Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows profile picture

Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows

Skeletal and Uncomfortably Intimate!

About Me

Marcus Rubio is the name of Marcus Rubio who leads this project in all of it's various directions. He often tries to write tone clustered polyrhythmic arrangments like Krzysztof Penderecki or Terry Riley but it often comes out sounding a lot like "Off The Wall" by Michael Jackson-not that he has a problem with this of course. Marcus has 3 CDs, the most current of which is the Life Of Pillows-an expansive lo-fi orchestral folk record. Right now, he's working on a new record/all out musical/theatrical production tentatively titled I'm Scared or Oceanic Tremors. This piece will examine modern day fear and paranoia- through the eyes of whales-as if played by Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. He plays the violin,guitar, and synth live with the aid of a looper pedal live and the aide of an enormous cast of musicians(frequently dubbed the Gospel Choir of Pillows) that runs the gamut from french horns, celli,violas,bass clarinets, saxaphones and trombones to synths, samplers,theremins, and trashcans. Marcus(who is referring to himself in the 3rd person) is a member of Moth!Fight! and contributes violin work (and other stuff too sometimes) to a number of artists and bands such as Bill Baird and Silent Sunset,Leatherbag,Real Live Tigers,Blowing Trees,Azul,Bunyphonic,Buttercup,Eaton Lake Tonics,Druggist,W-S Burn,Matt The Electrician, Jon Dee Graham,Karrie Hopper and more! He loves the music-and beatz. If you would like to purchase some CDs they can be found at Hogwild and 180 Grams in San Antonio but the easiest way is through directly contacting me/him for a copy!!!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/7/2005
Band Members: Marcus Rubio-Vocals, Violins/Violas, Guitars, Synths, Piano, Organs, Banjo, Ukulele,Phat Beatz, Samples, Tape Manipulation, Saxaphone, and many other thingsThe Gospel Choir of Pillows:Joe Reyes-PRODUCTION GODAndrea Puentes- Co-author, museRick Rowley-Bass Clarinet, Clarinet, Percussion, and VocalsMason Macias-Drums,Toy alligator,Glockenspiel,PercussionKaitlyn Roche- Keys, tambourine, awesomenessJordan Clark-Voice,tambourineMatt Fong-Alto-SaxaphoneJustin Callan-Trombone and BassNick Dybdal-Hargreaves-Electric guitarMeg Lobasso-Cello,Piano, and sometimes GlockenspielLindsay Millard-ViolaDaniel Boren French Horn and VocalsSean McCarrey-Theremin and PercussionAndrew Perez-Banjo, Percussion, and VocalsChris Maddin- Keyboards and VocalsKevin Adickes-Vocals,Keys, Guitar and ElectronicsEvan Staff-ClarinetYoung Dolphin-Tom Drum,Glock, and Optimus Prime Helmet
Influences: Minimalism,friends,lo-fi,beat poetry,transcendentalism,classical music,minor key latin songs,polkas, Steve Reich, Wilco, Andrew Bird, NOISE, Krzysztof Penderecki, Terry Riley,Jacques Brel, mix tapes, playing w/MOTH!FIGHT!, ragtime, SMOG, original cast recordings, PRINCE, the Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, Timbaland(mostly the beatz),Paul Simon, the Talking Heads,experimentalism,Nick Cave,Randy Newman, 1920s and 30s crooners, Islands,Jay-Z, mash ups,WHY?,Pavement, Sonic Youth, Ravel, Cadence Weapon,Bach, tape hiss, conversations, Buttercup,history, love, anger, Leonard Cohen,field recordings, Debussy,Patrick Wolf, John Adams (both the composer and founding father), David Lynch Films, Tom Waits, clanging objects, etc...
Sounds Like:
Type of Label: None

My Blog

More Song Previews/Videos!

 While in California, my friend Zack and I have been taping performances of me playing completely unplugged (and extremely stripped down) versions of some of the songs from the upcoming whal...
Posted by Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows on Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:37:00 PST

Lil Wayne

 My friend John Zachary Townsehnd has been making videos to try to adequately put into words the magical magnitude of Lil' Wayne's latest opus Tha Carter III. After hearing this record for the first t...
Posted by Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:28:00 PST

New Stuff!

 Hello all! Tomorrow, I'm departing to San Fransisco to spend time with my best friend/occasional band mate/blogger John Zachary Townsehnd or Young Dolphin for about a week. As a going away prese...
Posted by Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows on Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:03:00 PST

Awesomeness

 So far recording for the whale pop opera now entitled "Oceanic Tremors" has been going swimmingly. We are nearing completion soon, right now I need to get the woodwind/brass choir together to re...
Posted by Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows on Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:00:00 PST

Dear World,

... Thank you all so much for coming out to the shows at Music Town and Ruta Maya tonight! Both were extremely fun and extremely high energy. It was great to dance with , scream with , and leap into t...
Posted by Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows on Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:06:00 PST

John Zachary Townsend

...is my best friend EVER. He's played music with me since my earliest endeavors in middle school and despite his current location in California-we have maintained our friendship over distance. Recent...
Posted by Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows on Wed, 21 May 2008 02:53:00 PST

SHOW!!! SONG!!!! STUFF!!!!

 WOO!!! Hello all!First of all thanks a lot to everyone who came out to catch our brief set at Casbeers tonight-it was a lot of fun! Now, you should all go to an amazing free show we’re pla...
Posted by Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:23:00 PST

Press!!! Shows!!! Vids!!!

 Hello all! It’s been a monumental few weeks! I was first entangled in the majesty that is SXSW and then the glory that is NYC over the last couple of weeks so I apologize for my lack of updatin...
Posted by Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows on Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:26:00 PST

SXSW Appearances!!!

Hello ladies and gentleman!!!  I wanted to inform you that I will be performing with a couple of fantastic bands I'm involved in for this week of  musical beauty that is about to take place ...
Posted by Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows on Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:32:00 PST

A Wonderful Poem

 My best/dear friend and former/current bandmate Zack Townsehnd has written an extremely awesome poem about yours truly on his blog, it can be found here: http://dolphinhabitat.blogspot.com/...
Posted by Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows on Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:42:00 PST