Derek Gruen (born on August 31, 1977), known by the stage name Del Marquis, is an American musician and the lead guitarist for the pop/rock group

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters are an American pop rock band formed in 2000. The band's current line-up consists of Jake Shears (vocals), Babydaddy (various instruments), Del Marquis (guitar, bass) and Randy Real (drums). Former members include vocalist A ...

. He is also the creator and producer of the band Slow Knights.

Career

Scissor Sisters

Born in New York City, he was introduced to the

in 2001 at the insistence of a friend who, at the time, was dating

Jake Shears Jason Sellards (born October 3, 1978), known professionally by the stage name Jake Shears, is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist of New York City pop-rock band Scissor Sisters, who achi ...

. He originally dismissed the band when he first saw them perform at The Cock, a New York City gay bar.

Solo

Gruen produced the DVD '' Kuvaputki'' released in 2008 by Embryoroom director Edward Quist about Finnish noise artists

Pan Sonic Pan Sonic was a Finnish electronic music group founded in Turku in 1993. The group consisted of Mika Vainio, Ilpo Väisänen, and Sami Salo. Salo left in 1996 leaving Pan Sonic a duo. The group was originally named Panasonic until 1998. In Dec ...

.
IMDB listing for Kuvaputki On Halloween 2008, he began releasing solo material, starting with the song "Hot House", only available with a digital film from his official site.
Video page of Del's official site. The video was made by Embryoroom, the same director who made '' Kuvaputki''. Further to this, on November 6 it was announced that Del was to digitally release a series of solo EPs, with one released the first Tuesday of every month from December 2008 to April 2009. These contained collaborations with Joan As Police Woman and

Basement Jaxx Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton (born 30 April 1970) and Simon Ratcliffe (born 28 November 1969). The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first ros ...

. The first EP, titled ''Hothouse'', was released on December 2.
Scissor Sister Del Marquis to Release Solo EPs" The ''Runaround'' EP was released in September 2009, and includes remixes from Baron von Luxxury and Lifelike. The other EPs were titled ''Character Assassination'', and ''Litter to Society'', each with an accompanying videos by Embryoroom. Gruen & Boys Choir of Harlem alumnus Xavier - credited as ''Del x Xavier'', who would later join Slow Knights, collaborated on an EP titled
Tickle
'. It was released online as a free download in February 2013.

Slow Knights

After

announced their hiatus in 2012, Gruen founded a five-person collective that becam
Slow Knights
They released two albums, ''Cosmos'' on March 26, 2013; and ''Living in a Dark World'' on April 20, 2015.

Personal life

Gruen is of German, Irish, Polish and Austrian descent, though his great grandfather was born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. He is formally trained as a furniture designer. He is gay and was included on a list of openly gay entertainers in ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

''s "Forty Under 40" issue of June/July 2009.

Discography

References

External links

*
Styling and Design Work
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marquis, Del 1977 births Living people American people of Latvian descent American rock guitarists American male guitarists American LGBTQ songwriters Scissor Sisters members Songwriters from New York (state) American gay musicians Gay songwriters LGBTQ people from New York (state) Guitarists from New York City 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people American people of German descent American people of Irish descent American people of Polish descent American people of Austrian descent