El Presidente (band)

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Origin = flagicon|ScotlandGlasgow, Scotland
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Genre = Glam rock, Pop rock
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Years_active = 2002-present
Label = One Records, Sony BMG
Associated_acts = Gun
URL = [http://www.elpresidentemusic.com Official Website] [http://www.el-presidente.co.uk/content.php Official Website] (Former)
Current_members = Dante Gizzi Vocals, Backup Guitar Laura Marks Keyboard, Backup Vocals Dawn Zhu Drums Johnny McGlynn Guitar Thomas McNeice Bass
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El Presidente (also written El Pres!dente) are a pop rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. Formed in 2002 by former and current Gun member Dante Gizzi, their style is that of rocky, funky, light-hearted pop - earning them the title of "the Scottish Scissor Sisters". The band gained major exposure with slots at T in the Park 2005, V Festival 2005 and again at T in the Park in 2006. The band have also supported Oasis, Duran Duran and Kasabian on major tours of the UK.

History

Whilst touring in France with Gun, Dante came up with the name El Presidente and after Gun split, began working on his own songs. In 2002 he made a few demos, along with brother Jools, on a small sampler and Billy Sloan aired them on his Sunday night Radio Clyde show.

After a couple of gigs at King Tuts in Glasgow as a solo artist with studio recorded backing tracks, Dante got a band together. The original line up included brother Jools (previously also with GUN) on guitar and current drummer Dawn Zhu on drums. On signing up with One Records a subsidiary of GR management in Glasgow (also the Gun management team) a couple of the original members decided they didn't want to tour with the band. Dante then recruited Laura Marks, Thomas McNeice and Johnny McGlynn. Shortly after the band signed a deal with Sony BMG. The bands first release was a limited edition (1000 copies), red 10" vinyl released on Jan 31st 2005 which was promoted by the bands first video, which was produced by Jonas Odell and cost over £25,000. On 17th Jan they embarked on their first U.K tour, Supported by Stagger Lee. In Feb they shot their next video for the single "100MPH", which was another lavish video. It featured the band playing the song in different size boxes, reminiscent of a giant Rubik's Cube.

In April they supported Kasabian on yet another U.K tour, then Oasis in May, on their only Scottish date. "100MPH" was released on May 2nd on a two-track CD, a DVD single and limited yellow vinyl. It reached #37 in the charts, and fell to #59 the next week, to promote it, the band made their début on TOTP Saturday, GMTV and CD:UK. In June, the band played two back to back sell out nights at King Tuts, and on June 24th 2005, were meant to play Glastonbury, but their stage flooded and the bands set was cancelled.

On July 25th 2005, the band released one of their most memorable songs, "Without You". To promote it, they performed on GMTV, Top Of The Pops, TRL (on MTV). They did a radio session on Radio 2 (in which they performed "Without You" and a cover of "Raspberry Beret"). There was a number of articles in the Sun and other national newspapers and the song was playlisted on Radio 1, 2 and Xfm. The single reached No.30 and fell to No.53 the next week. In July/August the band played all the big festivals, and a sell-out one-off gig at The Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh. In September their next single was announced, which was to be a re-release of "Rocket". The video was an edited down version of the older video, but the single was re-recorded with the current line-up. They appeared on TRL again, but only for an interview, and they did numerous radio session on XFM and Radio 2, The video was also playlisted on MTV hits and MTV Brand Spanking New. Alas, the single only reached No.48, falling to No.129 the next week.

Two weeks later on October 24th 2005, the bands début album was released, but apart from two HMV instore performances, it was not promoted very well, and only reached No.57, falling to No.127 the next week. The band embarked on a full U.K tour in September/October, and in early September supported Jamiroquai. In November they also took part in the charity recording of "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" (Originally by the Buzzcocks as a tribute to the late John Peel. On 17th December the band played a special Xmas show at the Barrowlands. Then on News Years Eve 2005, they played in front of a very large crowd at the annual Hogmanay celebration in the royal gardens in Scotland.

On February 6th 2006 the band released their 4th and final single from their début album which was a re-recorded version of "Turn This Thing Around". The re-recorded version had a more disco/Chic feel to it, the video to the song was shot in November in Japan, the story line to video was the lead singer, Dante Gizzi had lost his memory, and must find the band on time to get to the show. They did not promote the single, apart from a radio session, but the single still did better than "Rocket", and went to No.39, but fell to No.79 the next week.

In July 2006 they performed at T In The Park on the main stage and were classed as one of the bigger bands there.They premièred one new song "Late Night Binges". On July 21st 2006, the band attended the Northsound 1 Awards, nominated for Best Live Act.

On their French November 2006 tour, another new song, "Reach Out" was played. Recording on their second album started in October. Johnny Mcelhone ( Texas 's bassist) also worked with the band on their second album, although just what his contribution will be is yet to be announced. [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/therazz/daily/tm_method=full%26objectid=18553749%26siteid=66633-name_page.html Daily Record Article]

They played Rockness on 9th June 2007 and Saturday of the 2007 Glastonbury Festival.

econd Album and Band Future

Prior to the band's French tour in November 2006, it was reported on the band's MySpace page by keyboard player Laura Marks that "some recording was finished" in Glasgow. A further internet blog from the band came in January 2007 stating that recording was ongoing, and a new single and album would follow in summer 2007. No new information followed, and, due to Marks' current TV presenting role and Gizzi work with Gun in 2008, it is uncertain where the band's future lies. The band's website, [http://www.el-presidente.co.uk www.el-presidente.co.uk] , has since been redirected to an unregistered domain and it is unknown whether the website itself still exists.

Discography

Studio albums

* "El Presidente" (24 October 2005); #57 (UK); #10(JAP); #59 (FRA); Worldwide Sales:"' estimated 10,000
* "El Presidente" (8 February 2006); #1(JAP); Japanese Sales: estimated 10,000

ingles

International Releases

Japan

External links

* [http://www.el-presidente.co.uk El Presidente Official Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/elpresidenteband The Bands Myspace]

{| style="margin:1em auto; clear:both;text-align:center;width:90%;" align=center class="toccolours"
align=center bgcolor=#6699CC|El Presidente
-
style="font-size:90%;" |Dante Gizzi | Laura Marks | Dawn Zhu | Johnny Mcglynn | Thomas Mcniece
-!bgcolor=lightgrey style="font-size:90%;"|Discography
-
style="font-size:90%;" |Albums: "El Presidente" | " El Presidente 2 (Title Not Known Yet) "
-
style="font-size:90%;" |Singles: "Rocket" | "100MPH" | "Without You" | "Rocket re-issue" | "Turn This Thing Around"
-!bgcolor=lightgrey style="font-size:90%;"|Management
-
style="font-size:90%;" |One Records | Sony BMG
-