Artist database

Gergő Borlai was born in Budapest in 1978. He started playing the drums at age three on hearing Joe Morello and Harvey Mason on the records of Dave Brubeck and Herbie Hancock. In 1984 he became the pupil of Iván Nesztor, and between 1990 and 1997 he studied with János Szanyi. He also mentions among his influences Gábor Presser, Gyula Babos, and Tibor Tátrai, playing with whom he learnt what attitude to have towards music, and what the role of a band leader is. He has also put great effort into studying the music of John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Weather Report, Frank Zappa, and Jaco Pastorius. Simultaneously with drumming, he also learnt to play the bass guitar and the piano. He has been composing from an early age, his first album was released in 1998 titled 17. He formed his own band European Mantra in 2001. According to their definition they play trash-metal-pop-funk-jazz-rock. Gergő recorded his second solo album in 2004, which again showcases several types of music, but is basically 'electrified jazz'.

He was given Artisjus Prize (Composer of the Year) in 2021.