Quimby (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Quimby


Img_capt = Visible from left to right are: Livius Varga, Ferenc Mikuli, Tibor Kiss, Ferenc Gredesits, József Kárpáti and Szilárd Balanyi
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Origin = Dunaújváros, Hungary
Genre = Rock, Alternative rock
Years_active = 1991–present
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Current_members = Tibor Kiss - Vocals, Lead guitar
Livius Varga - Vocals, Precussions
Szilárd Balanyi - Keyboards, Vocals
Ferenc Gerdesits - Drums
Ferenc Mikuli - Bass
József Kárpáti - Trumpet

Past_members = Endre Kiss - Rhythm guitar 1991 - 1994
Tamás Molnár - Saxophone 1991 - 1999
Ákos Medve - Drums 1991 - 1996

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Quimby is an alternative rock band that has become popular in the Hungarian music scene. They play in front of large crowds across the nation, especially at music festivals such as Sziget Festival. They have been together for over 15 years, and have released 7 studio albums and 1 live CD/DVD combo.

Band history

Roots

The industrial town of Dunaújváros had grown out from the village called Pentele which already hasn’t been wearing Stalin’s name and still hasn’t had a country-wide known football team when some local secondary school students founded a band called October which played covers. By the end of the school the band based on the Kiss brothers, (Tibor and Endre) had been died early, so then some of the long-ago members’ ways cross each other in rented flats of Budapest some years later.

1991 Saloon start - Jerrycan Dance

After the solid fluctuation of the band and several pub concerts in Pest by 1993 the ’sixs’ gang up, (Tibor Kiss-song & guitar, Endre Kiss-guitar, Livius Varga-percussions & vocal, Tamás Molnár-saxophone, Ferenc Mikuli-bass guitar, Ákos Medve-drum), which record the first work of the band in which the sing was in English and came up on cassette, it was the ’Sip Of Story’. At those times who heard some of the more and more frequent concerts of Quimby, could think of the chansons, cabarets and the world of Berthold Brecht’s songs from the period between the World Wars. One year after the turnout of the ’Sip Of Story’, the band which became one of the most success club-band of Budapest needed a member change, the elder Kiss-brother, Endre goes away. However his place was not refilled by a guitarist but by a new young piano player, Szilárd Balanyi who was born in Balatonfüred. The band with this new line-up start to record it’s new album called ’Jerrycan Dance’ -in the legendary ’Főnix-studio’- which in contrast with the ’Sip Of Story’, came up on CD but in private edition. The ’Jerrycan Dance’ is also in English and it contains a part of the main characteristics which are influencing the present Quimby, (but of course with new and new mutations), -heavy, drastic moral, chansonic, epic intonated songs, expressive musical world, atmosphere and diction.

Language change - Majomtangó

In 1995 a Quimby concert was quite an event but in autumn of this year two key men of the band, Tibor Kiss and Livius Varga decided to travel to New York to get some fresh air. They spent 3 months there than came home. After this short pause the band decided to write only Hungarian songs. In the summer of 1996 the new record of Quimby got ready, ’Majom-tangó’ (MonkeyTango), it contains mostly Hungarian songs but there are also three English ones, moreover it’s not only ambivalent because of the language but its style is a little eclectic too: there is everything, the folk songs of the habitual chanson-epic diction of Quimby, especially roma and Latin folk music than the reggae and psychedelic effects joined to influence it. ’Majom-tangó’ is the renessaince of Quimby, it preserves the characters of the English lingual Quimby what is the direct antecedent of their present style.

Breakthrough - Diligram

The fact that Quimby became a Hungarian lingual band with ’Majom-tangó’ immediately started to rise their acquaintance and popularity by leaps and bounds newly with Ferenc Gerdesits drummer since the record making period. By that time the music band had been a relevant phenomena on the alternative stage but -if you like- actually the real reason is the appear of the ’Diligramm’ in December 1997. The "Diligramm" (Loonygramme) is a complete work of a matured band. The lyrics of the "Majom-tangó" are cleared from redundant and oversymbolised elements, the mucisal palette is getting to be more colorful, the band found its own style. The CD is introduced by a hold video/hit "Once there was a time" and an also memorable first night concert initates it. The Quimby lives gaily and not even dies but has got more and more concert with bigger and bigger audience, additionally -imagine- in the spring of 1998 the Hungarian profession chose the ’Diligramm’ the album of the year.

