Carlos Dengler | |
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Born | Carlos Andres Dengler April 23, 1974 Queens, New York, U.S. |
Alma mater | New York University (BA, MFA) |
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Musical career | |
Also known as | Carlos D. |
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Years active | 1997–present |
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Website | www |
Carlos Andres Dengler is an American musician, actor, composer, and writer. He has performed in regional theaters and appeared in various short films, released three albums, and his essays have appeared in n+1 and Tablet Magazine, among others. [1] [2] [3] [4] He is the co-founder and former bass guitarist and keyboardist for American rock band Interpol.
Dengler was born on April 23, 1974, [5] in Queens, New York, to a Colombian mother and a German father. He and his family lived there until his early teens, after which they relocated to Lawrenceville, New Jersey. [6] Speaking to Spin magazine in 2005, Dengler described this move and the subsequent period as formative. [7] He received a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy at NYU College of Arts & Science and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. [8] [9]
Carlos Dengler is a NYC-based composer, actor, writer, and multi-instrumentalist (guitar, bass guitar, and piano). He is also an amateur nature photographer, avid backpacker, and a naturalist. [10] [11] He played an instrumental role in the success of the band Interpol, co-founding the musical group in their early years (1990s) with Daniel Kessler, Paul Banks and Greg Drudy. He became a classically trained actor after leaving the band in 2010 and earned an MFA in Acting in 2015. [12] Dengler performed a one-person theatrical show at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2016. [13] He has written many personal essays, several of which have been published in literary journals. [3] [4] Along with acting and writing, he has scored films and released compositions of ambient and New Age music. [1] [14] [15] [16]
While attending New York University (NYU) in 1997, he was approached by the guitarist Daniel Kessler [17] after a class the two had enrolled in. Kessler had been looking for musicians to play with and assumed Dengler to be one based on the clothes he wore, a style Kessler described as "similar to the way he's dressed now". [7] He was studying philosophy and history at the time and wanted to pursue a career as an academic but agreed to play with the then unformed band, eventually finding his place within the group.
Dengler's trademark style is marked by grounded and stylized bass lines, strident staccato bursts, a clean tone brought about by his Fender Jazz Bass, and octave jumps, almost in a disco-like fashion. The low E string is lowered to D as the band writes many songs in the keys of D and B minor. One of his influences is the Joy Division/New Order bass guitarist Peter Hook and, like Hook, he also wears his bass guitar very low – often near knee level – and uses a pick to pluck the strings. [18]
In addition to bass guitar, Dengler played keyboards in the studio. Until the band started hiring touring musicians in support of their first album, Turn on the Bright Lights , he played both instruments during live performances.
He was a regular in the Lower East Side party scene and in 2005 URB magazine put him on the cover with a headline reading "Interpol + The Cult of Carlos D". [19] Interviews tied in with the band's third album, Our Love to Admire , in 2007, however, marked a change in Dengler's attitude. Quotes from the time hint at a growing dissatisfaction with touring and the band in general. He described his switch from leather corset-belts, slicked hair, gun-holster and combat boots to bolo tie, waist coat, his natural curls and mustache as freeing: "Everyone stopped recognizing me on the street. I forgot what it's like just to be a normal person. It felt so good." [20]
In May 2010, his departure was announced on the band's official website. The posting stated that he had participated in the writing and recording process for their fourth album but would not be going forward with any other Interpol related activities. A permanent replacement was not announced, only that multiple players would be taking his place on the 2010 tour. [21]
Three months after Dengler left Interpol, the band revealed that he actually disliked playing bass guitar. Drummer Sam Fogarino stated that Dengler had grown tired of the instrument and of touring, and that it was neither his first instrument nor his instrument of choice. [22]
The band chose not to officially replace Dengler, with David Pajo and later Brad Truax occupying the role of touring bass guitarist. For the writing and recording of Interpol's post-Dengler studio albums, Paul Banks occupies the role of bass guitarist. When asked if the band missed Dengler during a 2022 Reddit AMA, Banks stated: "He was difficult, but not too difficult. Total genius tbh." [23]
Dengler played a cream Jazz Bass on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2007. [24] He never used any effects pedals, claiming "Our music is almost symphonic in nature, because the harmonic structures are defined by the union of two guitars and a bass, and sometimes keyboard as well. If I were to start freaking out with effects, it would create too much of a bass presence, or it would distract from the band's most important aspect-the unity of all those musical elements together." [25]
He also worked with a mixture of classic synthesizer and orchestral emulations to generate arrangements for Interpol and for his scores.
While attending NYU in the late 1990s, Dengler was a club DJ. [26] He stopped for a short time, but picked it up again and as Interpol's fame increased he started pulling in bigger crowds both at the band's after-parties and separate gigs in various cities. He was the first rock star to appear on the cover of the electronic and hip-hop centered URB magazine, in 2005. The article focused on his history and talent as a DJ, his thoughts on various scenes, personal style and his role as the face of the band. [19] Dengler has remixed songs for B-side releases including VHS or Beta's "Night on Fire", Nine Inch Nails's "Every Day is Exactly the Same" alongside Sam Fog (Interpol bandmate Samuel Fogarino) and Interpol's own "Public Pervert".
