Amber Smith are a

Hungarian pop Hungarian pop is the pop music scene of Hungary. It is often associated with Rezső Seress's song "Gloomy Sunday" which was covered by numerous artists. The most notable artists include Zsuzsa Cserháti, Kati Kovács, Zsuzsa Koncz, Judith Szűcs ...

trio based in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

formed in 2000 by

Imre Poniklo Imre Poniklo (born 16 October 1974) is a musician, best known as the lead singer, songwriter, lyricist and guitarist of Amber Smith. He is also a solo artist under the name Poniklo. As a singer, Poniklo's voice lies in the baritone range. Earl ...

. The band's current line-up is Imre Poniklo (vocals, guitars), Oleg Zubkov a.k.a. Tooff (bass) and

Bence Bátor Bence Bátor (born 23 July 1977) is a Hungarian musician, best known as session drummer and the drummer of the Hungarian indie band Amber Smith and "Frenk" and "ABBA Tribute Show" and also of "Bowies Keep Swinging", a David Bowie tribute band ...

(drums). Amber Smith were one of the most prominent groups of the Budapest indie music scene in the 2000s.

History

Amber Smith were formed by singer-songwriter

in 2000 as a

side-project In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize a ...

in Budapest, Hungary. Imre Poniklo was the guitarist of the Hungarian alternative band Fanzine. At that time the singer of the Fanzine was José Simon, a professional

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

, who is currently the stylist of Amber Smith. In 2000 Imre Poniklo asked his fellow Fanzine mates (Ákos Örményi, Péter Egyedi, Ádám Földes) help him recording a demo entitled ''Above the Clouds''. Later the German Firestation Records released four songs from this early demo entitled ''There's No Way''. After releasing one studio album entitled ''Nincs Ránk Szükség'' (''There's No Need for Us''), and a five-song demo entitled Pozitív (''Positive''), Imre Poniklo left Hungary and moved to

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

and then to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The remaining members of the band formed the band, Annabarbi. In 2002

Oszkár Ács Oszkár Ács (born 1969) is a musician, best known as the bass guitarist of Amber Smith. Early life and personal life Ács was born in Szeged, Hungary. He is the co-founder of Időrablók. He joined Amber Smith in 2002. He left the band in 2012 ...

(previously played in Időrablók from

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

) joined the band and in the same year Amber Smith recorded their first studio album in English language entitled ''My Little Servant''. At the same time the line-up was changed four times (Nathan Johnson, Pete Pawinski,

Tamás Faragó Tamás Faragó (born 5 August 1952) is a former Hungarian water polo player. He competed in all major international tournaments between 1970 and 1980 and won three medals at the Summer Olympics and five at the world and European championships. ...

and Tibor Simon). The album My Little Servant was released in 2003 followed by a tour in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. In addition, Imre Poniklo presented the album in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

as a solo artist. Imre Poniklo wrote the song ''Were You Thinking of Me'' for

Yonderboi László Fogarasi Jr. (born September 14, 1980), known by his stage name Yonderboi, is a Hungarian composer, music producer and visual artist. His debut album, Shallow and Profound, released in 2000, brought Eastern European music to the Wester ...

Splendid Isolation ''Splendid isolation'' is a term used to describe the 19th-century British diplomatic practice of avoiding permanent alliances, particularly under the governments of Lord Salisbury between 1885 and 1902. The concept developed as early as 1822, ...

album in 2005. Later Zoltán Kőváry arrived and they recorded their first successful record entitled rePRINT in 2006.

Reprint

In May 2004 Amber Smith started recording their third studio album entitled '' rePRINT'' at the Akustair Studios and at the Fenn-Ti Studios in Budapest. The recording was finished in September 2004, however the band continued an additional recording at the Fenn-Ti Studios in April 2005. The producer of the album was Amber Smith and additionally

Robin Guthrie Robin Andrew Guthrie (born 4 January 1962) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, composer, record producer and audio engineer, best known as the co-founder of the alternative rock band Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has performed ...

(from

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

) except the song rePRINT which was produced by

Hungarian indie Budapest indie music scene was the indie music scene of Budapest, Hungary in the 2000s. It was often associated with bands like Amber Smith, The Moog, EZ Basic and We Are Rockstars. History Beginnings The early 2000s was the revival of the ...

artist

. The album was mastered by Jácint Jiling and mixed by

and Gábor Deutsch. This time additional musicians contributed to the creation of the album.