Mature band - Ékszerelmére

Well, it’s not surprising that the new record called 'Ékszerelmére' was highly anticipated before it was released in November 1999. Making the record became a little adventurous when early in the year Livius lost the test tape which contained the ideas of new songs while he was traveling on tram 4-6. If we say that the previous album is mature and composed then we can say that ’Ékszerelmére’ is even more mature and composed, anyway it’s sure that the new Quimby record is amazing. The music is strict but playful, uniform but discursive, realistic but ascendent, traditionalist and while the band bravely use the implements of modern music, the texts are cruel, ironic, there are stories and even verbal psychedelia. After the recording of ’Ékszerelmére’ the band released Tamás Molnár (saxophone), and after a long search his place was filled by the trumpet and piano player from the one-time music band 'Andersen', József Kárpáti. The band took the stage at that year's Sziget Festival in this form.

Morzsák & Amigos

During this the band gave festival concerts in Hungary and abroad too scores of time and even they involved a mini-tour in Germany. Then in the spring of 2001 the Quimby appeared with an irregular sound work. The new album called ’Morzsák és szilánkok’ (Crumbs and Splinters) appeared which contained remixes too which were created by not well known Hungarian remixers but by unknown, young, talented people - together with concert records of elder songs and another kind attempt versions of them, how Tibor Kiss singer said a „with a sort of continuous modality like a film, building up by each other one after the other”.

2002. The album, called ’Káosz amigos’ (Chaos Amigos) - by the way it has a talkative title- didn’t caused disappointment. The music is the musical and lirical impression of a troubled, intensive, vibrating, sensitive, dynamic, tragic, humorous, often tragicomic world. Even if you like it’s a musical-lirical adventure with ’Káosz amigos’ on the awry part of the visible world and „the answer is a lemon”. That’s true that the album which contains 10 songs in 43 minutes was the most laconic work of Quimby, but in this case the playtime -which reminds us a bakelite album- is inversional commensurable with the exciting moment of the music. The ’Káosz amigos’ is colorful, exciting and amusing musical roller coaster, even it proves that it is possible to write that kind of memorable songs which won’t be boring after a time and the only one reason why we can’t call them hits is that this word mean something else in our country. The album is the already known musical universum of the Quimby from a new point of view. We can listen to Spanish like chansons from which you can find at least one on every album – stiff rhythm, suspect guitarplays, agile and bop songs but there are also fancy, moderate, slow song and specific rap, even says from childhood. To attain the impression they use character drum, percussion instruments, guitar, bass, keyboard instrument, sleekly used mixed modern electronics and finally but not for the last trumpet by the debut member of the band, József Kárpáti.

Pause

The new album still had concerts in the country but few months after the come up of it -principally it seemed that Tibor Kiss, the frontman needed a longer pneumatic and physical recreation and relaxation, so the band decided to have a longer pause. The pause which wasn’t determined before lasted until 2004. After an intensive probation period and a secret, heartwarning returning concert, the Quimby blew into the domestic public music life again with enermous power. Exaggerated concerts with full-houses in Budapest and at regions, a successful Night-invasion concert in spring and appearances at big summer festivals and at the Sziget. The band continued there where they stopped before and they were said to be in good form. That’s true enough that the Quimby never have been in such a good form before. Even it was an extra that the new album came up in October 2005..

Kilégzés, Family tugedör

Search for synonyms! Easement? Restart? Deep sigh? So-so... The album called ’Kilégzés’ (Exhalation) became the most important work in the history of the band. Interesting milestone because it opened an era not just from the art point of view but practically too - additionally it was also period closer a little. Memories from a previous phase in a new context, revaluation, inventory, so on... Tibor Kiss doesn’t mince now, there is no nostalgy, no truth of life but – if we like to draw a little drastic – the music with it’s ironic, emotional, expressive style kills the past on verbal way.

Than – how fast is the time goes on!- in 2006 the band is 15 years old. They entered their teenager period and they celebrated it extremely. The Quimby celebrated this especial jubilee with a winnowing record and DVD which was sorting especially and subjectively. It is called ’Family tugedör’. They also gave a double concert in the József Katona Theatre than a memorable one in the Petőfi Csarnok and the top was a particular one in 1th of January, called magic music.

Discography

1993 - A Sip of Story
1995 - Jerrycan Dance
1996 - Majom-tangó
1997 - Diligramm
1999 - Ékszerelmére
2001 - Morzsák és szilánkok (Live)
2002 - Káosz amigos
2005 - Kilégzés
2006 - Family tugedör (Best of CD and Archives DVD)