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European Border Breaker Award 2006

Label Copy

  • Krisztián Szűcs - vocals, guitar
  • Gábor Balczer - guitar
  • Zoltán Takács - keyboards
  • Robert Németh - bass
  • Gyula Orbán - drums
  • Album Szállj ki és gyalogolj; 2004 - The songs are written by Krisztián Szűcs/Heaven Street Seven. Words by Krisztián Szűcs, Music by Heaven Street Seven
  • Site: www.hs7.hu
  • Discography:
    • Tick Tock No Fear (1995)
    • Goal (1997)
    • Budapest Dolls (1998)
    • Cukor (2000)
    • Kisfilmek a nagyvilágból (2002)



Heaven Street Seven

At the beginning of April, this year - almost two years after the band has become a household name with the album titled Cukor - Heaven Street Seven's new album, Kisfilmek a nagyvilágból will hit the shelves. But what happened 'til now?
Well, it happened as follows...
....the band was formed by two - previously musically experienced - college students, Krisztián Szűcs and Róbert Németh in 1995. They were very soon joined by Endre Kiss (guitar) and Gyula Orbán (drums), after which, in the summer of '95, they recorded their debut album in Stuttgart, Tick Tock No Fear which was self-released , and contained only English lyrics. Shortly they recruited Gábor Balczer (guitar), who their drummer knew and played with in their earlier bands.
This new set-up recorded their follow-up album in the summer of '96 - just like in the case of all their albums until Cukor - in Stuttgart with the help of producer - sound engineer Bernhard Hahn. The bouquet of songs later named Goal was released by 1G Records, an exclusive label of Warner Music Hungary. The video for Wallflower brought considerable local popularity for the four piece band (Kiss had left the group by then), but - what a misunderstanding! - quiet a number of people thought that they saw a "pretty good British band" on the TV screen.

After the release of Budapest Dolls album in 1998 it become obvious for the audience that it is indeed a Hungarian band, due to the fact that the album contained four songs with Hungarian lyrics. Two of these songs - Valami and Hip Hop Mjúzik - played a big part in moving the band from the parking lot of "promising" bands to the status of "acknowledged" and "popular" groups. But something else happened as well: after the release of the album they were joined by Zoltán Takács, keyboard player, who became a permanent member (for almost a year they were supported by Szilárd Balanyi of the band Quimby at the keys). In 1999 HS7 played as supporting band of R.E.M. (dEUS) in Kisstadion/Budapest.
Two further years were required for the Krisztián Szűcs and the band to become known throughout the country. In the spring of 2000 the band's first fully Hungarian album was released, titled Cukor, which first single, Hol van az a krézi srác - unprecedented in the so-called alternative scene in Hungary - became a huge radio hit, even topping some of the playlists. On the album - which was produced by the German producer-come-friend Berhnard Hahn and the electronic popmusic wizards Neo - contained two more hits: Sajnálom and Mozdulj. The band - which drew a larger and larger audience each year in clubs and at festivals - managed to tastefully combine modern guitar music with electronic influences and has become a hugely popular band in the country, moreover Krisztian Szűcs, with his personality and unique, interesting and funny lyrics was by now one of the most popular songwriters / singers. There had even been some respect
coming from abroad: White Lies in HiFi (which was and English language single containing four songs of Cukor) was chosen as the single of the week by the renowned Record Collector magazine.

In the spring of 2002, the band released its fourth album, Kisfilmek a nagyvilágból, which is Heaven Street Seven's longest album and contains the most songs. This album includes "three-and-a-half minute" radio hits - short films, as in the title of the record - and six, seven minute long, brave, slowly unfolding, sing-along songs, a longing for South America in typical Hungarian couplé-style, and more massive numbers supported by digital effects. The colourful album, which of course is fully in Hungarian again, was produced by Berhnard Hahn and Neo, and is preceeded by the single Éjszaka.
The new album of HS7, Szállj ki és gyalogolj (Get Out and Walk!) released in april 2004. Szállj ki és gyalogolj! is a kinda back-to-the-basics stuff, less of digitals and grooves, more of the unpolished live-like sound of the band, more of the classic straightforward, vital guitar pop attitude of the early works of Heaven Street Seven. 10+1 beatsongs, 42 minutes, a classic album format.