We spoke to Hungarian singer-songwriter, drummer and composer Peter Kaszas, who released his latest hit ‘Turn Back’ on October 11th via Peter Kaszas Music. As an acclaimed artist, Peter has performed at festivals all over the globe, including Marciac Jazz Festival in France and Dresden Jazz Festival in Germany, while he’s shared stages with the likes of Gonzalo Rubalcaba. In the interview, we chat to Peter about the inspiration behind ‘Turn Back’, how he got into music, his creative process and what’s next.
Stream Peter Kaszas – ‘Turn Back’ while reading the interview below:
1. Tell us about you, how long have you been making music? What inspired you to start?
My parents took me to the local Music School when I was 6 after they saw me hitting pots and pans around the house. I studied classical percussions for a few years. My father was also a drummer so when they were rehearsing at our house, during intermissions I sneaked behind the drum kit and play. My father was also a songwriter and sound engineer so music was all around me. I also always loved singing and writing songs, when I was a kid I was listening to a lot of pop/rock music.
In 2009 I joined Al di Meola’s band as his drummer. One day this idea just hit me on tour that I wanted to make a record as a singer/drummer, so in 2016 I released my first album called “Infinity Project”. In 2017, the album received the prestigious Hungarian Fonogram award in the category of ‘best jazz album or record of the year’.
Since then my second album came out in 2021 and I have been writing songs and working as a drummer and I would like to share my music as much as I can.
And now I am super excited about my brand new song ‘Turn Back’!
2. The music industry is super competitive these days, was there a moment in your life that you wanted to give up on music? How did you manage to stay focused and achieve what you want?
It’s a really good and tough question. It’s hard to get attention with 100.000 uploads per day on Spotify, but you have to believe in your music. With more complex songs and lyrics I know my music is different but I won’t give up. As an artist sometimes we feel that it is pointless to put energy and money into our vision, but it also fuels our (or my) inspiration.
3. How would you describe your creative processes? Who writes the lyrics to the songs? Are the music and lyrics written in conjunction, or separately?
Mostly I write the music only. Sometimes we keep a line from the demos but sometimes my co-writer changes the lyrics entirely.
Of course I have ideas about the subject or the mood of the song but the music comes first. I love this process, many times the lyrics can change as well as the music or the melody.
As a drummer, you might think that the groove is the first thought, but all the songs start with me sitting at the piano and sing.
4. Where did the inspiration come from?
Inspiration can come at any moment. Many times a melody or a mood just hit me out of the blue, even when I am doing something else. Once I was working on a song and I was trying to figure out some chords. All of a sudden out of nothing I started to play and sing a completely different part which became a different song. I am not saying this is always a good thing but here we are. :)
5. What’s next for you?
I am working on the other songs, I am planning to release an EP in the coming months so stay tuned!
