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The band Quimby has become – along with Kispál és a Borz – the most popular alternative-rock band in the country, and has been present at all major festivals in the last twenty years. The roots lead back to Tibor Kiss and Livius Varga’s school band ‘Október’ in a small ex-industrial town, Dunaújváros. They founded Quimby in 1991, and recorded their first material after two years of gigging entitled ‘A sip of a story’. The next release came a year later called ‘Jerry can dance’ with a new member Szilárd Balanyi on the keyboard.
After their first two albums all in English, the band switched to predominantly Hungarian words for their next release ‘Majom-tangó’ in 1996, which raised the profile of the band among concert-goers to become a cult act that many felt personally attached to. A year later, ‘Diligramm’ was out with catchier songs, deeper lyrics and an even more colourful sound. The progress was clear as the boys got the ‘Best Album’ award from the Hungarian Labels’ Association. They built up a big anticipation for their next album, and then surpassed it all: Ékszerelmére, released in 1999, had an amazing musicality with a pleasant grooviness and peculiarly gripping stories in Kiss’ words. After a couple of changes, the band now had Ferenc Gerdesits on drums and József ‘Dodi’ Kárpáti on trumpet and keyboard.
Ever since these three albums, Quimby has had a huge following, allowing the band to tour regularly and making them one of the most popular acts at festivals. The main songwriter-frontman Kiss, however, had problems with this pace and after another successful release in 2003 (Káosz Amigos), Quimby took a break to allow Kiss to recover.
The band ended their hiatus after two years, collaborating with director Tamás Puskás on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at Vidámszínpad, where Quimby composed an original score to the play – a work that earned the band the prestigious Érték award.
The much-anticipated comeback album was out in the same year, in 2005, entitled ‘Kilégzés’ (Exhalalation). The music was honest and changed as their creators did: the songs had a mature character with mellower tones and a more balladistic character – all beautifully expressive and grippingly philosophic. The piano and the trumpet had a prominent role in this new melody-based sound, and so did Kiss’ lyrics, for which the singer received the Best Lyricist Award. Moreover, in 2006, Quimby received the Hungarian Labels’ Association Award ‘Fonogram’ as the Best Album in Rock category.
In 2006, the band celebrated their fifteenth anniversary with a Best Of compilation and a concert DVD (Family Tugedör) capturing the amazing energy of Quimby’s live shows. The release was an interesting compilation from an ever-changing band, and got very popular among music lovers.
In 2009, the band released a five-track EP called ‘Ajjajaj’ with two songs featuring English words again, and at the end of the same year, another three tracks were released along with a compilation of live songs and a DVD called ‘Lármagyűjtögető’.
In 2010, Quimby released their first LP in five years called ‘Kicsi ország’ (Small country), this time evoking all the different styles the band has ever created music in. These different parts unite together as different regions form a country. Although featuring different characters, the music carries on with the balladistic nature of ‘Kilégzés’ and a pleasurable nostalgic undertone.
In 2011, the band celebrated their twentieth anniversary with a sell-out Budapest Arena concert, a songbook, and their first concert album, ‘Instant Szeánsz’. The album is a celebration of Quimby’s famously energetic live shows with a track list that covers all the albums in the past twenty years, as well as display how their new material come alive on stage.
