George Lewis III - Keyboards, Vocals
Daniel Kopton - Drums
Tom Parker - Electric Guitars
Victor Velazquez - Electric Guitars
Lexy Feuerborn - Backing Vocals
Allegra Gellar is named after the lead character in David Cronenberg’s 1999 film, eXistenZ, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, and yes, purposefully spelled differently by one letter. Jeremy Wilkins and Denver Bon began using the band name, Allegra Gellar, in 2003 upon their arrival in Los Angeles. They previously played together in several Atlanta based bands, including underwater and rosewater elizabeth, but were starting over in a new city with a new sound.
In 2003, they immediately began working on their debut, “The Make-Up Artist” (2004). Inspired heavily by bands like Death Cab for Cutie, The Red House Painters, and Cursive, Allegra Gellar was originally at it’s core an indie-rock band, writing songs about destructive relationships and lost love. While primarily guitar based, Jeremy’s experiences as a keyboard player and programmer meant that electronics were always a substantial ingredient of the band’s sound.
Throughout the years Allegra Gellar became more of an ever-changing cast of players than an actual band. In 2004, George Lewis III moved to Los Angeles from Portland and joined the group just as Denver took an extended leave of absence. Together Jeremy and George, with contributions from various friends, released, “Where I’ve Been Has Faded” (2005) and “Cassette” (2007). In 2007, after the release of “Cassette”, Denver returned to the group and a drummer, Olive, was added to the line-up to promote the record. In 2008 Allegra Gellar recorded and released their most definitive and artistically successful record to date, “The Light From Cakes”, half brand new material and half older songs revised and perfectly executed by the newly refreshed and inspired band.
The Allegra Gellar camp saw big changes in 2009. First, George took a break to focus on his solo endeavor, The Other Also. Then in spring George decided to move back to Portland and continue his educational studies. By summer Jeremy and Denver left Los Angeles behind to follow George to Portland, where they are now officially based. In October Jeremy and Denver released the fifth Allegra Gellar full-length, “The Wrist Vs The Futurist Party”. The record was recorded mostly in Los Angeles but George added some final touches just before the record was mixed in Portland. Unlike their previous records, “The Wrist Vs The Futurist Party” is not filled with autobiographical tales but instead made up entirely of stories about characters from a fictional American future. The record has solidified Allegra Gellar’s current sound, which melds acoustic guitars and electronics to create a delicate, spacious foundation for the up-close storytelling of Jeremy’s vocals, more in the vein of European electro-pop than American indie-rock..
Moving forward Jeremy and Denver plan to continue to take the lead in further exploration of Allegra Gellar’s electro-folk sound in both the studio and on stage. Meanwhile, all three core Allegra Gellar contributors, Jeremy, Denver and George have started a brand new full-time band with drummer Daniel Kopton called International Grey. The new band has a loud and dark, shoegaze/post-rock sound. Expect to see and hear plenty from both International Grey and Allegra Gellar in coming months.
Just dropped by to say hello.Hope all is well with you. Thought I'd drop by and let you know I have uploaded a new acoustic demo called Old Gang. Hope you like it. Have a great week and I'll catch up with you soon!
just saying hello. love the new song, btw. I've since abandoned the gw fam, but will be on the east side periodically--lemme know about your shows and if you need openers etc :) m
