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Sonny Kay is a visual artist and musician. [1]
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Sonny Kay is a visual artist and musician. [1]
Kay was born in London, England on March 13, 1972, and raised in various locations including the UK, Barcelona (Spain), and Johannesburg (South Africa). [2] His family relocated first to Los Angeles in 1979, and then to Colorado in 1987. [3] He is the son of "Spaghetti Western" film director, Gilbert Lee Kay (aka José Briz). [4]
In 1993, Sonny founded the cult independent record label Gold Standard Laboratories, known also as GSL, while attending the University of Colorado at Boulder. [5] During that time he was a member of the pre-screamo band Angel Hair (Gravity Records). [6] In 1996, Kay (and GSL) relocated to Berkeley, California. By this time, he was vocalist with the influential "proto-futuristic" punk band, The VSS. Kay founded the independent music distributor Bottlenekk Distribution in 1996, which resulted in a rapid acceleration in releases and notoriety for GSL. The label soon became synonymous with bands such as The Locust, !!!, and The Mars Volta. Kay moved to San Diego in 2001 and to Los Angeles in 2003. Between 2003 and 2006 he was vocalist for the punk band Year Future.
After GSL ceased operations in October 2007, Kay began devoting his time to making art and graphic design. From 2008 until 2013 he was creative director of Rodriguez Lopez Productions, a record label dedicated to releasing the works of guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and various other artists related to The Mars Volta, as well as its "parent" company, Sargent House. Kay's digital collage illustrations and/or graphic design have appeared on album sleeves for artists including Omar Rodríguez-López (for whom he designed over 25 albums), The Mars Volta, RX Bandits, The Locust, Zu, Shooter Jennings, Le Butcherettes, The Glitch Mob, Red Sparowes, And So I Watch You From Afar, Thavius Beck, The Drowning Men, Sun Ra, Bosnian Rainbows, 311 and others. In November 2010, Kay and painter Jeff Jordan presented a joint show of their work in Los Angeles, entitled Parallel Universes.
Kay was also a member of the bands Savalas (1991–1992), Subpoena the Past (1997–1999), and Optional Body (2008). He is credited with backing vocals on early releases by the San Diego grindcore band, Cattle Decapitation.
In 2007, Kay appeared in the feature film, The Sentimental Engine Slayer , written and directed by Omar Rodriguez Lopez. Kay's IMDB page also credits him with production design and title design for the film.
In 2017, Kay's first book, Headspaces: Surrealistic Album Art & Collage by Sonny Kay was published by Bob Rob Medina's Robot Enemy Publications.
At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López, Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (drums) and Keeley Davis.
De-Loused in the Comatorium is the debut studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on June 24, 2003, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records. Based on a short story written by lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and sound manipulation artist Jeremy Ward, the concept album is an hour-long tale of Cerpin Taxt, a man who enters a week-long coma after overdosing on a mixture of morphine and rat poison. The story of Cerpin Taxt alludes to the death of El Paso, Texas artist—and Bixler-Zavala's friend—Julio Venegas (1972–1996).
The Mars Volta is a Mexican-American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, whose partnership forms the core of the band. The band's current line-up also includes founding member Eva Gardner (bass), Omar's brother Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Leo Genovese and Linda-Philomène Tsoungui (drums).
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a Puerto Rican guitarist and songwriter. He has formed or played in several bands, including The Mars Volta, At the Drive-In, Antemasque, and Bosnian Rainbows. He was the bassist for the dub band De Facto. He has embarked on a solo career, both in studio and in concert, frequently described as experimental, avant-garde, or progressive. He has also collaborated with numerous artists, such as Damo Suzuki, John Frusciante, El-P, Mon Laferte and Calle 13.
Tremulant is the debut EP release by progressive rock band The Mars Volta, released on April 2, 2002, on Gold Standard Labs. Produced by Alex Newport, the EP marks the only appearance of founding bassist Eva Gardner until the release of The Mars Volta's self-titled album in 2022. A remastered version of the EP was released on April 16, 2014.
