Antwerp Gipsy Ska Orkestra

Antwerp has, with its rich history and international port, always been a melting pot of cultures, a place where people from all over the world meet and exchange ideas. As amazing as their records may be, Antwerp Gispy Ska Orkestra is first and foremost a stunning live band that has thrilled audiences throughout Europe, including Ukraine, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the UK, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, The Netherlands and of course their home country Belgium. They have even played in Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Republic of Buryatia (Russia), probably the most Siberian part of Siberia.

They have performed at famous festivals such as Dour, Lowlands, Sziget (twice) and Life Festival Oswiecim, and have opened for such legendary artists as Peter Gabriel.

They celebrate their 20-year anniversary in 2023.

“We play a unique genre that we invented ourselves”, says band leader Gregor Engelen. “Although musicians in Venezuela – of all places – have started a band too. And worst of all: we played with them several times and they are just fantastic. Then there’s this gypsy band in Kosovo that covers several of our (cover) songs..”

“I not only sing in Dutch, French and English, but in Romani as well. I don’t actually speak Romani, even though I slowly start to understand bits of conversation. It’s a relatively poor language with a limited number of words and a basic grammar, but if you want to learn it you need to go and live with gypsies, as there are no Romani dictionaries or language courses.”

The forthcoming (6th) album will be released with a European tour in November 23, and is produced by Alain Croisy AKA Lunaman and Jamie Evans.