Penguin Prison is an electropop project composed solely of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

singer, musician, producer and remixer Chris Glover. Penguin Prison's self-titled debut album was released on 18 October 2011 through

Downtown Records Downtown Records is an American record label based in New York City with offices in Los Angeles. Owned and operated by Josh Deutsch and Terence Lam, the label is distributed by Geffen Records (formerly Interscope Records and The Orchard) in the ...

to positive reviews.

Biography

Early life

Chris Glover was born in 1983 grew up in New York City's

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street (Man ...

. His early musical influences came mostly from his mother's love of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

. Glover's favorite artists growing up were

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American Country music, country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later s ...

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Amon ...

, and

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

. Glover showed an interest in performing music at an early age when he joined his school's gospel choir at age 10, singing alongside future R&B artist

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Colu ...

. While a teen, he performed at

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

's with his punk band ''The Museum''. He attended the

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 18 ...

, where he formed a popular "crazy, fake boy band" called ''The Smartest People At Bard'', which he describes as "a cross between

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The ...

and Beastie Boys". In the mid-2000s, before releasing music as Penguin Prison, he went by his birth name and recorded an unreleased pop-rap album, ''Hell Isn't Even That Funny'', which was promoted with the single "Stand On Your Seat" (2005).

Remixes

Penguin Prison is known for remixing, among others, the

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz 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 t ...

song " White Knuckle Ride" the

Darren Hayes Darren Stanley Hayes (born 8 May 1972) is an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the frontman and singer of the pop duo Savage Garden until their disbandment. Their 1997 album ''Savage Garden'' peaked at number 1 in Australia, number 2 in ...

song " Talk Talk Talk", the

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and A&R. After ...

song " Starry Eyed", the

Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their ...

song " It's Time", the

Faithless Faithless are an English band that formed in 1995, with its core members being Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. Their first album, '' Reverence'', was released in 1996 and their most recent, '' All Blessed'', in 2020. They have sold milli ...

song "Feel Me Now" and the

Marina and the Diamonds Marina Lambrini Diamandis (; el, Μαρίνα-Λαμπρινή Διαμάντη; born 10 October 1985), known mononymously as Marina (often stylised in all caps), and previously by the stage name Marina and the Diamonds, is a Welsh singer and ...

song "I Am Not a Robot".

Discography

;Studio albums *'' Penguin Prison'' (2011) *''Lost in New York'' (May 5, 2015) ;Singles *''

Calling Out ''Calling Out'' is the fourth album by Canadian indie rock band FemBots, released on September 16, 2008, with Weewerk. The album was originally intended to use only junk instruments created out of garbage by guest musician Iner Souster. However, ...

'' (October 14, 2014) *'' Calling Out Remix EP'' (December 15, 2014) *'' Never Gets Old'' (February 10, 2015) *'' Turn It Up EP'' (October 27, 2017) *'' The Heat'' (May 10, 2019) *''Better'' (October 9, 2020)

References

External links

* *{{SoundCloud 2008 establishments in New York City Remixers Downtown Records artists