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is an American singer. He is the lead singer and lyricist of the progressive rock band the Mars Volta and the only constant member of the post-hardcore group At the Drive-In, for which he was the lead singer and occasional guitarist. He is also the lead singer of the band Antemasque, and sings and plays guitar in his band Zavalaz.
Gold Standard Laboratories or GSL was an independent record label which was founded in 1993 in Boulder, Colorado by Sonny Kay. In 2000, it was relocated to San Diego, California, United States, and two years later, to Los Angeles. It was headquartered in L.A. until closing its doors on October 29, 2007.
Randolph Isaiah "Ikey" Owens was an American keyboardist known for his work with The Mars Volta, Jack White and an array of bands from the Long Beach music scene.
De Facto is an American dub reggae band which has included Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodríguez-López, Isaiah "Ikey" Owens and Jeremy Ward.
Jon Philip Theodore is an American drummer. He has been the current drummer for Queens of the Stone Age since 2013, and is also known for being the drummer for the Mars Volta from 2001 to 2006.
Scabdates is the second official live recording from the band The Mars Volta. It was released on November 8, 2005 and features music recorded between May 2004 and May 2005 during the tours in support of De-Loused in the Comatorium and Frances the Mute. In 2011, NME magazine named it one of the 50 greatest live albums of all time. The "And Ghosted Pouts" section of "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" was used in the film Get Him to the Greek.
Amputechture is the third studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on September 12, 2006, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records. Produced by guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the album marks the final appearance of drummer Jon Theodore, and is the first studio album to feature guitarist and sound manipulator Paul Hinojos, formerly of At the Drive-In and Sparta.
Deantoni Parks is an American new-wave/avant-garde/experimental musician. He is the co-founder, co-producer and drummer of the New York band KUDU along with artist Sylvia Black, and one half of the TV/Film scoring duo We Are Dark Angels alongside Nicci Kasper, also a member of KUDU. Parks was a member of progressive rock band the Mars Volta and a member of the alternative rock act Bosnian Rainbows.
The Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group is an American experimental rock band, and the main side project of Omar Rodríguez-López. Featuring an ever-changing lineup of musicians alongside Rodriguez-Lopez, the group is most often a live entity to perform the various outlets of his solo music aside from the Mars Volta. After the dissolution of the Mars Volta in 2012, Omar completed a few more solo records until 2013 before deciding to pursue only collaborative efforts with groups At the Drive-In, Bosnian Rainbows, Antemasque, and Crystal Fairy.
Octahedron is the fifth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on June 23, 2009. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records in North America and Mercury Records worldwide. It is the last studio album to feature drummer Thomas Pridgen and guitarist John Frusciante, and the first not to feature contributions from keyboardist Isaiah "Ikey" Owens and multi-instrumentalist Adrián Terrazas-González.
Sargent House is an American management company and record label based in Los Angeles. It was founded in June 2006 by Cathy Pellow, who is a music video commissioner for Atlantic Records and also owns a music video production company called Refused TV. Pellow began managing the rock outfit RX Bandits in 2006. The band needed to release its new album ...And the Battle Begun, so Pellow decided to launch her own record label. From that point onward, Pellow continued to manage bands and release records, all under the Sargent House banner.
Le Butcherettes was a Mexican garage punk band formed in 2007 in Guadalajara by Teri Gender Bender.
Omar Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, actor and director, who is best known for his roles as band leader of The Mars Volta and guitarist for At the Drive-In. He is also the former bassist of the dub outfit De Facto, punk band Le Butcherettes, and finally, an active member of Bosnian Rainbows, Antemasque, and Crystal Fairy (band). Omar has released an eclectic catalogue of music as a solo musician and has collaborated with a diverse range of artists and bands, such as El-P, Faust, John Frusciante, Lydia Lunch, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Damo Suzuki.
Noctourniquet is the sixth studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on March 26, 2012 on Warner Bros. Produced by guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, it is the band's only studio album to feature drummer Deantoni Parks, and their first album not to include contributions from guitarist John Frusciante.
The Mars Volta is the seventh studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released through Clouds Hill on September 16, 2022. Produced by guitarist, songwriter and musical director Omar Rodríguez-López, the album was preceded by the singles "Blacklight Shine", "Graveyard Love" and "Vigil".
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