The story of Magyar Posse begins in 1997 in Pori, Finland when 5 young men <Pasi Salmi, Harri Sippola, Olli Joukio, Mikko Rintala and Jari Lähteinen>
decided to form an instrumental group together. The band was named "Carlos" and it was mainly influenced by Finnish Surf-rockers Laika & the Cosmonauts and Lo-Fi heroes Larry & the lefthanded along with local bands Circle and Deep Turtle. Carlos (later "the Alibi of Carlos") did gigs mainly in the local area and recorded two EP's which were used (or not used at all) for promotional purposes. The band earned a reputation as a good live band but never really managed to gain an artistic level that would satisfy the musicians themselves. One thing led to another and Carlos quit itself in early 2000.
Carlos came to an end but plans for a new formula already existed. All the members shared a love for film score music and through the years names such as Ennio Morricone, John Barry and Astor Piazzolla had became increasingly influential to the group. Also the Post-Rock scene had its impact in the early days. In autumn 2000 the group was named Magyar Posse, the reaSons for such a name are a bit blurry, and obviously it has something to do with a certain brand of white wine. Anyway, this time the group decided to "calm things down a bit" and actually listen to their instruments on a new, deeper level. As a result, "We will carry you over the mountains" was recorded at Sami Sänpäkkilä´s (Mr. Fonal Records) SS-palace studio. The actual recording took two weeks in August 2001. The final mixing was done in bits and pieces and it took almost a year to complete the album. The reasons for such delay were that a member of the group went to work abroad for some time and the band had not yet found a suitable record company to release the album. Mikko Rintala, who had also played in Carlos, joined Magyar Posse in spring 2002 as a second guitar/bass player. Later that year Tuomas Laurila became the man responsible for the live sound.
In October 2002 Verdura records from Helsinki released the album and the first pressing of 500 copies was sold out in a couple of months. The album received good reviews in every major Finnish music magazine. A third pressing with some new artwork was released.
Magyar Posse was supposed to do an European tour in the summer 2002 but the bands van was stolen the very first night in Riga, Latvia. Two more concerts were played in Latvia after that but the band had to come back home earlier than expected. In August Magyar Posse played 2 concerts in Sweden, the Emmaboda festival and the Debaser club in Stockholm.
In May 2003 Magyar Posse headed off to SS-palace again to work with Sami Sänpäkkilä on their second album titled "Kings of Time", also released via Verdura records. With more hands and minds in the line-up and much more experience due to several live performances the band aimed towards new musical heights and depths. Around the time of the release Sandra Mahlamäki, who played violin on the album, joined the band's line-up.
Kings of Time was released in March 2004 in Finland and it was given praising reviews in every single music magazine (and non-music such as The National army paper!) and it debuted the national album chart at #17. It remained on the chart for a few weeks and it opened a bunch of opportunities for the band to play in the biggest festivals around Finland.
So far Kings of Time has sold around 2500 copies in Finland. It was chosen as the Finnish album of the year 2004 by the critics of Finland's biggest rock magazine "Rumba" and also won a prize for "Best Album" at the non-commercial Femma Gala. The band did an European tour in small clubs in July 2004 in Denmark, The Netherlands, Germany, Czech republic and Italy. Kings of Time was released in France via Oscill records on June 2004.
In 2005 the band toured Finland and did a short European tour mainly in France. They also visited Russia for the first time and played in Moscow on two different occasions.
In late 2005 they entered Headline studios in Tampere Finland to record their third full-length with Jani Viitanen. The purpose was to expand their vision even further and to add more rhythmic elements into the music. As a result, “Random Avenger” was released on May 17th of 2006. The album again received excellent reviews by both Finnish and international critics and it spent some weeks on the album chart. The band visited St. Petersburg, Russia for the first time in June 2006.
In 2006 the band will release their first music video “Whirlpool of terror & tension” made by Las Palmas Films.
