordion extraordinaire), along with frequent visits by Eugene Hutz (the people around me apparently knew him personally). The atmosphere was electric today. As soon as the equipment arrived and was unpacked, they went straight to it, breaking into song, jamming, singing, laughing, all the good stuff. This basically went on the entire day, and during lunch we were treated to Eugene, Yuri and Sergey (violin) really getting into an impromptu chanting music explosion which inspired much rhythmic clapping from the enthused crowd. We all wore a unified grin and glowed from moment we were sharing (and I hate to smile, so it had to be good).

Today my talents were called upon to sit at a different table, and throw my chair back like 10 feet during a scene where Pam and Elizabeth run towards my table and flip it over, revealing a large percussion drum strapped underneath, which they immediately fight over, tugging at both ends (they are very cute). Later, back at my original table, one girl (who looked like a cross between Winona Ryder and a pixie woodland creature), suddenly shouted in my general direction "Look, Frodo's standing behind you!" I didn't pay much attention at first, then a few seconds later I turn around and wouldn't you know it, there stands Elijah Wood in all his glory . What seemed to be a very strange walk-in at first was actually quite logical, because the lucky dog is going out with one of the two head scarfed lovelies in the band (Pam). The connection between Mr. Wood and the band was further cleared up when someone informed me that Eugene Hutz was Elijah's co-star in the film "Everything is Illuminated", a movie which I remember seeing and enjoying, but stupidly not realizing at the time that the breakout performance of the Ukrainian translator in the movie was none other than Eugene Hutz (sans facial hair and crazy mustache). I swear, he looked completely different. Many critics say he even "stole the show" in that film, and he received much acclaim for it. On a side note, Eugene stars in Madonna's upcoming directorial debut, "Filth and Wisdom".



Filming the final party scene was an amazing finishing note. Everyone dropped their proper wedding attire for more relaxed crazy-fun Gypsy regalia (though only a few seconds of it actually made into the video). After 2 days of filming for a 3 1/2 minute song, tons and tons of footage is obviously going to be left out.

All in all, the whole thing was awesome, I met a lot of cool people, including a very nice girl who was 'bag of kittens'-level cute (that's a good thing BTW) and who of course I never followed through with - stupid!
I'll never forget the great time I had. I even managed to finagle my way into a spontaneous smoking session with Yuri before I left! I was giddy over the experience, but sadly, when relaying the tale of my adventure it ultimately inspired jealousy among certain contemporaries. This is nothing new to me, but it's like I always say, "Envious are those incapable of rocking". You can write that one down if you want, it's a gem.

An entire take for your enjoyment. This is how the magic is made, baby.....

So, If you've stuck around enough to read this far, I commend you. I've waited way too long to publish this post for one glorious reason. This ranting would have sounded like pure madness unless I presented the final product. So without further ado, here it folks. "American Wedding", (possibly a rough cut) by the one and only, Gogol Bordello (If you're preggers, this is the part where you put speaker to tummy). Enjoy, and keep an eye out for me in the very beginning!

Finally, check out this song. Very nice.
Troubled Friends (Live)