Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hutz Announces Debut Memoir Lost Innocent World Out December 8

Tuesday, April 28 - Today, Eugene Hutz, the Ukrainian frontman of international punk band Gogol Bordello , announces his debut memoir Lost Innocent World: Chronicles of a Ukrainian Punk Rocker in the Free World with Katherine Yeske Taylor - out via Matt Holt Books , an imprint of BenBella Books , on December 8, 2026.

With a foreword by Sonic Youth legend Thurston Moore, the memoir chronicles his explosive journey from Ukrainian refugee to famed global punk icon, acclaimed thespian, cultural rebel, and vital political force. There will also be a musical companion piece, illustrating the era and highlighting the resonance between Ukrainian musicians and the likes of Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch & beyond.

"To the hallowed ranks of Nick Cave, Henry Rollins, and Patti Smith - writers who make music, or is it musicians who write? - let us now add the name of Eugene Hutz," says Pushcart Prize-winning author Jerry Stahl. "'Lost Innocent World' is every bit as wild-ass, intense, innovative, and beautiful on the page as the sounds that blast off the stage from his legendary band, Gogol Bordello."

This comes at the heels of Gogol Bordello's "raucous good time"( Rolling Stone )tourand new album We Mean It, Man! ("most vital and engaging record since Gypsy Punks" - SPIN ). Featuring Bernard Sumner (New Order, Joy Division) and award winning actor-directorLiev Schreiber, We Mean It, Man! was produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Gang of Four, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Amyl & The Sniffers, IDLES) and Adam "Atom" Greenspan (Amyl & The Sniffers, IDLES) on Eugene Hutz's label Casa Gogol Records .

Eugene Hutz 's journey from his Romani "gypsy" roots, family interrogations for being "anti-Soviet," and European refugee camps to a crash landing in his beloved New York hardcore scene may sound like a Tarantino movie, but it's only the beginning of Eugene's trajectory.

Born and raised in Boyarka, Ukraine - where a century earlier Sholem Aleichem wrote his world-famous tales, and "pickled in its mystical vitamins" - Eugene discovers rock 'n' roll music through his Western-spirited, freedom-loving father.

Uprooted by the Chernobyl disaster and inspired by a Sonic Youth concert in Kiev in 1989 , Eugene embarks "to find his own sonic heart" in NYC. Follow along as he goes from being brutally discouraged by his Soviet music teachers to making records with Rick Rubin and headlining major world festivals.

The real punk saga kicks off when Eugene and his kin score asylum in the USA. Safe in Vermont, but itching for rebellion, he grinds for years before birthing Gogol Bordello , a badass musical fusion labeled "gypsy punk" - a raw blend of traditional Eastern European music and punk that enraptures global music maniacs.

The band became the darlings of artists, tastemakers, and fashion icons, landing a breakthrough gig at the Whitney Biennial in 2002 that raised their profile and launched their international career. Their embrace of multiculturalism created a unique style that seamlessly blends the disparate.

Lost Innocent World is Eugene's deeply personal account of surviving conflict and displacement-and a reminder of how powerful music can be in raising the resilience of the dispossessed.

ABOUT EUGENE HUTZ / GOGOL BORDELLO

Eugene Hutz is a Ukrainian-born artist, songwriter, and frontman of the International punk band Gogol Bordello - a rare musical force raucously illuminating stages alongside System of a Down, Rancid, dueting withRegina Spektor and cutting albums with Rick Rubin & Steve Albini. A lifelong lover of the punk scene growing up in Ukraine, Hutz found himself where he felt he belonged, in New York's Lower East Side in the late 90s, where he went to shows and later performed at the legendary CBGB. Crashing at friends' apartments and playing acoustic sets in NYC Ukrainian bars, his group steadily grew to an 8-piece multicultural band, combining Eastern, Western, and Latin traditions. Hutz is a tireless advocate for Ukrainian solidarity, partnering with Nova Ukraine and ArtDopomoga , as well as putting together benefits with Patti Smith, The Hold Steady, Suzanne Vega, and more. Hutz has also appeared in arthouse films such as Liev Schreiber's Everything Is Illuminated with Elijah Wood, Filth and Wisdom helmed byMadonna, and last year's Vice documentary Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story (Executive Producer Liev Schreiber).

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