HORIZON

HORIZON is one of the few Bulgarian groups preserving their own style and pathway, irrespective of the mass listeners’ taste of the day. The band does not count on fortuitous fame and popularity and works hard. The constantly growing number of HORIZON’S music heartfelt fans is a proof of this.

Perhaps all HORIZON fans already know that the band is the only Bulgarian group that has its own professional concert equipment. Worldwide, the groups that manage to keep their own equipment are few in number (most performers rent equipment from specialized companies). In this respect, HORIZON is unique in Bulgaria.

More than 2000 concerts, 3 international festivals, a song issued in the US (I Will Run Away), three albums – Draw a Picture, Tenderly and I Find Gold, the first radio tour in the history of Bulgarian music with visits to more than 50 radio stations in 5 days and live performances for a potential audience of 5,000,000 listeners and 2,200 km travelled, a “Rock Band” film for the group, own equipment and transport, 14 months of club performances in South Korea, club performances for the “Club 49” chain in Dubai. All of these cannot remain unnoticed, despite the fact that media is always one step behind in reporting the activities of the group. That’s why HORIZON so much values the fans of the group and their wholehearted support!

The beginning:

In the mid ‘80s, four boys decided to create their own group to perform the songs they write. The group was called HORIZON and became one of the popular school groups of that time, performing concerts in city community and cultural clubs and high school rock festivals. “High School Flag” – the only teenager newspaper existing at that time, issued an article on the young group and the group was surprisingly invited for a radio interview to the very popular broadcasting program “Sunday 88”… This was followed by a five year hiatus as the boys served their military service – all of them over a different period of time, but they insisted on keeping together and patiently waited for each other. This was the time of sharing letters and a time-test for the unity of the band.

In the beginning of 1994, the group got together again and, on 20 January, its first rehearsal was held. This was the date the boys consider HORIZON’S birthday.During the first months of 1994, the group recorded its first three songs to be broadcast on radio, made its first video clip, started live performances for audiences and, in September, performed its original song “Come Back One Morning” at the “Golden Orpheus” festival. At the end of the year, the boys were invited to be special guests at the promotion of the best albums of SIGNAL group.

1995 was marked with its own concerts in Bulgaria, recordings of new songs, as well as a joint tour with the English group “SECOND PULSE”. Horizon also recorded the first Bulgarian cover version – “Till My Last Breath”.

In 1996, the group started putting together their concert equipment, which was of great importance for future live performances of HORIZON. The same year, the album “Draw a Picture” was recorded, produced and released by the group, and greatly valued by the most ardent fans of the band.

In 1997, the first of HORIZON’s personal tours was performed in 20 towns throughout Bulgaria with the group’s own equipment and lighting. HORIZON became the group of the year with awards from the “Art Rock Center” and their first Bulgarian cover version of the song “Till My Last Breath” became the rock hit of the year. Participations followed in the festivals “Silver Eros” and “Kings of Rock”. The Bulgarian National Television BNT filmed a clip of their song “Till My Last Breath”.

1998: The group participated again in the “Silver Eros” and “Kings of Rock” festivals. The concerts throughout the country multiplied. HORIZON took part in the international rock festival “Baya” in Hungary and recorded more new songs. That year, the band loaned their equipment for the jubilee tours of SIGNAL group.

1999 started with a joint concert tour with the German group SNUB NOUSE.Horizon made video clips of their songs “I Will Run Away” and “Break the Needle in the Ice”. Club and concert performances in Bulgaria followed.

In 2000, the group filmed the clip to “Isn’t This What We Decided”. The song “I Will Run Away” was issued by the world famous music company EMI in a collective CD distributed in the U.S. and Western Europe followed by participation of the band in the international rock festival “Baya” in Hungary, and concert and club performances in Bulgaria. The same year, the “Fan Club HORIZON” was created in Varna.

In 2001, HORIZON performed more than 150 concerts in Bulgaria, took part in the international rock festival “Sozo Music Fest”, made a video clip of “I Feel Obsessed” and its fan club celebrated its first birthday.The same year, a film for the group was produced, called “Rock Band”. It included some of HORIZON’s concerts, travels, studio recordings, fans’ comments, interviews of the group and also some of their video clips. In 2001, the official HORIZON site was also created.

