The Moog

Wikipedia:

The Moog is an indie rock band based in Budapest, Hungary formed in 2004. The group is noted for being the first in the region to be signed to an American record label. The band consists of members Tamás (a.k.a. Tonyó) Szabó (vocals, keyboard), Gergő Dorozsmai (drums, percussion), Ádi Bajor (guitar) Miguel György (guitar) and Csabi Szabó (bass guitar). The Moog has been compared to bands The Strokes and The Hives and dubbed "Hungary’s hottest new export".

History

Gergő Dorozsmai, Ádi Bajor and Tonyó Szabó were friends and classmates who spent their early years performing covers of Nirvana, Led Zeppelin and Placebo as well writing original compositions. In 2004, the three decided to take their material and become a serious band. After meeting Csabi Szabó at a bar, they group discovered their mutual tastes in music and adopted him into the band. Csabi had not developed any skill with bass guitar, but quickly learned from being enthused by the band. Miguel György, an established Hungarian guitarist, was offered a position and joined out of interest.

The Moog name is a tribute to a bar the group attended when they were 18 years of age. Moog Music allowed use of the name for the band on the condition that they precede it with "The". Keyboardist and singer Tonyo Szabo also noted that "they gave us a synthesizer, so we use it now."

Sold for Tomorrow

The band's debut album, Sold for Tomorrow was recorded in Budapest, Hungary at Tom-Tom Studios. It was mixed by Jack Endino (renowned for his work on Nirvana's Bleach) at Electrokitty in Seattle and mastered in Los Angeles with Dave Schultz. The album is said to be inspired by sixties rock and roll bands The Beatles, The Beach Boys as well as late seventies punk rock acts Ramones and Blondie. Sold for Tomorrow was first released on April 10, 2007. The single hit I Like You conquered Hungary and then the world in just couple of months and received thousands of hits on Myspace. The single hit was followed by songs such as Everybody Wants and Survive. In addition, the song I Like You was selected for the American series ER and played by the MtvU (a special MTV channel for university graduates). In 2007 The Moog played for the first time in the US in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Bellingham, Hollywood and Las Vegas. The Moog was nominated for Best Hungarian Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007. In 2008 they returned back to the US to play some shows with The Reverse. In the same year they played on their first European tour starting in Cologne, then in Potsdam, Berlin, London, and Madrid.

Razzmatazz Orfeum

The band's second album Razzmatazz Orfeum (2009) was recorded in Seattle with producer Geoff Ott (Pearl Jam, Queens Of The Stone Age, Mark Lanegan) and offers the listener something quite uncommon in this day and age: the immersion of a total album experience. The first single from Razzmatazz Orfeum is You Raised A Vampire and was released on colored vinyl 7" with stunning artwork by Gris Grimly. The 7" also includes a B-side cover of the Bauhaus classic The Passion of Lovers featuring Bauhaus and Love & Rockets bassist/vocalist David J, who became a fan of The Moog after seeing them perform in Los Angeles in 2008. The video for You Raised A Vampire, was shot in Budapest. The Moog presented their album at the Merlin Theatre in Budapest, Hungary. In 2009 two songs from Razzmatazz Orfeum was selected for the American series called Greek. In addition, the band's song entitled Joyclad Armies was chosen for the video game called NBA 2K10. The album Razzmatazz Orfeum's second single When I See You and its video, by director Anthony Garth (who shot the White Stripes' clips for We Are Going to Be Friends and Hotel Yorba) received a great amount of airplay in all major US music video outlets, including FUSE and MTV (a favorite at Subterranean). In April 2010 The Moog returned back to the US with shows in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Scottsdale, Austin and Atlanta.

Seasons in the Underground

In the spring of 2012 The Moog released their third studio album entitled Seasons in the Underground. The album was produced by Ken Scott, the legendary producer of David Bowie, in Seattle, United States. On 25 February 2012 The Moog presented their third record to the Hungarian fans (with fellow band Amber Smith) at the Akvárium klub in Budapest, Hungary. In 2012 The Moog headed for the United States to play at several concerts at the SXSW with David Lane. On May 2012 The Moog played at the Viper Room in West Hollywood, California with Menage.