FreshFabrik
Encyclopedia
FreshFabrik is a Hungarian
award winning, rock
, nu-metal, industrial
band, consisting of Szabolcs Oláh aka (kju:)
(vocals, guitars), András Szabó (drums) and Levente Kovács (bass & programming) with László Szvoboda (guitars, vox, synth.) on live performances. FreshFabrik is the first Hungarian English-singing rock/metal band using DJ and rap performances, and the first Hungarian rock/metal band contracted to a major record label.
FreshFabrik is one of the best-selling English-singing Hungarian rock bands of all time. After a three-year break, in 2011 they released a brand new album MORA.
and the nominated video appeared on MTV Europe’s '120 Minutes
'. In the same year FresHfabrik released the debut album Certifikado.
In 1995-97 the band was clubtouring all over Europe, and performed as supporting band to Nitzer Ebb
in Budapest 1997. In 0997 the band signed to Warner Music
Hungary to release their of second album Nerve. After the success of the album "Nerve" Warner sent the band touring in Australia
on the new album.
The album Drive My Hand came out on the 30th of October, 2000. On the 8th of March, 2001 the band won Hungarian IFPI’s Golden Giraffe Award (Hungarian Grammy) as 'The Best Domestic Modern Rock Album Of The Year 2000'
In 2001 Warner Released "Drive My Hand in Czech Republic, and FreshFabrik was Rammstein and AC/DC, in Prague in Strahov Stadium with an audience of 35.000 people.
The band performed on Pepsi Island Festival again as a headliner, among bands like H-Blockx and New Model Army. The music video for 'Lamentation' was nominated to the 'Comet' competition on VIVA TV 'Lamentation' and 'Drive My Hand' videos were appearing on VIVA2 in Germany. That time the band was working on the release and promotion of 'Drive My Hand' in cooperation with the Vice President A&R of Warner Music International in New York, organising showcases in Los Angeles and New York. Unfortunately the tragic events of September 11 temporarily made impossible for the band to be present in the States.
"Lamentation" appeared on the tracklist of the compilation New Generation released by Warner Music Czech Republic in November 2001 among superstars like Linkin Park, Wheatus, Deftones, Faith No More, Sugar Ray, Uncle Kracker, Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, Missy Elliott, Crazy Town Staind, Him, Blink 182, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guano Apes, The Bloodhound Gang and Papa Roach.
In the summer of 2002 FreshFabrik played numerous gigs in Hungary and became third-time headliner of Pepsi Sziget Festival and the band received an invitation to Texas (Austin) to SXSW Festival Summer.
The album Dead Heart in Living Water was released in the February of 2004. The band started touring 20 gigs all around Hungary, and the second single’s ("Grace for Grace") video became one of the five most played videos on the playlist of Hungary’s most prestigious music television channel, VIVA TV.
The one-year-term singer, Balázs Tanka left the band, and István Horváth joined the band again for a few months. After zhe scandalous departure a new singer, Peter Ujvari joined the band for one single, On 'n' On, which became the most played modern rock video of the year 2005.
After the departure of Peter Ujvári, a new progressive rock
, grunge singer Szabolcs Oláh (kju:) joined the band, with a new-born popularty, he gained as a finalist of the famous hungarian talent show Megasztár
In 2006 FreshFabrik released a special best-of album, with the bands most popular songs re-recorded, remastered and partly re-named, due to copyright reasons.
FreshFarbik toured and appeared many festivals. Played around Italy, Hungary and in the UK in 2007 supporting the heavy girl-band McQueen
(UK).
In 2010 Levente Kovacs, Andras Szabo and Szabolcs Olah decided to continue FreshFabrik and started writing some new material. In November 2010 a new single and music video titled "Stealing the Sun" released and was hitting radio charts, raising new popularity for the band. In the spring of 2011 Laszlo Szvoboda joined the band for live performances and started touring Hungary. Many festival appearences came and a very special show with Hungarian National Radio Philharmonic Orchestra on SZIGET Festival 2011, recorded live and in studio also. In June 2011 the band released a new album, MORA
, which is the 5th in the row of FreshFabrik studio albums. Three videos were shot supporting MORA: Stealing The Sun, Woman, Into The Light.
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Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
award winning, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, nu-metal, industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
band, consisting of Szabolcs Oláh aka (kju:)
Q
Q is the seventeenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.- History :The Semitic sound value of Qôp was , a sound common to Semitic languages, but not found in English or most Indo-European ones...
(vocals, guitars), András Szabó (drums) and Levente Kovács (bass & programming) with László Szvoboda (guitars, vox, synth.) on live performances. FreshFabrik is the first Hungarian English-singing rock/metal band using DJ and rap performances, and the first Hungarian rock/metal band contracted to a major record label.
FreshFabrik is one of the best-selling English-singing Hungarian rock bands of all time. After a three-year break, in 2011 they released a brand new album MORA.
Years of beginning
FreshFabrik was founded by Andras Szabó and Levente Kovács in 1993, in Budapest, Hungary. In the autumn of 1994 the band was introduced supporting RUN DMC in Budapest. That time the band signed a record deal with Hungarian Mute Licensee the band was nominated for the MTV Europe Video ContestMTV Europe
MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...
and the nominated video appeared on MTV Europe’s '120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
'. In the same year FresHfabrik released the debut album Certifikado.