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s were played by Dóra Maros and Györgyi Tihanyi while

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

was played by Tímea Kerekes. The album was released by Kalinkaland Records.

Introspective

At the end of 2006 Amber Smith started working on their next album entitled ''

Introspective ''Introspective'' is the third studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 10 October 1988 by Parlophone. It received generally positive reviews from critics. Background The album was unusual in that it reversed the typi ...

''. This time with a different producer called

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

, who previously worked on

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

's The Bends as an engineer and on

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

Origin of Symmetry ''Origin of Symmetry'' is the second studio album by English rock band Muse, released on 18 June 2001 through Taste Media. It was produced by John Leckie, who produced Muse's debut album '' Showbiz'' (1999), and David Bottrill. ''Origin of Symm ...

. The

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

first single ''Introspective'' was released in November 2007. The album was released by the Lithuanian label M.P.3 International as CD and digitally on 18 February 2008 first in Hungary, then in the

Baltics The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

and finally in

. The album won the award of the Best Alternative Record in Hungary in 2009. On 14 March 2009 Amber Smith released an EP called ''Time''. In spring 2009 the band played at the

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

festival in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

and

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. In 2009 Zoltán Kőváry left the band in order to concentrate on his band,

The Trousers ''The Trousers'' (German: ''Die Hose'') is a 1927 Cinema of Germany, German silent film, silent comedy film directed by Hans Behrendt and starring Werner Krauss, Jenny Jugo and Rudolf Forster. It was based on a The Trousers (play), play by Carl S ...

, after 5 years which indicated a pause for the band. In 2010 Imre Poniklo released a solo album (with Amber Smith drummer

) entitled Poniklo. In 2011 Gergely Szabados (guitars) and Zalán Póka (keyboards) joined the band.

Amber Smith

On 21 February 2012 Amber Smith released their fifth studio album entitled

Amber Smith Amber Smith is an American actress and former model. Early life Amber Smith is the daughter of Carol Smith. During her 2008 and 2009 appearances on the reality television programs in which she sought treatment by Dr. Drew Pinsky for addiction, s ...

. The album was recorded at the Metropol Studios by Dániel Sándor and Eszter Polyák in Budapest, Hungary. The album was mixed by

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

( We Are Rockstars and The Puzzle). On 5 March 2013, Amber Smith announced on their Facebook profile that

left the band. Later, it was confirmed by several music websites. The post did not mention any reasons for his departure. The band recorded four full-length studio albums with Ács, who also contributed to the songwriting with songs like ''Welcome To C.I.A.'', ''Bourbon and Soda'', ''Faster Than The Speed of Light'', ''Your Life Is My Death'', ''Hong Kong Falls''. Ács spent about 10 years with the band and later determined the sound of the band with his unique bass playing style.

Another Way

On 29 November 2013, Amber Smith released their EP entitled ''Another Way''. The EP contains the title track and Merciful Sea written by Poniklo and Zubkov. The album was recorded at Supersize Studio and Echo Studio in Budapest and it was mixed by

and mastered at Abnormal Studios in

Pesterzsébet Pesterzsébet is the 20th district of Budapest, Hungary. It is located in the southern part of the capital and is the 17th biggest district in the city. It is a mostly suburban area with approximately 70,000 residents. History Pesterzsébet was ...

. Csaba Neményi, who played the live shows with the band in 2013, was invited to play the guitars on Another Way. The single was produced with the aid of Nemzeti Kultúrális Alap (National Cultural Fund).

Modern

On 6 April 2015, Amber Smith's sixth full-length studio album, Modern, was released. Oleg "Toof" Zubkov (of Kollaps fame) joined the band in spring 2013 and is a member since, contributing his unique style in both playing and songwriting to amber smith on 2015's synth-dominated LP

Modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

and on 2017's eclectic album "New".

New

The latter record features collaborations by

Árpád Szarvas Árpád Szarvas is a musician, best known as the lead singer, songwriter, lyricist, guitarist of EZ Basic. Early life and personal life Szarvas is from Szabadka and lived in Szeged, Hungary, however, he moved to the capital city, Budapest after ...