2002: In the beginning of the year, HORIZON group made the first radio tour in the history of Bulgarian music. It was carried out in 50 radio stations around Bulgaria over 5 days. Along with interviews and studio recordings, the group made live performances. From 18 May to 20 September, with the help of “Bulbrew”, HORIZON carried out 105 concerts in Bulgaria with great success for nearly 750,000 fans. The band also took part in “Sozo Music Fest” – Hungary. The total number of HORIZON’s concerts for the year was more than 150, once again, which made the group one of the most active concert performers in Bulgaria.

2003: From January to April 2003, HORIZON worked hard to complete its new album. Many new songs were written in the rehearsal room of the group. Out of 27 working titles, HORIZON included 13 songs in the album called “Tenderly”, which was released in May. Over the period 1 May to 14 September, they played 114 concerts attended by 800,000 people and travelled about 5,000 km, a record in Bulgaria over the last 15 years. At these tours, HORIZON won many more new friends to whom they promised to sing again. HORIZON thanked the fans for all their smiles and raised hands, for all the presents and joyful tears of the audience who sang with them, and for the fact that after every concert they were full of happiness and satisfaction from their performances... On 30.11.2003, HORIZON promoted its album, “Tenderly” at a concert in Sofia. A great surprise for the boys, was that their fans from Varna, Kazanlak, Rousse, Pernik, Pazardjik, Vratsa and Pleven were present in the crowded hall of the Military Club. This made the concert unforgettable!

In 2004, for a fifth year in a row, HORIZON was among the groups with the most number of concerts in Bulgaria -168. In May, the group recorded the song “I Am Not Falling Asleep without You” with special participation of Mary from “Mary Boys Band”. The video clip of the song “I Am Not Falling Asleep without You” was made in the rehearsal room of the group where the posters given to HORIZON from their fans during its concerts around Bulgaria could be seen.

2005: During the first half of 2005, HORIZON performed 60 concerts throughout Bulgaria. In June, the group received an invitation for club performances in South Korea and on June 13, flew to Seoul. From 15 July to 31 December 2005, Horizon successfully performed 146 times for the Korean audience. In 2005, HORIZON performed 204 times.

2006: During the period 1 January - 22 September, HORIZON carried out 231 club performances in South Korea. On 23 September, the group returned to Bulgaria after 14 months and 377 performances. After coming back, the band took a short break and then started working on another project, which the musicians planned several years before that (i.e., an album consisting completely of Bulgarian cover versions). In 1994, HORIZON recorded the first Bulgarian cover version of the song “Till My Last Breath”. Till then, this was not a popular practice in Bulgaria.

2007: On 22 March, the third album of HORIZON was issued, named “I Find Gold”. It consisted entirely of cover versions of Bulgarian songs performed by groups from the near past and was the first of its kind in the history of Bulgarian rock music. It included some of the greatest Bulgarian rock hits – “To Long for You”, “In Ten Years Time”, “Magic Colour”... This album was an enormous “thank you” to all the performers, groups and composers who had inspired the boys from the band. “I Find Gold” was also dedicated to the Bulgarian medics in Libya. HORIZON group also made a video clip of “To Long for You”. From May to October, the group had 71 performances in Bulgaria. In the beginning of October, it received a proposal for club performances in Norway but accepted another invitation - from the “Club 49” chain and on 10 October, flew to Dubai. HORIZON was offered engagements to 2010 but the boys chose not to stay for such a long period abroad as they would deprive the Bulgarian audience of their presence. That is all to HORIZON’s credit. From 13 October, the group started playing in Dubai and by the end of the year, it had carried out 90 performances on the Dubai club stages.

2008: From the beginning of the year to 10 February, HORIZON had 41 club performances in “Club 49”. On 13 February, the group returned to Bulgaria after a total of 120 club performances in Dubai. Horizon made more than 200 performances for the year and won many new fans.