It’s really hard to sum up five weeks of your life spent far away from your home on a different continent. I’ve traveled and gained more experience than I could ever have gained in a year at home. Anyway, I’ll try to pick the highlights of our recent U.S. tour.

In New York, we had a show at the Studio in Webster Hall. After our performance we went out to a small rock pub where the DJ played mostly traditional punk and new wave. We got very drunk there and around 1am this blonde chick stumbled through the door. She wore only a bra, some strange panties and of course some super high heels, which might have been the reason for her face-plant when she entered the place.We didn’t think she was anyone special at first. Then we were told she was actually Lady Gaga. I was so drunk that I went to her and asked if she really was Lady Gaga. She said she was, and since I didn’t believe her I instantly said that I was Michael Jackson (now this seemed funny at the moment). When I told Csabi, our bass player about this, he didn’t believe me. He decided that if she really was Lady Gaga, he’d stand right next to her and take a picture of her face. He didn’t see the security guards, so this - and a good amount of alcohol - made him pretty brave. After he took the photo, Gaga jumped on him and her three security guards grabbed his arm, took his camera and deleted the shots. Sad, but at the end of the day, we’re not big fans of hers anyway.

In Detroit, we met another celebrity. We all know that Meg White is cool, but she’s also nice and, if I can say so, looks way better than Lady Gaga. Our friend Muffy (singer from the Sirens) knows Meg and she took us to her house party. They were all very nice people there. I think we managed to drink all her beer too… sorry Meg! Thanks to Muffy for those two wonderful days we spent in Detroit at her beautiful home.

In Austin, we’ve been lucky to play SXSW twice, so we’ve seen Austin when 6th Street is full of bands, industry people and music lovers.

We recently played Austin again on an average Friday night and I was shocked that, even outside of SXSW, the nightlife is still so active in the city. The only thing I didn’t quite get was that bands were playing in all these clubs but the crowds were thin. The streets were crowded, the clubs were open but the bands played only for a few people. After seeing that, I was relieved that we had a good crowd at our show at Club De Ville.

As you can see, touring is rough but it has its great moments.

In Hollywood, we played the Viper Room, which might not be a huge thing for a band from Los Angeles, but it was for us. Our load is was right off of Sunset Blvd, and to play a legendary Sunset Strip club was a big deal. Even though the Viper is small, it has a great vibe. And as far as I know, WE ARE THE ONLY HUNGARIAN BAND TO EVER PLAY THERE!

In Hermosa Beach, the day before we left the U.S. to go back to Budapest, we were walking along the beach, and maybe because of our pale skin and funny haircuts, a lady asked us where we were from. I answered that we were a band from Hungary. After hearing this she cheered and instantly got up and called an old gentleman who started to talk in Hungarian to us. It wasn’t perfect Hungarian because he came to the U.S. at age 19 when the rebellion broke out in Hungary in 1956. The last time he visited Hungary was 39 years ago. After we talked a bit he asked us to stay there for a few minutes because he wanted to give us a small gift. When he came back, he handed us beautiful signed photographs Hermosa Beach he had taken. End up he’s a professional photographer, He asked only one thing in return for the pics. He wrote down the Hungarian address of his sister who he hasn’t seen for almost 40 years and gave us an extra copy of the photograph to take to her. I have the copy with me and I’m going take it to the address this week. I’ll let you know what happens.