After leaving Interpol in 2010, Dengler remained out of the public light for several years. [27] In a 2015 interview, he stated that he had since completed a graduate degree in drama from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, and was pursuing acting professionally. [27] In the time between Antics (2004) and Our Love to Admire (2007), Dengler took an interest in film composition and scoring. His work in this medium includes the animation project, Love Letters for the Subway. [28] He contributed underscoring to the piece "Katya and Josh Ain't Havin' It" to the HBO Voyeur Project. [29]
In 2016, Dengler understudied for actor Josh Radnor at Lincoln Center Theater in a production of the Richard Greenberg play, The Babylon Line [30] [31] as well as presenting an autobiographical one-man show at the 2016 New York International Fringe Festival, Homo Sapiens Interruptus, which focused on his interest in heavy metal and paleoanthropology as well as revisiting his life leading up to and including his involvement with Interpol. [32] That same year, he was a guest musician with The 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers. [33] In 2020, Dengler appeared in the short film, A 1984 Period Piece in Present Day. [34]
Dengler's essays have been featured in n+1 , the Mars Review of Books , Tablet Magazine , and in 2022 he contributed to the Rutgers University Press publication, New Jersey Fan Club, writing about moving as a teenager from Queens, New York to Lawrenceville, New Jersey. [3] [35] [4] [36]
Dengler has self-released three albums as a composer of New Age/ambient music, Aqueduct and Ecospheres in 2022 and Private Earth in 2023. [1] [37] [38] [2]
Patrick Bruce Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
Interpol is an American rock band from Manhattan, New York. Formed in 1997, their original line-up consisted of Paul Banks, Daniel Kessler, Carlos Dengler, and Greg Drudy (drums). Drudy left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Sam Fogarino. Dengler left to pursue other projects in 2010, with Banks taking on the additional role of bassist instead of hiring a new one.
Antics is the second studio album by American rock band Interpol, released on September 27, 2004, by Matador Records. Upon its release, the album peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard 200 and number 21 on the UK Albums Chart, and went on to sell over 488,000 copies in the United States.
Turn On the Bright Lights is the debut studio album by American rock band Interpol. It was released in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2002, and in the United States the following day, through independent record label Matador Records. The album was recorded in November 2001 at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and was co-produced, mixed and engineered by Peter Katis and Gareth Jones. Its title is taken from a repeated line in the song "NYC".
Paul Julian Banks is an English-born American musician, singer, songwriter, and DJ. Noted for his baritone singing voice, he is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and bassist of the American rock band Interpol. He released a solo album called Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper in 2009 under the name Julian Plenti, though his solo material is now recorded under his real name.
Daniel Alexander Kessler is an American musician who is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the New York City-based band Interpol.
The Black EP is an EP by American rock band Interpol, released in August 2003 by EMI Records. It includes "Say Hello to the Angels", a demo version of "NYC", and four live recordings from the Black Sessions recorded on French radio station Radio France.
The Chameleons are an English rock band formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in 1981. The band's classic line-up consisted of bassist and vocalist Mark Burgess, guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever.
Interpol is the third extended play (EP) by American rock band Interpol. It was released on June 4, 2002, and was the band's first release on the Matador Records label.
Interpol Remix is the first remix EP by American rock band Interpol. It consists of four tracks from their second album Antics, each remixed by a member of the band: "NARC," "Length of Love," "Public Pervert," and "Not Even Jail," as remixed by Paul Banks, Sam Fogarino, Carlos Dengler, and Daniel Kessler, respectively.
"Slow Hands" is a song by American rock band Interpol. It was released as the lead single from their second studio album, Antics (2004), on August 16, 2004 as a digital single and September 13 as vinyl and CD singles. The song was written by Paul Banks, Carlos Dengler, Sam Fogarino, and Daniel Kessler.
Our Love to Admire is the third studio album by American rock band Interpol, released on July 10, 2007, through Capitol Records and Parlophone. Recorded at Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village and The Magic Shop in New York City, Our Love to Admire is the group's first and, to date, only album to be released on a major label as they departed from Matador Records beforehand. On April 25, 2007, the band officially announced the album title as Our Love to Admire as well as the track listing. The first single off the new album, "The Heinrich Maneuver", was released on May 7, 2007.
Live is the sixth EP by American rock band Interpol, and their first in two years since the Interpol Remix EP. It was recorded during a July 2, 2007 show at the London Astoria, on the European leg of their Our Love to Admire world tour, and released by Capitol on November 27, 2007.
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The discography of American rock band Interpol consists of seven studio albums, seven extended plays (EPs), and fifteen singles. Interpol was formed in 1997 by New York University students Daniel Kessler and Greg Drudy, with Carlos Dengler and Paul Banks joining later. Drudy left the band in 2000, and was replaced with Sam Fogarino.
Interpol is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Interpol, released on September 7, 2010, through Matador Records. The self-produced album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. Bassist Carlos Dengler left shortly after the album's completion.
El Pintor is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Interpol. It was released through Matador Records and Soft Limit on September 8, 2014, internationally, and on September 9, 2014, in North America. El Pintor is the band's first album without bassist Carlos Dengler, who departed Interpol after the release of the band's eponymous album in 2010.
"All the Rage Back Home" is a song by American rock band Interpol. It is the first track and the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, El Pintor (2014) and was digitally released on August 12, 2014. Self-produced and written by the band, the song debuted at No. 37 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, peaking at No. 26. The song was also made available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series.
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