words by Chiara Rosati C.

Emerging from London’s ever-evolving rock scene, Kultura blend modern rock intensity with rap-inspired lyricism and an unapologetically explosive stage presence. Formed after the rebranding of Staff Meeting, their previous musical project, the four-piece – frontman Bruno, guitarist Laszlo, bassist Hugh, and drummer Arlen – has reshaped their sound into a strikingly contemporary combination of different genres and cultures, with songs moving between politically charged themes, dystopian undertones, and brutally honest reflections. From the origins of their name on a graffiti-covered wall in Ljubljana to their thoughts on authenticity and ambitions for the future, Kultura present themselves as a band deeply aware of their influences yet determined to reshape them into something distinctly their own.

When did you form Kultura?

Bruno: Laszlo and I were originally in a band called Staff Meeting. We changed guitarist because Laszlo used to play bass, and we had a big rebrand. The music also changed a lot. Staff Meeting was more classic rock, while now we moved into modern rock with some rap influences, especially in terms of the structure of our lyrics. Our sound now is a lot more unique; it really pricks your ears. We still have Arlen on drums, though, and Hugh is our new bassist. 

What inspired the new name “Kultura”? 

Bruno: Our previous name came about while Laszlo and I were having a drink at the Hawley (Arms), the pub where I work and where Laszlo also used to work. I was trying to think of names for the band, and at the Hawley, whenever the managers feel like having a shot, they call a “staff meeting” so that everyone takes a shot with them. We thought that was a funny inside joke.

Laszlo: We really thought it was hilarious, haha. 

Bruno: Obviously, we were pretty pissed. Then, about a month later, we eventually sobered up and thought…. Yeah, that’s just not it. 

Laszlo: We also got some feedback from industry people, who were like, ”Are you sure about this name? Cause you have a shit name”.

Bruno: I was looking for inspiration for a new name while walking through Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. I’m half-Slovenian, and I was about to meet my dad there. I suddenly saw the word “Kultura” spray painted across an old brick wall, which means “culture” in loads of Eastern European languages, including Slovenian. I thought it was a great name because we kind of merge different music cultures together, especially rappy, intense lyrics, rocky riffs, and heavy guitar. 

Laszlo: Yeah, that’s how we make our music. It’s kind of a push and pull. I don’t even know how many times Bruno has told me, “Try to be a little less bluesy, please.” 

Bruno: Laszlo loves John Mayer, and sometimes he really goes for that sound while I’m there spitting out these rappy lyrics, and I’m like, “We’ve got to meet in some sort of way, maybe I turn down the lyrics and you kind of rock it off a bit”.

Laszlo: And often our music is the result of that. 

What are the main artists that influenced you in terms of all these different genres that you’re combining?

Bruno: Ironically, I don’t listen to any rap music at all, but I used to write poetry before I even learned how to play any instruments. I’ve always had way too many lyrics, and the cool thing about rap music is that they use a lot more lyrics than regular rock songs; they can tell a story with a lot more words. That’s the style I used for the lyrics of “Alien” and “Love Fugitive”, for example. They’re very fast-paced and intense, which actually really works with our rock background. I love Jim Morrison; Laszlo loves Red Chili Peppers.

Laszlo: You can definitely find some Chili Peppers influences, Jimi Hendrix…

Hugh: I’m a metal-head really. Metallica and Green Day were my two main bands growing up.

What are your main influences stage-presence-wise, instead? 

Laszlo: Bruno brings in that cool Jim Morrison/Mick Jagger frontman energy.

Bruno: I feel like if you’re not drenched in sweat as a frontman by the end of the gig, you’re doing it wrong. I like running around like a mad bull. Hugh definitely has this metal style. When he’s playing bass, he’s always wide-legged and slapping the strings. Laszlo is calmer instead, carrying the melody. We have really good chemistry on stage. It’s good to have that balance of chaotic stillness.

Would you say that your stage-selves allow a sort of expansion of your personality that you wouldn’t necessarily see in your everyday selves?

Bruno: I act similarly on stage compared to how I am usually. I get irritated very easily, but I also get satisfied very easily. You’ll know when I’m pissed off, and you’ll know when I’m happy, and that kind of translates on stage. When we’re playing songs like “Puppet”, I’m in that emotional feeling, I get into the groove of that. When we’re doing songs like “Alien” or “Love Fugitive” instead, they are more high-paced and perfectly translate the more chaotic side of me. 

