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Alex "LEFTI" Suarez | |
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Birth name | Alexandro Fransisco Suarez |
Also known as | LEFTI |
Origin | Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 2001–present |
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Associated acts |
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Website | leftimusic |
Alex Suarez is an American musician/multi instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, DJ, remixer and mixing/mastering engineer. He was best known for his work as the bass player and additional keyboardist, co-producer, mixer and backup vocalist for Cobra Starship until his departure in 2014. He is also the co-founder of This is Ivy League, a band created with fellow Cobra Starship member and high school best friend Ryland Blackinton and now pursues a producer/DJ project as LEFTI.
Alex Suarez was born in Stamford, Connecticut but moved to Boca Raton, Florida when he was young. He was heavily influenced by his older brothers who were into 1980s hair metal and grew up listening to bands from Metallica to Iron Maiden, which inspired him to start playing guitar. During his final years of high school, Suarez founded and provided vocals, drums, bass and guitar for popular Florida band Kite Flying Society. He attended Olympic Heights Community High School where he met friend Ryland Blackinton in 1997, bonding over the fact they were both avid guitar players and both played in local bands with varying degrees of accolade. Suarez got Ryland a job waiting tables at "Mr. Deli's Jewish Delicatessen," in Boca Raton. A few years later, Suarez went off to pursue a degree in the culinary arts while Ryland procured his BFA in Acting. The two lost touch for several years.
Suarez chose to bank on a future as a chef. His interest in the kitchen took root his freshman year of High School when he had the limited choice between registering for either Food Production or Sewing. He chose the former and became instantly hooked, sticking with it all four years of high school and capitalized on the school's work program, which allowed students to work in their chosen field in exchange for class credit. He was the only student to complete all four years of Food Production courses. Since he had already decided to attend the Florida Culinary Institute in West Palm Beach. Post-culinary school, he continued his path and landed a couple Sous Chef positions at local restaurants in Winter Park, FL before starting a catering business with a few friends in Orlando - Thyme to Dine - specializing in wine and food pairings.
This was the first touring project Suarez was part of. Starting in a garage in 1999, the band starting playing local shows. A constant rotation of band members, Kite Flying Society continued with root members Alex Suarez and Rick Barnocky until the end in 2004. They released two EPs and one Discography in the styling of mid 90's EMO ala Refused, Fugazi and You and I. Their first EP was released on Goodbye Blue Skies Records, second EP on Twenty Seven Records and the final discography CD on indie label Init Records They did a few East Coast tours and one that brought them to the Midwest. The band ended after Suarez took a break from the constant rotation of changing members to pursue a restaurant career opportunity in South Florida, which fell apart and later brought him to New York to continue pursuing music.
Suarez decided to move to Brooklyn after his small food and wine pairing catering business Thyme to Dine ran its course and took a job as a delivery person at Whole Foods Market to save up enough money for his relocation. Two months after living in NY, he reconnected with former high school friend Ryland Blackinton, who was living only ten minutes away. [1] After catching up over lunch and learning that each was writing some music, the duo formed This is Ivy League, an indie pop/folk band that often draws comparisons to Simon & Garfunkel and Belle & Sebastian. [2] Just as This is Ivy League started to take flight, Suarez and Blackinton were presented with a contrasting opportunity from Suarez's neighbor at the time, Midtown drummer Rob Hitt to join Cobra Starship.
Suarez was approached to join Gabe Saporta's newly formed band Cobra Starship before the release of the hit song, "Snakes on a Plane (Bring it)". Alex and Ryland initially turned down the offer, preferring to stay as Ivy League. The song was featured on the soundtrack for the film Snakes on a Plane and Gabe's project was offered a record deal from Pete Wentz's Fueled By Ramen Records imprint, Decaydance. Suarez and Ryland eventually accepted and has contributed to four full-length albums and completed several international tours with Cobra Starship since. On October 21, 2014, both Suarez and Ryland left the band to pursue their own separate careers as record producers/songwriters. [3] They had been replaced for a short period before Cobra Starship was officially ended by frontman Gabe Saporta.
