El Magnifico

From Weezerpedia
This article or section lacks formatting. It may require cleanup to meet Weezerpedia's quality standards.
El Magnifico
Background information
Origin Los Angeles, CA
Years active 1992 – 1994
Genre(s) Alternative rock
Label(s) RCA Records
Former Members
John Chase
Johnny Lonely
Jon Pikus
Patrick Hildebrand

El Magnifico was a Los Angeles-based alternative rock band in the early 1990s. The band often played small rock clubs in and around LA with Weezer.

Weezer connections

El Magnifico was one of Weezer's most frequent collaborators in their pre-Geffen Records years. The bands played at least 8 independent shows together around Los Angeles. According to Weezer historian Karl Koch, the two groups saw themselves as like-minded bands striving to differentiate themselves from the prevailing musical trends on the Sunset Strip at the time. Koch described El Magnifico's sound as "sorta like Janes Addiction but stranger and noisier."[1] In describing the bill of a June 1993 show that Weezer and El Magnifico shared, Koch said:

See Historic event: 06/07/1993
This would mark one of the rare BMF [ Black Market Flowers ]/Weezer/El Mag team ups, 3 bands, who along with Wax defined the mini-scene that weezer was a part of then, trying to forge a non-hair band -yet- non-grunge scene.


- Karl Koch


As noted above, Weezer often referred to the band as "El Mag."[2]

Studio work

See Weezer's third demo

El Magnifico drummer Jon Pikus was chosen to engineer Weezer's third demo, an independently produced, five-song cassette tape that proved essential in their eventual signing to Geffen[3]. As Koch described, Pikus was "a capable but still learning engineer, and the tape, while being the best-yet representation of the band, was still flawed by some sonic strangeness, such as a snare drum that sounded kinda like a tennis ball hitting a racket."

For recording his parts on Weezer (The Blue Album), founding Weezer bassist Matt Sharp used a bass gifted him by El Magnifico bassist Johnny Lonely.[4]

Shows played with Weezer

Date City Venue Other band(s) Bootleg(s) Concert Source
March 19, 1992 West Hollywood, CA Club Dump Black Market Flowers, Further, and Swirl Videotaped, not circulating Weezer concert: 08/20/1992 [2]
October 5, 1992 Los Angeles, CA Club Lingerie Black Market Flowers, Trancendental Hayride, Big Elf Weezer concert: 10/05/1992 [5]
October 27, 1992 Los Angeles, CA Coconut Teaszer Sugartooth, Holy Water Weezer concert: 10/27/1992 [1]
November 12, 1992 West Hollywood, CA Club Dump Monkey Paw, Joyride, and Silvertrain Weezer concert: 11/12/1992 [6]
November 21, 1992 Santa Monica, CA The Alligator Lounge Joyride, Crux, Black Market Flowers, Missing Honey, Boys Named Sue, Silvertrain, Fast Eddie Lee, "DJ Cock" Weezer concert: 11/21/1992 [7]
March 25, 1993 West Hollywood, CA Club Dump Weezer concert: 03/25/1993 [3]
April 29, 1993 West Hollywood, CA Club Dump Methadone Cocktail, that dog., 12 And Counting Recorded by Karl Koch, not circulating Weezer concert: 04/29/1993 [8]
June 7, 1993 Los Angeles, CA Club Lingerie Black Market Flowers Recorded by Karl Koch, not circulating Weezer concert: 06/07/1993 [9]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Demos

Members

  • John Chase - guitar, vocals
  • Johnny Lonely - bass
  • Jon Pikus - drums, production
  • Patrick Hildebrand - guitar, vocals

See also

External links

References