Kretens

February 1981. The KRETENS would debut live at their very first show in Budapest. It would be history being made as 4 angry teenagers (Attila Horváth (Hemü) - vocals, Róbert Hrutka - guitar, János Krasznár - bass (Later György Szappanos and András Bozsó (Bandi), Miklós Tóth (Max) - drums) team-up to start a band, to express their discontent with the world they live in, the dark clouds that shroud the light, and the life that is hidden behind walls. The KRETENS soon became a cult band within the Hungarian Punk scene. The band and the fans were put in the same condition because this subculture would clash with the state. During times, several of the band's concerts would be shut down. One cancelled concert attended by several hundred fanatical fans became angry and held a demonstration on the famous shopping streets of Budapest, to the consternations of tourists and police. 1983. A French film crew came to Hungary to document the Hungarian Punk scene illegally without authorization. After the film's release, a small French record label (Primitiv Cozak Records) released a Various Artists 7" EP, "Világ Lázadói Harcra Fel" Vol. 1, which included 5 Hungarian Punk bands (CPG, QSS, ETA, FEGYELEM and KRETENS). Hemü would soon get harrassed by police. Max charges would be filed against him but would later be dropped because of the publicity swirling around him. 1985. "The strong hand of government" would soon weaken as well as all the pressures put on the band. The KRETENS already played to 1500 - 2000 fans in small clubs, and we were finally able to do a mini-tour of West Germany. We were invited to play a festival in Yugoslavia, but the band was unfortunately not able to perform there. The New York Times published an Eastern European Punk scene article. The newspaper's front cover would grace Hemü's photo. Middle and to the end of 80's they did a lot of concerts, and even shared the stage with HENRY ROLLINS, and the UK SUBS. After more than 10 years the band wanted to break up, but later intervened by Bandi's tragic death. 1997. The band performed at a big concert in Budapest. A lot of old and new fans came from all over the country to be able to see this legendary band once again. 2000. We were played a local Punk festival with other old Hungarian Punk bands. 2006. After a long hiatus the band is once more alive again. This year the KRETENS are 25 years old and we celebrate with a big concert. Later we would do more and more shows. Later that year we would released our first CD album which includes 30 live and unreleased songs. 2007. After a big Punk festival 2 members say goodbye to the band. 2008. We found 2 old friends and they joined the band. So this year the machine starts up again... 2009. Tostaky (guitar) had left the band. New guitar player is Balázs Lencsés (MÁK, SOKOL 403 ...)