LEFTI is a project by producer Alex Suarez (Brooklyn, NY) which threads between House and Disco and was labeled a "Disco House Hero" by Dancing Astronaut. After playing in multiple bands, most notably Cobra Starship, LEFTI stepped out on his own to produce an impressive list of remixes as well as originals. Aside from his label Quincy Boy Records (focusing on funky house), LEFTI has original releases on Toolroom (x5), Love & Other, Let There Be House, House U, There Was Jack, Perfect Havoc, Nurvous, Big Beat, Box of Cats, Basement Sound, Disco Relief and Top Shelf Disco, to name the majority, as well as remixes with labels Atlantic, Warner, Ultra, Island and Universal.
LEFTI’s original music has been very well received by the DJ community and has been supported by top tier names like Calvin Harris, Disclosure, Claptone, Fatboy Slim, Dombresky, Don Diablo, Earth N Days, CID, Annie Mac, Anna Lunoe, Weiss, Mark Knight, Todd Edwards, Infected Mushroom, Yuksek and Horse Meat Disco (to name a few) + world wide radio and taste maker DJ's who have been spreading his sound.
His recent television/movie placements include - Vox Lux (a Natalie Portman film scored by Scott Walker and Sia), The Miracle Season, Disobedience, Set It Up and Midnight Sun, Girlfriends Guide To Divorce, ESPN (live event), Showtimes "Dice", Bloodline, General Hospital, East Siders (two episodes), Vanderpump Rules and MacGyver. Along with these placements, LEFTI landed a few commercial spots including SoundCloud, W Hotels and Hulu.
Midtown is an American pop punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. Midtown was formed in November 1998 by three Rutgers University students, but quickly became a quartet. The group released three full-length studio albums and three extended plays before disbanding in 2005. In early 2014, Midtown reunited to play three shows, the first as a secret show at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, and the two remaining at the Skate And Surf Festival. They will reunite for more shows in 2022.
The Academy Is... is an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 2003. Before disbanding, they were signed by the Decaydance imprint of the Fueled by Ramen label. They were originally known as "The Academy", but added the "Is..." in 2004 to avoid legal complications with other established bands already under that name. The band released three studio albums, Almost Here, Santi, and Fast Times at Barrington High, and four EPs. The band announced its break-up on 8 October 2011. In May 2015, lead singer William Beckett announced that the band would reunite at Riot Fest 2015 in Chicago. In addition the core members of the band Beckett, Mike Carden and Adam Siska, as well as Andy Mrotek and Ian Crawford, reunited for a farewell tour that took place during December 2015. They announced their return on May 11, 2022, alongside their participation on 2022 Riot Fest.
Cobra Starship was an American dance-pop band founded in 2006 by Gabe Saporta (ex-Midtown), and headquartered in New York City, New York. He recorded the first album as a solo project, While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets. Saporta later enlisted guitarist Ryland Blackinton, bassist Alex Suarez, drummer Nate Novarro, and keytarist Victoria Asher, all of whom provide backing vocals.
Gabriel Eduardo Saporta is an Uruguayan-American musician and entrepreneur. Through late 2015, he was a singer and the primary creative force behind the electronic pop group Cobra Starship. On November 10, 2015, after nearly ten years and two Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits, Saporta announced that the band would stop its work, and that he would be focusing on helping other musicians through his new venture, The Artist Group. Prior to Cobra Starship, Saporta had been the lead singer, bassist, and lyricist for the punk band Midtown.
While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets is the debut studio album by Cobra Starship. It was released on October 10, 2006 in the US, and on October 17, 2006 in Canada. A rough clip of "Send My Love to the Dancefloor, I'll See You In Hell ", a finished version of "Snakes on a Plane ", and "The Church of Hot Addiction" were uploaded onto Cobra Starship's PureVolume site. "The Church of Hot Addiction" was also used as the theme song for the WWE's Great American Bash 2007. It has sold more than 69,000 copies to date.
"Snakes on a Plane ", also referred to as "Bring It ", is the debut single by Cobra Starship, released in 2006 as the main single from the soundtrack to the film Snakes on a Plane. In addition to Cobra Starship vocalist Gabe Saporta, the song features William Beckett of The Academy Is..., Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, and Maja Ivarsson of The Sounds. Before being written specifically for the film, the song was titled "Bring It".