In 1995-97 the band was clubtouring all over Europe, and performed as supporting band to Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb
Nitzer Ebb is a British EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Vaughan "Bon" Harris , Douglas McCarthy , and David Gooday .-Band name:...
in Budapest 1997. In 0997 the band signed to Warner Music
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
Hungary to release their of second album Nerve. After the success of the album "Nerve" Warner sent the band touring in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on the new album.
Years of success
In the early days of 2000 the band started working on the new album with Mr. Colson from Smart Studios (US) at the mixing desk. The band used the studio-break for performing live on the Pepsi Island Festival in Budapest as a headliner, among bands like Bad Relegion and The Bloodhoung Gang.The album Drive My Hand came out on the 30th of October, 2000. On the 8th of March, 2001 the band won Hungarian IFPI’s Golden Giraffe Award (Hungarian Grammy) as 'The Best Domestic Modern Rock Album Of The Year 2000'
In 2001 Warner Released "Drive My Hand in Czech Republic, and FreshFabrik was Rammstein and AC/DC, in Prague in Strahov Stadium with an audience of 35.000 people.
The band performed on Pepsi Island Festival again as a headliner, among bands like H-Blockx and New Model Army. The music video for 'Lamentation' was nominated to the 'Comet' competition on VIVA TV 'Lamentation' and 'Drive My Hand' videos were appearing on VIVA2 in Germany. That time the band was working on the release and promotion of 'Drive My Hand' in cooperation with the Vice President A&R of Warner Music International in New York, organising showcases in Los Angeles and New York. Unfortunately the tragic events of September 11 temporarily made impossible for the band to be present in the States.
"Lamentation" appeared on the tracklist of the compilation New Generation released by Warner Music Czech Republic in November 2001 among superstars like Linkin Park, Wheatus, Deftones, Faith No More, Sugar Ray, Uncle Kracker, Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, Missy Elliott, Crazy Town Staind, Him, Blink 182, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guano Apes, The Bloodhound Gang and Papa Roach.
In the summer of 2002 FreshFabrik played numerous gigs in Hungary and became third-time headliner of Pepsi Sziget Festival and the band received an invitation to Texas (Austin) to SXSW Festival Summer.
Years of changing
István Horváth, the frontman of FreshFabrik left the band due to musical and personal reasons in 2003. The band started the new album's recording sessions with a new singer: Balázs Tanka.The album Dead Heart in Living Water was released in the February of 2004. The band started touring 20 gigs all around Hungary, and the second single’s ("Grace for Grace") video became one of the five most played videos on the playlist of Hungary’s most prestigious music television channel, VIVA TV.
The one-year-term singer, Balázs Tanka left the band, and István Horváth joined the band again for a few months. After zhe scandalous departure a new singer, Peter Ujvari joined the band for one single, On 'n' On, which became the most played modern rock video of the year 2005.
After the departure of Peter Ujvári, a new progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, grunge singer Szabolcs Oláh (kju:) joined the band, with a new-born popularty, he gained as a finalist of the famous hungarian talent show Megasztár
Megasztár
Megasztár - Voice of the Year is a Hungarian voice talent television series that started in 2003 and is currently in its fifth season, on TV2...
In 2006 FreshFabrik released a special best-of album, with the bands most popular songs re-recorded, remastered and partly re-named, due to copyright reasons.
FreshFarbik toured and appeared many festivals. Played around Italy, Hungary and in the UK in 2007 supporting the heavy girl-band McQueen
McQueen (band)
McQueen is a rock band from Brighton, England, formed in 2004. They have released one album on Demolition Records. McQueen has toured all over Europe and played shows in the US and Asia including headlining the Unite Festival in Vietnam in 2007 in front of a crowd of 15,000.After making...
(UK).
Years of none
Between 2007-2010 three years pause of making and playing music together. After the unsuccesful 15 years birthday concert Levente Kovács declared in an interview that: "I don't see any chance to perform on stage under the name of FreshFabrik anymore to play TapTap. It makes no sense for me. It's only my opinion, there are many ways to do FreashFabrik without me, and maybe they will." So he left the band for one year, but Andras an Szabolcs, with former bass player Reka Hain played some shows with moderate success.Years of a new beginning
In 2010 Levente Kovacs, Andras Szabo and Szabolcs Olah decided to continue FreshFabrik and started writing some new material. In November 2010 a new single and music video titled "Stealing the Sun" released and was hitting radio charts, raising new popularity for the band. In the spring of 2011 Laszlo Szvoboda joined the band for live performances and started touring Hungary. Many festival appearences came and a very special show with Hungarian National Radio Philharmonic Orchestra on SZIGET Festival 2011, recorded live and in studio also. In June 2011 the band released a new album, MORA
Mora
-People:* Alberto J. Mora , General Counsel of the United States Navy * Alfonso Mora , Venezuelan former tennis player* Bruno Mora , Italian football player and coach* Cristian Mora , Ecuadorian football goalkeeper...
, which is the 5th in the row of FreshFabrik studio albums. Three videos were shot supporting MORA: Stealing The Sun, Woman, Into The Light.
Albums
- Certificado - 1994
- Nerve - 1997
- Drive My Hand - 2000
- Dead Heart In Living Water - 2004
- Finest - 2006
- MORA - 2011
Members
- Kju (Szabolcs Oláh) - vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
& guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Levente Kovács - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- AndyTaylor (András Szabó) - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
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- László Szvoboda - Guitars, vocals