And are you the only one in charge of lyrics? 

Bruno: Usually, when we do a writing session, I’ve already got the lyrics sorted and the basis of how I think the track should go. Then, we all chip in and give our opinion, and we figure it out from there. So yeah, I write the lyrics because that’s what I love doing, and also, if I’m the one singing them, I need to know what they’re on about. 

I completely agree with you.

Bruno: And Laszlo is French, so he’s no good at writing lyrics, haha. 

Haha, in terms of your creative process, then, it seems that the lyrics tend to come first, before the melody.

Bruno: Yeah, I write most days in my little notebook, and when I write, I kind of already know what mood the song is going to be, based on what the lyrics are. I’m nowhere near the best guitarist in the band, Laszlo and Hugh are a lot better than me, but we complement each other really well – I take care of the lyrics, and they know everything there is to know about their instruments.  

Laszlo: Bruno always comes in with a sketch of the song, and sometimes we immediately play exactly what he had in mind.

Bruno: A lot of songwriters write the music first and then build the melody from that, but most of the time I can kind of hear immediately how I want the melody to go just from my words on a page, and then we try to fit the chords around it. A lot of our writing process together is about structure, which bits we’re going to put where. 

How does your style translate on a visual level, instead? If we think about your social media presence and the content you put out, for example. I really like those videos you posted on Instagram that were shot from a fish-eye perspective, and you’re singing while looking straight into the camera, Bruno. It seems like you’re engaging directly with whoever is watching.

Bruno: I feel like you can clearly identify who’s who and who’s doing what in those videos. We tried to differentiate slightly in colour, but the style is the same because that’s what works for us. 

Are you thinking of releasing any music videos at some point?

Bruno: Music videos are cool, but with the short-form content that we have now on TikTok and Instagram, I feel like you can get just as successful doing that, actually, you can almost do better, especially if you have no budget, although it’s pretty laborious. We just live in a different world now.

What would you like to accomplish with the band in the near future and in the distant future?

Bruno: We’re gonna release some music soon, a song called “Alien”, see what sticks, and then go down that alley route. In terms of 10 years from now… performing on top of the Burj Khalifa would be cool, or in Parliament. Although in 10 years, we don’t know if Hugh here is still gonna be kicking around, haha.  

Haha, tell me more about “Alien”, then. I’m very curious.

Bruno: It’s quite a political song. This alien comes to Earth to try to rescue humanity from their sins. Then, he realizes we’re actually fucked in the head, so he leaves. He understands that no one can really save humanity.

How did the lyrics of this song come about?

Bruno: This is a song that we had with the old band. We were just jamming in the rehearsal room, and I was listening to a lot of Zeppelin at the time. I kind of got inspired by “Kashmir” and by how visiting a foreign place feels so new and different, this feeling of getting enchanted by something otherworldly. That’s where the alien theme came in. I had those lyrics for a while, but I didn’t know what to do with them. Then, we got into the rehearsal studio and… God, this always seems to happen when you write your best songs, basically, we had those spare 20 minutes at the end of the rehearsal to try and jam something new. Literally, the first riff that we played was “Alien”, and the first drumbeat is the drumbeat in the final track. That was the blueprint of what we recorded. 

Would you say that this is the sort of theme on which you tend to focus with your lyrics? 

Bruno: Lyric-wise, I just try to be as truthful as possible. I’ve got a degree in Politics—

Hugh: You do?

Bruno: Yeah, man.

You discover new things every day, haha.

Bruno: Haha, so yeah, I like the political side of hard truths, I like dystopian topics, which sometimes almost seem like a taboo to talk about, so music makes it easier for people to understand all of this. 

Laszlo: Imagine living with this guy, haha. 

Bruno: I’m a load of fun at the afters, haha.

I know that you are Bruno! And you can talk about this stuff with me if Laszlo isn’t available, haha.

Bruno: Haha, thank you. Yeah, I mean, whether it’s a slow ballad, like our song called “Puppet”, or more rock, like “Alien”, they’re all truthful and quite unforgiving. 

Laszlo: There are no light songs, they always go a bit deeper.

I really like that, I’m your target audience, guys. How do you feel about the contemporary music scene in London and the UK? Do you find it as embracing of the rock genre as it was in the past?

