Imre Poniklo (born 16 October 1974) is a musician, best known as the lead singer, songwriter, lyricist and guitarist of Amber Smith. He is also a solo artist under the name Poniklo. As a singer, Poniklo's voice lies in the baritone range.

Imre Poniklo
Birth nameImre Poniklo
Also known asPoniklo
Born (1974-10-16) 16 October 1974 (age 50)
Budapest, Hungary
Genresindie rock, indie pop, alternative rock, post-punk, post-punk revival
Instrument(s)vocals, guitar, piano
Years active1997–present
LabelsKalinkaland, Twelvetones, Firestation
WebsiteAmber Smith official
Poniklo Twelvetones
SALT III. Official

Early life and personal life

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Poniklo was born in Budapest, Hungary. He grew up in Csepel. His father was a sewing machine-engineer.[1] He started becoming interested in pop music at the age of 12. Since 1988 he has been a big fan of the Manchester artists such as The Smiths and Morrissey. However, his first vinyl record was of Pet Shop Boys' Actually.[2] Poniklo attended the School of Journalism of Bálint György for one year. However, after one year he realized that journalism is not his field. In 1995 he became friends with József Simon, who has been the album designer of Amber Smith, after seeing his advertisement in the Magyar Narancs. Simon was recruiting musicians to form a band who like The Smiths. Poniklo and Simon started writing songs together and formed the band Fanzine.

Amber Smith

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Poniklo is the founding member of Amber Smith along with Péter Egyedi, and Ádám Földes. Later, Poniklo recruited Annabarbi's Bence Bátor, Időrablók's Oszkár Ács, Zoltán Kőváry, Tamás Faragó.

Solo project

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Poniklo's first full-length studio album, entitled Poniklo, was released by Twelvetones Records under exclusive license from EMI services in October 2009.[3] He recruited Michael Kentish (The Random Chocolates) as bass guitarist, Bence Bátor as drummer. The album was mastered by Paul Ven der Jockheyd at Foon Mastering Studios in Belgium. Poniklo asked his friend Jose Simon, who previously designed the covers of the Amber Smith albums, to design the cover for his solo album. The album contains the track called Tomi which was probably written about The Moog's frontman Tamás Szabó nicknamed Tomi. The song has the line ″De miért kell dalokat írnod, ha nem szólnak semmiről?″ (in English: ″But why do you have write songs if they are about nothing?″.[4] His second solo album, called A Föld körul (Around the World) was published on vinyl in October 2016. This time a piano-led record, with many lyrics co-written by Kristof Hajos of The UNbending Trees fame.

Discography

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As a solo artist:

  • Poniklo (2009)
  • A Föld körül (2016)
  • Oh Girl(single) (2019)

With Amber Smith:

With The Poster Boy:

  • Things We Had Time For (2012)
  • Melody (2012)
  • Bonjour, C'est pop Deux (2013)
  • On the Count of Three (2017)
  • Hooks" (2023)

With SALT III.:

  • SALT III. (2013)

With Yonderboi:

With Gabriella Hámori:

  • Nem örmény népzene (2014)

With Vulome:

  • We Love You (2023)

Instruments

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Guitars

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Effect pedals

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Amplifiers

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Amber Smith: A szavak ritmusa". Népszabadság. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. ^ ""Igen csinos kis színterünk van" – Amber Smith". EST. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  3. ^ "Poniklo – Twelvetones". Twelvetones. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  4. ^ "Poniklo – Tomi". Zeneszöveg. 19 August 2013.
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