Balaton

Balaton was an Hungarian underground band, founded in 1979 by Mihály Víg (guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Károly Hunyadi (guitar).

Biography

Balaton playing live in 2011. Photo by: Andor Derzsi Elekes

Balaton was founded by Mihály Víg and Károly Hunyadi in 1979. In the beginning, the founders composed and performed their own compositions, as well as poems by János Vető and György Kozma, together with slide shows at the Bercsényi College of BME and the Kassák Club. Péter Königh (accordion, vocals) and Árpád Hajnóczy (saxophone) performed with the group at that time. They gave their first concert along with URH in September 1980 in the courtyard of a psychiatric outpatient clinic, and were active up until 1987.

The band was re-formed in 1991, when Mihály Víg formed a trio with Simon Wahorn and Imánuel Oláh (former drummer of the Hungarian punk band CAFB) to perform in smaller clubs all over the country.

In 1992, a cassette containing two archival concert recordings was released, and their first studio album was released in 1996, entitled The Center of Light at the Gate of Darkness.

Members

Mihály Víg at the Kassák Club, 1981. Photo by Tamás Urbán, originally posted at Fortepan

• Víg Mihály - guitar, keyboards, vocals
• József Dénes "Dönci" - solo guitar
• Krisztián Keszei - guitar
• Péter Magyar - drums
• Péter Tóth (Csimpi) - drums
• Gábor Horváth - bass guitar

Current (2017) lineup:

• Víg Mihály - guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Krisztián Keszei - guitar
• Dudás Zsombor - drums
• Gábor Horváth - bass guitar

Text adapted from the Hungarian Wikipedia.