Members are: Balanyi Szilárd (piano, backing vocals), Gerdesits Ferenc (drums), Kárpáti József (trumpet), Kiss Tibor (guitar, vocals, lyrics), Mikuli Ferenc (bass), Varga Líviusz (percussion, rap, lyrics).
More important ex-members are: Kiss Endre (guitars), Medve Ákos (drums), Molnár Tamás (saxophone).
The first stable line-up released their first studio album in 1993 entitled "Sip of Story" on MC (private edition), which was inspired by artists like Tom Waits and Nick Cave. The band wrote their songs in English and had a unique approach to music, containing elements of blues, chansons and even moods familiar from Bertold Brecht songs.
After releasing another English language album, the chansonic and epic "Jerrycan dance" (in private edition), the band's two key figures, Tibor Kiss lead and Líviusz Varga took an inspiring 3 months long New York trip. However, their eclecticly rocking studio album "Majom-tangó" (Monkey tango) made right after was finally composed of songs predominantly in Hungarian. It earned a hungarian prize of best new group, revoked later, for Quimby having had an album in private edition.
Quimby reached both commercial and critical breakthrough in the year 1997 when they released their first fully Hungarian record "Diligramm". That album - tighter than its predecessors - spawned the music video "Hol volt hol nem volt..." (Once upon a time...) which had a relatively heavy air play on the Hungarian music channel and paved their way to wider success, earning the prize of Hungarian Album of the Year given away by the music industry.
With the leader Tibor Kiss' poetic lyrics, the band's jazzy tunes and blues- hiphop- and rock-influences they could have filled any concert hall by 1999, when the band released their critically most praised album "Ékszerelmére" (Forgodsake - rough translation), which brought a well-forged alloy of their chanson-inspired music and tight dance rhytms. This means unique tunes, in the mean time Quimby's materials are also accessible and danceable.
Their following studio effort "Káosz Amigos" (Chaos Amigos) was out in 2002, and is again looser in moods, but its predecessor's good proportions remain maintained. By this time Tibor Kiss had to deal with serious drug and alcohol problems. After a two-year hiatus again, having lead singer-guitarist Kiss returned from the rehab, the band released their last studio album to date at the end of 2005, entitled "Kilégzés" (Outbreath): a slower, cathartic oeuvre.
Since that time, they have been touring heavily and celebrated their 15th anniversary with a Best of CD+DVD collection entitled "Family Tugedör" (Family Together) which was released on 06 of December, 2006.
They are counting their the new album to be out in the spring of 2008.
Quimby's official website: http://quimby.mentha.hu
Fever
Quimby Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When the clocks strike
at last you gotta be in fever
I've gotta leave home too
when the last train's gone
We slide in the tattered town
and we float on the edge of time
When the ghost of the town
rolls around in fever
And the sky spreads a hundred thousand tears
A dealer's mumbling
a prayer bells are jangling a hell off a lay
When bells ring out you find me in fever
Well, just keep on movin
the full moon tells you where to go
Well, just keep on moving
'cause the devil's never gonna say:
you're wrong
There's a poet with his poem
what a poor boy!
He's stumbling with his muse right beside
He offers his poem some wine
his eyes have infernal shine
this fallen minstrel singing of fever
Heaving sin in my skin is shaking in fever
The fall in your arms gets hot
it's sweating love
We drift on the breath of the night
A million sighs in the pale yellow light
the need is begging for fever
Well, just keep on moving
The full moon tells you where to go
Well, just keep on moving
'cause the devil's never gonna say:
You're wrong
The song "Fever" by Quimby is a haunting and evocative exploration of the intensity and passion that can accompany a night out in the city. The opening lines, "When the clocks strike / at last you gotta be in fever," suggest that there is a sense of urgency to the night, as if there is something that the singer and their companions must experience before the night is through. The repetition of the word "fever" underscores this urgency, giving the impression that the characters in the song are consumed by a kind of feverish desire.
As the song progresses, the imagery becomes increasingly vivid and surreal. The singer talks about "screaming eyes and glowing fever" and a "ghost of the town," suggesting that they are not simply out for a night on the town, but that they are experiencing something much more intense and otherworldly. The mention of a "dealer's mumbling" and "prayer bells" adds to the sense of the surreal, as if the characters are caught up in a strange and mystical world that is both alluring and dangerous.
The final verses of the song focus on the physicality of the night, with references to "sin in my skin," "sweating love," and a "fall in your arms." The repetition of the phrase "just keep on moving" suggests that the characters are caught up in a kind of feverish dance, unable or unwilling to stop until the night is over. Overall, the song paints a vivid and intoxicating picture of a night on the town, with all of its passion, danger, and surreal beauty.
Line by Line Meaning
When the clocks strike
As soon as the clocks chime
at last you gotta be in fever
You must be in a state of excitement
I've gotta leave home too
I also have to go away
when the last train's gone
After the final train has departed
We slide in the tattered town
We enter the worn-out town
and we float on the edge of time
We exist in the liminal space between time
Screaming eyes and glowing fever
Eyes filled with emotion and intense excitement
When the ghost of the town
At the appearance of the town's spirit
rolls around in fever
Surges with feverish energy
And the sky spreads a hundred thousand tears
As the sky sheds raindrops in abundance
A dealer's mumbling
A merchant's murmuring
a prayer bells are jangling a hell off a lay
Church bells ringing loudly with a sense of urgent prayer
When bells ring out you find me in fever
My excitement is at its peak when bells ring
Well, just keep on movin
Keep on moving constantly
the full moon tells you where to go
The bright full moon guides you on your path
Well, just keep on moving
Keep moving forward
'cause the devil's never gonna say: you're wrong
Because the devil will never admit defeat
There's a poet with his poem
A poet accompanied by his work
what a poor boy!
Poor in financial wealth
He's stumbling with his muse right beside
Struggling to find inspiration while his muse is present
He offers his poem some wine
He attempts to improve his work with wine
his eyes have infernal shine
His eyes are filled with a fiery passion
this fallen minstrel singing of fever
The musician who has lost their status, singing of their excitement
Heaving sin in my skin is shaking in fever
The skin shakes with excitement, as if all sin is being heaved out
The fall in your arms gets hot
The embrace gets heated with passion
it's sweating love
It's overflowing with love and emotion
We drift on the breath of the night
We move along with the night's breeze
A million sighs in the pale yellow light
Countless sighs in the dim yellow light
the need is begging for fever
The desire urging for excitement
Well, just keep on moving
Continuously move ahead
The full moon tells you where to go
Allow the full moon to guide your path
Well, just keep on moving
Keep forging ahead
'cause the devil's never gonna say: you're wrong
Because the devil will always deny defeat
Contributed by Ruby Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Szilvia Székely
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