El Presidente (also written El Pres!dente) was a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

from

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Formed in 2002 by

Gun A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

member Dante Gizzi, 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 In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

, Simple Minds and

Kasabian Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and second vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karloff ...

on major tours of the UK.

History

Whilst touring in France with

, Gizzi came up with the name El Presidente and after

split, began working on his own songs. In 2002 he made a few

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * Plural for Demo (computer programming ...

, along with brother Jools, on a small sampler and Billy Sloan aired them on his Sunday night

Radio Clyde Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK, Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Baue ...

show. After a couple of

gigs Gigs, Inc. is an American technology company in the telecommunications industry, headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional offices in London (UK) and Berlin (Germany). Admitted to Y Combinator in 2021, the company specializes in ...

at King Tuts in Glasgow as a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

with studio recorded backing tracks, Gizzi 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 did not want to tour with the band. Gizzi then recruited Laura Marks, Thomas McNeice and Johnny McGlynn. Shortly after the band signed a deal with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

. The band's first release was a limited edition (1000 copies), red 10" vinyl released on 31 January 2005 which was promoted by the band's first

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

, which was produced by Jonas Odell and cost over £25,000. On 17 January they embarked on their first UK tour, supported by Stagger Lee. In February they shot their next video for the single " 100 MPH". The accompanying video featured the band playing the song in different size boxes, reminiscent of a giant Rubik's Cube. In April they supported

on another UK tour, then

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentUK Singles Chart. To promote it, the band made their début on the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

music programme ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''; plus on ''

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

'' and '' CD:UK''. In June, the band played two back to back sell out nights at King Tuts, and on 24 June 2005, were meant to play at the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

, but their stage flooded and the band's set was cancelled. On 25 July 2005, the band released " Without You". To promote it, they performed on ''GMTV'', ''Top Of The Pops'' and '' TRL'' (on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

). They did a session on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

(in which they performed "Without You" and a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

's "

Raspberry Beret "Raspberry Beret" is a song written by American musician Prince and the lead single from Prince & the Revolution's 1985 album '' Around the World in a Day''. Background The sound of the song expanded upon previous Prince arrangements, incorporat ...

"). There was a number of articles in ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' and other national

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s and the song was playlisted on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

, BBC Radio 2 and

Xfm Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

. The single reached number 30 in the UK

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. In July and August 2005 the band played some

festivals A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

, and a sell-out gig at The Liquid Rooms in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. 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 sessions on XFM and BBC Radio 2, The video was also playlisted on ''MTV Hits'' and ''Brand Spanking New''. The single reached number 48. On 24 October 2005, the band's début

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

was released with nine drum tracks recorded by original GUN drummer Alan Thornton and backing vocals on Turn This Thing Around. It reached number 57 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. The band embarked on a full UK tour in September and October, and in early September supported

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai ( ) are an English acid jazz and funk band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...

. In November they also took part in the

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

of "

Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" is a 1978 song written by Pete Shelley and performed by his group Buzzcocks. It was a number 12 hit on the UK Singles Chart and was included on the album '' Love Bites''. Background and writ ...

" (originally by the

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Manchester in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. The ...

) as a tribute to the late

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

. On 17 December the band played a Christmas show at the Barrowlands. Then on New Year's Eve 2005, they played at the annual

Hogmanay Hogmanay ( , ) is the Scots language, Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 ...

celebration in the Royal Gardens in Scotland. On 6 February 2006 the band released their fourth and final single from their début album, which was a re-recorded version of "Turn This Thing Around". The video to the song was shot in November in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The story line to video was the lead singer, Gizzi had lost his memory, and must find the band on time to get to the show. The single did better than "Rocket", and went to number 39. In July 2006 they performed at T In The Park on the main stage. They premièred one new song "Late Night Binges". On 21 July 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 John Francis McElhone (born 21 April 1963, Glasgow) is a Scottish guitarist and songwriter. He played with three bands who have enjoyed a top-20 presence on the UK Singles Chart; the new wave bands Altered Images and Hipsway, and the alterna ...

(

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

' bassist) also worked with the band on their second album, although just what his contribution will be is yet to be announced. They played

RockNess RockNess was an annual music festival which took place in Scotland at Clune Farm, Dores, on the banks of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The festival was known as "the most beautiful festival in the world" and "the only festival with its ...

on 9 June 2007 and Saturday of the 2007 Glastonbury Festival. Prior to the band's tour of France in November 2006, it was reported on the band's

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

page by 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 the summer of 2007. No new information followed, and, due to Marks' current TV presenting role and Gizzi's work with Gun in 2008, it is uncertain where the band's future lies. The band's

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

, has since been re-directed 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 (Jpn); #59 (Fra); Worldwide Sales: estimated 10,000 * '' El Presidente'' (8 February 2006); #1 (Jpn); Japanese Sales: estimated 10,000

Singles

International releases

Japan

References

External links

El Presidente official website

The band's Myspace

Band member pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:El Presidente Scottish rock music groups