Laszlo: There’s a British rock artist who got nominated for three Grammys this year and won one. 

Yungblud! Although interestingly, his audience isn’t necessarily rock aficionados.

Laszlo: Yeah, his music is divisive.

Bruno, didn’t you model for his clothing brand “BRAT”?

Bruno: Yeah, you should have seen me with my spiked hair. It was good fun, man. Dom is a great guy, he’s really clever and cool. I met him at work at the Hawley, and he was just like, “Do you want to model for a clothing brand?”, which was a great ego boost, I don’t blame him. In terms of the rock scene, though, especially around places like Camden, I feel like people embrace it too much. There’s this phrase that gets thrown about, which is “Oh, they’re a Camden band.”

Laszlo: “Just another Camden band”.

Bruno: Exactly, like they’re just rock and nothing else, there’s no other personality but that, and this is where we split hairs because we’re predominantly rock, but we’ve got another side to us which people haven’t really heard before. I feel like people are trying to bring back the 70s and the 60s so much that it’s almost cringe-worthy at this point. There’s no uniqueness about it anymore, there’s no authenticity. Embracing your weirdness and embracing different genres that shouldn’t go together is actually the cooler form to do it. 

I think that, especially at this point in time, you’re a great artist if you know how to rework your own influences and come up with something original.

Bruno: Yeah, at the end of the day, there’s only seven notes. There’s no music that’s going to be completely unique, it’s about how unique you can make it.

Exactly. Which major bands do you dream of supporting? Let’s go with one from the past and a modern one.

Laszlo: We’re really gonna disagree on this, haha. I would want to support Kaleo, this Icelandic pop-rock band, and probably Led Zeppelin. Actually, we should open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Bruno: I have an endless list… I’ve been listening to a lot of music that’s come out now, and I love Keo, great band. They’re doing so well at the moment, and they’re friends of ours, so I would love to hop on a stage with them. If we’re going fully out there, though, then I would say Michael Jackson. Supporting MJ would be a part of the notebook that you take out and frame. 

Hugh: Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana. 

What a line-up! Alright, now if you were to think of Kultura as a colour, an animal, and a body of water, which ones would you choose and why? This is a fun little psychological test. 

Hugh: Purple. Donkey. Loch Ness. 

Why?

Hugh: The donkey just because the general IQ in the band is low. 

Great publicity for a band called “Kultura”, Hugh, haha.

Bruno: Yeah, speak for yourself, man.

Hugh: Purple because… I don’t know, what does purple mean?

Bruno: See? He’s the donkey.

Ok, what about Loch Ness, though? You gotta have a reason for that.

Hugh: There’s a monster.

…Do you believe in it?

Hugh: I guess.

Bruno: I’d say a waterfall for the body of water because on stage it looks like we’re gonna crash and burn, but then, suddenly it’s like you hit the water and start spiraling. Then, for an animal, I’d say a gorilla that’s dressed in a red tutu… because you should see Hugh’s strength and you should see Laszlo dance, haha, and red as the colour because we both love and hate each other.

Laszlo: Ok, have you seen the Pirates of the Caribbean? There’s this little monkey going crazy, and that’s Bruno on stage. 

Bruno: Hell, yeah. I’m changing my animal now, Jack the monkey is great.  

Laszlo: For the body of water, I’m choosing the Mariana Trench, because it’s the deepest, and our lyrics can get quite deep. Then, I like the idea of purple for the colour, actually.

Let’s see if you can tell me why, haha.

Laszlo: It makes me think of our song “Alien”. 

Alright, let’s figure out what your answers mean, then. The colour is supposed to represent the core of the band, your most authentic side. 

Bruno: Otherworldly, easy.

The animal represents how you’d like to be perceived from an external perspective.

Laszlo: As I said, Jack the monkey is Bruno on stage, so that fits.

The body of water, instead, represents the flow of your music.

Bruno: Like a waterfall, mate, high intensity. 

You guys nailed it! One last question for you: are you stars or freaks?

Bruno: I’m a star.

Laszlo: And then you have two freaks here.

What about Arlen, your drummer?

Bruno: He thinks he’s a star, but he’s actually a freak

Haha, thank you very much, guys, I can’t wait to see you perform again at your next gig!

photos by @wwolnyphotography