Remembering Karl Farkas

York Musician immortalised by Suicidal Flowers memories,

Many people remember Karl Farkas from countless York Press clippings from his drunk driving arrest, or his notoriety with 90’s Necrofolk band Suicidal Flowers.
To Karl’s friends and band mates he was a “prick” but a loveable one.

I remember Karl as the loving but troubled uncle I never had the chance to truly get to know.

Karl Farkas, frontman for the Suicidal Flowers passed away from a heart attack on the 21st December 2009. Always the centre of attention Karl was not the type to leave without a legacy. I spoke to the people who knew him best to keep him unforgotten.

Karl joined the notorious Suicidal Flowers who had a reputation for satanism and in the early days were dubbed as Nazis. When the band publicly denounced the claims they supported the Nazi’s in a Belgian zine Crohinga Well, they were met with death threats. Fez (Mark Carlyle) a seminal member of the band discussed how “The first time we went over abroad” in a club in Belgium the band were confronted by a gang of ‘Skinheads’ emerging out of loft hatch. They had been lying in wait, “we thought we were going to get murdered. It wouldn’t have bothered Karl he didn’t mind a fight!”

The band were signed to a psychedelic label called Delirium one punk group among throngs of Hippies. Fez recalled the day they signed to the label as “one of the best days of {his} life” going on to say “We had such a good day, we signed it outside of York Minster with a six foot crucifix, a co[in, a transvestite and a dwarf “ The band’s first album had been self-funded and suddenly after all the hard work they no longer had to put their hands in their own pockets. “I don’t think Karl would’ve been good at being really famous, I don’t think a lot of us would’ve been” but making music was the Flowers’ greatest passion.

While holding some great albums under their belt, and songs that charted internationally, The Flowers also hosted one of the biggest Party Houses in York. Earl Street, where Karl lived unofficially, “It was f**king disgusting, it was so vile I can’t even begin to tell you” says Sara Hepworth a friend of the band, she goes on to mention how there were mushrooms growing in the bathroom and sprout curry on the hob, not to mention an incontinent cat and a resident vampire! Despite this it was all in good faith, with countless great memories, rotating bedrooms and now blurry afterparties being held there. “It was a time; it really was a time” Sara laughs remembering the good old days.

I grew up with stories of Karl ‘borrowing’ my mum’s skinny jeans or entertaining at family parties when he was younger. Working on this story, I got the chance to see my uncle as the young man he once was and learn about him as I would hear about a close friend. Speaking with John Wright, Karl’s best friend, John told me of the first time he met Karl.

It was the first day of term, the two of them were enrolled on an acting course in Harrogate, as the first seminar was settling in the doors swing open and in walks a scru[y haired young man, windswept in a bright blue leather jacket exclaiming about how his bike broke down on the way. John’s sister was the year above in the same college and he later learned Karl had done the same act not 10 minutes before in a room down the hall to a crowd of second years who sent him on his way.

The pair became fast friends after this, “Karl was a real character” John spoke on how different Karl was away from home. Karl with friends was an outgoing and carefree personality, but he spent a lot of time stuck between that and his family man persona. It was clear to many how much Karl wanted a wife and kids but at the time him and his friends were just kids themselves.

“I always remember Karl as just being fun” Sara reminisced; this was the overwhelming sentiment heard from everyone I spoke with. Paul Duckitt who stood in as a guitarist for the Flowers on a tour spoke on an act they would do together on stage “Karl would get a pick and I would hold {the guitar} and he would strum it- I suppose we thought we were Bowie and Mick Ronsen.” it’s clear how forward Karl was as a performer. “When I first met Karl in the Cross Keys Pub, he was a pretty quiet guy, we would talk about music,” said Paul; when

Karl opened himself up with the band, he was shocked “I popped in the Keys again a few weeks later and there was Karl bare chested and getting it large singing about not licking your f**king boots! Was this the same guy?”
Karl lived and breathed music. Paul mentioned how much of a Nirvana fan he was at the time. Learning this feels bittersweet, I’m sure growing up I’d have bonded with Karl over our shared love of music.

“He was cheeky, he was like me he wanted a goodtime. We’d just end up in fits of giggles,” What’s your favourite memory of Karl, I probed Sara “I think it is probably him sitting on the sticky plastic banquettes in Fibbers, with his arms stretched out along the back, and his eyes slightly closed and the sunshine catching him,” you could hear her

smiling as she continued “ he was always best when he was relaxed, your uncle, he was very good at winding himself up into a frenzy but he was good company.”

Karl’s rockstar lifestyle got the better of him in 1996 and as the flowers were
confirming gigs, signing recording contracts and planning big things Karl was charged with multiple motoring offences including drinking and driving. After a 90mph car chase Karl was sent down for 6 months, speaking on the time Sara recalled that people were running street to street keeping each other in the loop. Sara provided a character witness to the courts that is now lost but is a testament to how Karl managed to luckily only receive a six-month sentence.

Going hand in hand with The Suicidal Flowers’ previous bad press Karl was misquoted in the dock as saying, “Kill the pigs!” and performing a Nazi salute. In fact, Karl was shouting “Cakey Pig” a catchphrase from Charlie Chuck to make his friends in the gallery laugh. “I remember it really vividly, he did something stupid, but he was remorseful. I’ve seen a lot less remorseful people,” Sara added. Simply put the event of Karl’s arrest was impactful, the people surrounding him were shocked and it has clearly stuck with them all.

The band were not expecting Karl to get sent down, according to Fez. In the sleeve of one album, they printed the headline “Jailed Rock Singer Puts Band on The Road to No Where” The arrest made The Suicidal Flowers the talk of York for a few weeks “and it made our scuzzy image even more scuzzy,” but any press is good press, and after Karl’s release the band were back to their antics and ready to release ‘Burn Mother Burn’.

Karl is a figurehead of York’s forgotten music history. From deep punk routes to party houses. Members of bands like The Suicidal Flowers should not be left to turn into ash in the history of the city and instead should be celebrated for the culture they upheld. Whether you remember the times where York bands made headlines or are just desperately searching for anyone but Shed Seven to champion York, it is worth chatting to the bloke with a guitar at your local boozer.

I was met with an overwhelming response from people who both wanted to talk about Karl and the music scene of York. I have been blown over by the community I reached out to and the sentiment that still stands that, in Sara’s words “We were in it together.” don’t want my uncle, his friends and many more people to go forgotten or swept under the carpet.