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Rey Pila is a Mexican
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band formed in Mexico City in 2010. The band consists of Diego Solórzano, Andrés Velasco, Rodrigo Blanco and Miguel Hernández, though it started as Solórzano's solo project. The name "Rey Pila" is Spanish for "King Battery", a phrase Diego saw in a painting by the late graffiti artist
Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...
.


History


Formation and debut album

Rey Pila was created as the solo project of Diego Solórzano, former frontman for
Los Dynamite Los Dynamite are a Mexican indie rock band based in Mexico City. Most of their songs are written in English. The band is made up of Diego Solorzano (vocals, guitar), Miguel Angel Bribiesca (bass) and Eduardo Pacheco (drums) and previously Felipe ...
. After splitting from Los Dynamite in 2008, Diego immediately began work on material for his solo project. Rey Pila released their first self-titled album in 2010, which was recorded in New York and co-produced by Diego and Paul Mahajan. The album contains songs in both English and Spanish. ''Vice'' magazine said, "The record belongs in the long and storied lineage of Mexican garage bands, from the garden path acid rock of Los Ovnis to the Beatles-esque jams of Los Locos." Solórzano enlisted long-time friends Andrés Velasco, Rodrigo Blanco and Miguel Hernández to play the first album live, and they ended up as full-time members of the band. By the end of 2011, Rey Pila had formally become a quartet.


''The Future Sugar''

In 2012, the band entered DFA Studios in New York City to begin work on their second album with producer
Chris Coady Chris Coady (born June 5, 1978) is an American record producer and mixing engineer who is best known for his work with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Deadbeat Darling, Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Blonde Redhead and others. Since moving to New ...
. With this new material, Rey Pila caught the attention of
Julian Casablancas Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of Rock music, rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since the ...
. Casablancas described how he first came across Rey Pila's music in an interview with ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'': Rey Pila signed to Julian Casablancas's label
Cult Records Cult Records is an independent record label founded by Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes) in 2009. Initially used as an imprint for Casablancas' solo releases, Cult later became a standalone label, and in June 2014 entered a label services ag ...
, which released double-sided single " Alexander/Lady in Red" in October 2013. The band embarked on their first European tour at the end of 2013, opening for labelmate
Albert Hammond Jr. Albert Hammond Jr. (''born'' Hammond III; born April 9, 1980) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his role as rhythm and lead guitarist, as well as occasional keyboard player and backing vocalist ...
, and then supported
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
on their 2014 North American tour. In March 2015, Rey Pila announced their second studio album, '' The Future Sugar'', which was originally set to be released on May 5 of that same year. Soon after, they released a new single "What a Nice Surprise", which ''Spin'' magazine described as "a glittering build-up of reverberating synths and ’80s-inspired guitar licks". The band then embarked on a US tour with
The Rentals The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp. Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception. The band's best selling single is "Friends of P" (1995). The Rentals released two albums, ''Return of t ...
. After hearing some new demos Rey Pila was working on, Julian Casablancas urged the band to add three of these new songs to the album, which he co-produced himself. The lengthy process delayed the record's release. "Fire Away", one of the new Julian Casablancas produced tracks, was released as a single on July 16, 2015, and the new release date for '' The Future Sugar'' was finally announced for September 25, 2015. Rey Pila then embarked on a tour with
Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, best known as the lead singer, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers. In addition to his w ...
to support the release of the new album. According to the band, the album title was inspired by a phrase from
David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
's movie '' Wild at Heart''.
Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...
called Rey Pila's "most excellent new album's" sound as "a little new wave, a little Cars, a little bit of a Bowie quaver, a pinch of Q Lazzarus, a lot of switchblade cool". On May 31, 2016, Rey Pila premiered a new
Warren Fu Warren Fu is an American music video director, illustrator and designer. He has directed videos for artists such as Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, The Strokes, the Killers, Hayley Williams, Mark Ronson, and Julian Casablancas. Fu is signed to Par ...
directed video for "Surveillance Camera",Barna, Ben
Rey Pila's "Surveillance Camera" Makes Creepy Cool
''
Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
'' May 31, 2016.
and that same night opened for their new labelmates
The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...
at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY.


''Wall of Goth EP''

At the end of 2016, Rey Pila entered Red Bull Studios in New York City to record new songs with
Julian Casablancas Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of Rock music, rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since the ...
and producer
Shawn Everett Shawn Everett (born July 6, 1982) is a Canadian music engineer and producer best known for his work with Alabama Shakes, Kacey Musgraves, The War on Drugs, The Killers, and Julian Casablancas. Everett has won six Grammy Awards. Early life Ever ...
. Those recordings made up ''
Wall of Goth ''Wall of Goth'' is an EP by Mexican rock band Rey Pila, released on April 28, 2017 via Cult Records. Track listing Credits * Julian Casablancas – producer * Diego Solórzano – producer * Shawn Everett – producer * Chris Tabron Chri ...
'', a four-song EP that was released on April 28, 2017. In October 2017, the band embarked on the “Hollywood Bolívar Tour”, their first South American tour, with labelmates
The Voidz The Voidz (formerly Julian Casablancas + The Voidz) are an American rock band. They consist of Julian Casablancas (vocals), Jeramy "Beardo" Gritter (guitar), Amir Yaghmai (guitar), Jacob "Jake" Bercovici (bass, synthesizers), Alex Carapetis ( ...
and Promiseland. Rey Pila closed out the year with a sold-out headline show in one of
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
’s most prestigious venues, El Plaza Condesa. Some months later, in March 2018, Rey Pila released a cover of Siouxie and The Banshees's song, "Israel", and opened
Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...
's
Global Spirit Tour The Global Spirit Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English electronic music band Depeche Mode in support of the group's 14th studio album, ''Spirit''. During the summer 2017, the band played to more than 3 million fans in total. This is th ...
Mexico City shows.


''Velox Veritas''

On August 21, 2020, the band released the album ''Velox Veritas''.


Discography


Studio albums

* '' Rey Pila'' (2010) * '' The Future Sugar'' (2015) * ''Velox Veritas'' (2020)


Singles & EPs

*"
Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
" (2013) *"What a Nice Surprise" (2015) *"Apex" (2015) *"Fire Away" (2015) *"Blast" (2016) *"Ninjas" (2017) *"How Do You Know?" (2017) *''
Wall of Goth ''Wall of Goth'' is an EP by Mexican rock band Rey Pila, released on April 28, 2017 via Cult Records. Track listing Credits * Julian Casablancas – producer * Diego Solórzano – producer * Shawn Everett – producer * Chris Tabron Chri ...
'' EP (2017) *"Fangs" (2017) *"
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
" (2018) *''Lucky No. 7'' EP (2019)


Videography

*"No. 114" (April 2010, directed by Bang Buro) *"No Longer Fun" (July 2010, directed by Ariel Danziger and Alan Whitcher) *"Alexander" (April 2014, directed by Sammy Rawal) *"Fire Away" (December 2015, directed by Derrick Acosta & Dusty Peterman) *"Surveillance Camera" (May 2016, directed by
Warren Fu Warren Fu is an American music video director, illustrator and designer. He has directed videos for artists such as Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, The Strokes, the Killers, Hayley Williams, Mark Ronson, and Julian Casablancas. Fu is signed to Par ...
) *"Ninjas" (May 2017, directed by Nina Ljeti)


References


External links


Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rey Pila Musical groups from Mexico City Mexican alternative rock groups Mexican indie rock groups New wave groups Musical groups established in 2010 2010 establishments in Mexico Cult Records artists