Olympic Heights Community High School is a public high school located at 20101 Lyons Road, known for, serving west Boca Raton, parts of Boynton Beach and parts of Delray Beach as part of the School District of Palm Beach County, Florida.
Ryland Blackinton is an American musician and actor, best known for his work as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of Cobra Starship. He was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island on March 31, 1982, but was raised in Wilmington, Massachusetts and Boca Raton, Florida. He has also worked as the lead singer and lead guitarist of folk pop duo This Is Ivy League and as half of the electrofunk duo GRVRBBRS.
¡Viva la Cobra! is the second studio album by Cobra Starship. The album was released on October 23, 2007. It was produced by Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump, whose vocals also feature throughout the album. The album peaked at No. 80 on Billboard 200. It has sold more than 40,000 copies to date.
This Is Ivy League was an indie band formed in 2005 by friends Ryland Blackinton and Alex Suarez.
Fast Times at Barrington High is the third and final studio album by American rock band The Academy Is..., released in August 2008.
Night Shades is the fourth and final studio album by Cobra Starship, being released through Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records on August 29, 2011. The album is the follow-up to 2009's Hot Mess. The first single from the album, "You Make Me Feel...", features singer Sabi and was released on May 10, 2011. A music video has been created for it. The full album was made available to stream for free on their Facebook page prior to its release.
"Good Girls Go Bad" is a song by American pop band Cobra Starship with guest vocals by Leighton Meester. It was the first single released from their third studio album, Hot Mess. The song was released digitally through iTunes on May 11, 2009. On May 8, 2009, "Good Girls Go Bad" made its radio debut on KIIS-FM with Ryan Seacrest's show.
Hot Mess is the third studio album by the American musical ensemble Cobra Starship, released through Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records on August 11, 2009. The album is the follow-up to 2007's ¡Viva la Cobra!. It debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on sales of more than 42,000, by far their best chart performance ever.
"Hot Mess" is a song recorded by the American pop punk band Cobra Starship. It was the second single released from their third studio album, Hot Mess. The song was released digitally through iTunes on October 30, 2009. The single has been released in the United States and New Zealand. It was used in the films Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star and American Pie Presents: The Book of Love and in the TV series Gossip Girl.
Black Cards was an American electronic music band that formed in July 2010 as Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz's new main project following the band's indefinite hiatus. Originally conceived as a four-piece electropop band, Wentz played bass guitar and wrote the band's lyrics, while singer Bebe Rexha filled in on vocals. The pair met when Wentz and producer Sam Hollander overheard Rexha recording demos at their studio. Nate Patterson and Spencer Peterson completed the lineup with guitar and drums respectively.
Cobra Starship was an American pop punk band, formed by Gabe Saporta in 2005. Other members are guitarist Ryland Blackinton, bassist Alex Suarez, drummer Nate Novarro, and keytarist Victoria Asher, all of whom provide backing vocals. The group released their debut album, While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets in 2006. "Snakes on a Plane ", is the debut single of dance rock band Cobra Starship from the soundtrack album Snakes on a Plane: The Album.
"You Make Me Feel..." is a song recorded by American synthpop band Cobra Starship with guest vocals by American pop singer Sabi. It was the first single released from their fourth studio album, Night Shades. The song was released digitally through iTunes on May 10, 2011. The song is a dance-pop, electropop song and it talks about looking for a soul mate in the club. It received mixed reviews from most music critics; some thought that the song was "catchy and happy" but at the same time criticized it for being too "faceless and empty." Commercially, the song reached No. 1 in New Zealand and the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Hungary, Japan, and the United States.
"Middle Finger" is a song by American synthpop band Cobra Starship. The track was written and produced by Norwegian production team Stargate and features Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller. It was released as the third promotional single from their fourth studio album, "Night Shades" and later as the second official single.
"Beautiful Life" is one of the two bonus track from the Vinyl reissue of Hot Mess by American pop rock band Cobra Starship. The track was originally made around 2011-2013 and finished for release in 2021. It is one of the last two songs Cobra Starship released 6 years after their break up in 2015.