(

EZ Basic EZ Basic is a guitar-pop, indie-rock project based in Budapest, Hungary formed in 2004. It started out as an experimental bedroom project in the early 00s and is noted for being one of the most eclectic bands of the Budapest indie music scene. Hi ...

) and Vera Jónás. The band is currently playing shows supporting the album, with a Russian tour planned for autumn 2018. In 2019

left the band because he moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with his family. On 30 December 2019 they played a show at Mika in Budapest. Poniklo announced that the band recorded their upcoming album to be released in 2020.

Record

In 2020 the band released their eighth studio album entitled Record. The songs were written by Poniklo, Bátor and Zubkov trio. The album was recorded at Starmusic Studio in Budapest by Ábel Zwickl. The keyboards on the song ''The Folksinger's Midlife Crisis'' was played by the band's former keyboardist, Zalán Póka. Dávid Sajó, journalist of Index, rated the album 4 out of ten. He pointed out that Amber Smith could not release the influence of the 2000s indie rock. The album is heavily influenced by British bands such as Placebo, The Editors, and Muse. Sajó also said that the album is professionally composed and recorded, although there is no single minute which he did not hear 15 years ago.

Band members

;Current line-up *

– lead vocals, guitar (2000–present) * Oleg Zubkov – bass guitar (2013–present) *

– drums, (2001–present) ;Former members *

*Péter Egyedi *

*Ádám Földes *Nathan Johnson * Zoltán Kőváry *Gergely Szabados *Ákos Örményi *Peter Pawinski *Zalán Póka

Timeline

ImageSize = width:920 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:2000 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals/Guitar id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Keyboards value:orange legend:Keyboards id:Drums value:purple legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_Albums LineData = at:15/06/2001 color:black layer:back at:24/09/2003 color:black layer:back at:13/09/2006 color:black layer:back at:13/09/2008 color:black layer:back at:13/09/2012 color:black layer:back at:06/04/2015 color:black layer:back at:06/04/2017 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Poniklo text:"Imre Poniklo" bar:Egyedi text:"Péter Egyedi" bar:Kőváry text:"Zoltán Kőváry" bar:Szabados text:"Gergely Szabados" bar:Faragó text:"Tamás Faragó" bar:Ács text:"Oszkár Ács" bar:Zubkov text:"Oleg Zubkov" bar:Póka text:"Zalán Póka" bar:Földes text:"Ádám Földes" bar:Bátor text:"Bence Bátor" bar:Johnson text:"Nate Johnson" bar:Pawinski text:"Peter Pawinski" PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Poniklo from:start till:end color:Vocals bar:Egyedi from:start till:02/07/2002 color:Guitar bar:Kőváry from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2009 color:Guitar bar:Szabados from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 color:Guitar bar:Faragó from:01/07/2002 till:01/01/2003 color:Guitar bar:Faragó from:07/12/2013 till:01/01/2019 color:Guitar bar:Ács from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2012 color:Bass bar:Zubkov from:01/01/2013 till:end color:Bass bar:Póka from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 color:Keyboards bar:Földes from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2001 color:Drums bar:Bátor from:01/01/2001 till:01/07/2002 color:Drums bar:Bátor from:01/01/2004 till:end color:Drums bar:Johnson from:01/07/2002 till:01/01/2004 color:Drums bar:Pawinski from:01/07/2002 till:03/11/2003 color:Keyboards

Discography

;Albums (LP) * ''Nincs Ránk Szükség'' (2001) * ''My Little Servant'' (2003) * '' RePRINT'' (2006) * ''

'' (2008) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2015) * ''New'' (2017) * ''Record'' (2020)

Videography

;Music videos * ''I Was The First'' (2004) * '' Hello Sun'' (2006) * ''Sea Eyes'' (unreleased, 2006) * ''Introspective'' (2007) * ''Select All/Delete All'' (2008) * ''Time'' (2010) * ''Faster Than The Speed of Light'' (2012) * ''Bourbon and Soda'' (2012) * ''Another Way'' (2013) * ''Hold On To Your Love'' (2015) * ''Same Old Tune'' (2015) * ''Barking Dog'' (2015) * ''Cape'' (2017) * ''Straight to Video'' (2017)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amber Smith Musical groups established in 2000 Hungarian indie rock groups English-language singers from Hungary