Dover (band)
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Dover | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Madrid, Spain |
| Genres | Rock Grunge Punk rock (1992-2006/2012-now) Electropop (2006-2012) |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | Everlasting-Caroline Subterfuge Records Chrysalis Records Loli Jackson Records Sony Music Entertainment Spain |
| Members | Amparo Llanos Cristina Llanos Jesús Antúnez Samuel Titos |
| Past members | Álvaro Gómez Álvaro Díez |
| Website | Official website |
Dover is a well-known Spanish punk and grunge rock and electropop band from Madrid that sings in English in most of their songs. Its current lineup is:
- Amparo Llanos, guitar and band leader
- Cristina Llanos, singer and guitar
- Jesús Antúnez, drums
- Samuel Titos, bass guitar
Band history
Beginnings and "Sister"
Dover came outside Madrid, in a small rehearsal at Boadilla del Monte, in the early 90s when Cristina Llanos, then 17, decided to form a rock band encouraged by the irradiated alternative scene from Seattle. The group's name was formed from a brand name of a clothing store that her[who?] mother owned in Majadahonda. Joining the project was her sister, 10 years her senior, Amparo. In 1994, drummer Jesús Antúnez and bassist Álvaro Gómez joined the band. One of the demo tapes of the group went to the program radio Disco Grande de RNE Radio 3. The band then signed a one-year contract with the small independent label Everlasting-Caroline. Their debut album Sister of 1995 lacked Promotion and sold poorly, by the lack of promotion in addition to the inexperienced label however, the Spanish Music fanzine Mondo Sonoro included the album among the national Top 10 of the year. Despite the limited success in terms of album sales, this helped Dover manage to gain a foothold in the music scene in Madrid and even recorded their first music video "Come With Me" by John Bouillon, but this song was not released as a single properly, though it was the most demanded for at concerts by fans.
Breakthrough, "Devil Came to Me"
The contract with Caroline was only a year and, to finalise this, they signed with the independent label Subterfuge Records. Their first involvement with the label was to have a demo version of Loli Jackson in the multi-band compilation album "Stereoparty 2". This success motivated the track record to produce their second album and so enter the Infinity Studios in Madrid in 1997 to record the album Devil Came to Me on a tight budget of 80,000 pesetas and in just 20 days. The album is released on April 21, 1997, a fragment of the album's title track (specifically the chorus with the phrase ".. I lied for you, I lied for you .") was included in a popular television commercial by Radical Fruit Company which gave them great fame and the band was launched to national fame. During the promotion of this album, in 1997, the bassist was replaced by Álvaro Díez, who had been part of the band in its infancy. The album sold over 500,000 copies and gained them fans abroad in Europe and America. They released their official first single from the album, "Serenade", a song that, thanks to its strong chorus and catchy melody, manages to become their first number one in Spain. Juan Bouillon again direct their next music video. The song "Loli Jackson" is featured by Daniel Calparsoro on his movie "blind", and a video for the song is recorded.
"Late at Night" "I Was Dead for 7 Weeks in the City of Angels" and "The Flame"
The relationship with Subterfuge Records deteriorated and they signed with Chrysalis Records label owned by EMI Music. In 1998 they quickly created their own label Loli Jackson Records. With their newly created label Dover soon published several independent groups. The following year they released their third album Late at night, recorded in Seattle with Barret Jones. It was released on 28 June of that year with great expectations created by its first single "DJ" that quickly became number one in Spain; something totally new for a Rock Band. With the greatest hits album promoted as the song "DJ", or "CherryLee" which was popularized in an advertisement of then-recent Peugeot 206. This success soon propelled them to their first international tour that took them to Germany, England, Holland, Mexico, the United States among others. In February 2000 the album was already triple platinum with 300,000 thousand copies sold in Spain alone.
In 2000, received an award from MTV Europe for Best Spanish Artist. In 2001, Chrysalis reissued their first album Sister including the unreleased song 'Noche Tras Noche'. In May of that year they soon entered 'Grandmasters studies Recorder' to record their new album, again accompanied by Barrett Jones. Titled "I Was Dead for 7 Weeks in the City of Angels." Their first single, released on September 3 of the year, was 'King George'. The album itself was released on September 17, 2001 and in just ten days sold 125,000 copies.
In 2003, the musical crisis forces them to close their record company and sign with EMI Music. On 27 October of that year, their fifth album The Flame, was quickly released. This time the album was co-produced by Rick Will and recorded entirely in Spain. Sales are not in their favor this time and they barely reach 60,000 copies. In May 2005, bassist Álvaro Díez is expelled from the group and replaced by Samuel Titos, former guitarist and vocalist of 'Sperm'. In late 2005 they become the first group to support the NGO Oxfam.
Pop Reinvention, "Follow the City Lights"
For months, the group begins to compose what would be their new album. Dover announced that it would be a change that would leave everyone pleasantly surprised. And so in October 2006 they released a new album called Follow the City Lights, produced by Daniel Alcover. Dover's style changes radically, introducing electronic arrangements in their music.
The first single from this album, "Let Me Out", received a Premio Ondas for Best Song in 2006. Also, the single reached number 1 on the Spanish charts Los 40 Principales for 4 weeks. Furthermore Let Me Out soon became number one on the Spanish iTunes Music Store. The second single from the album was "Do Ya", which featured on the computer game FIFA 08. A third single was also released from the album, "Keep on Moving". Each single was accompanied by a music video.
In November 2007 they released their first double disc compilation of Dover, entitled "2", which contains many of the successful singles and tracks released by Dover, including a new song called Soldier. The same year they toured with La Oreja de Van Gogh.
In late 2008 Dover made a tour through Germany and Europe up to February 2009 in the promotion of the album "2." In March 2009 they subsequently signed a contract with Sony-BMG. In several interviews they announced that their forthcoming seventh album would come out in 2010, according to press releases issued by the record label Sony drive would be available in late October 2010.
Ika Kenee, 2010
On July 31 Dover released the first single from their upcoming album onto YouTube, entitled 'Dannaya'. It is sung in Bambara, an African language and English and, according to their Facebook page, the single is inspired by a Malian immigrant they met.
2012, 2013
In summer 2012 Dover played their older songs again on different concerts, and in 2013 they started a "Dover came to me" tour.
Band Influences
Despite Dover being a Spanish band most of their songs are written in English. The two sisters of the band create the music, Amparo composing and Cristina writing the lyrics.
According to the group, the reason that the lyrics are in English is because their rock influences have always been primarily English bands and they do not feel comfortable using Spanish lyrics for their songs.
Both sisters insist they were strongly influenced by The Beatles and grunge music, especially Nirvana. These influences are evident in the music. Thus, referring to Paul McCartney in King George (I need a McCartney song); in 27 Years, where they make reference to a famous song of his: Band on the Run, and in their latest album, Follow The City Lights, one of the songs which is called 'Dear McCartney'. In addition, in their song 'The Weak Hour of the Rooster', a verse quotes the last sentence from the suicide note of Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana: "It's better to burn out Than to fade away".
For their album Follow The City Lights, Dover have said that their influences have been artists like Madonna or Peaches.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | Chart pos. | Sales/Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPA | |||
| 1995 | Sister
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| 1997 | Devil Came to Me
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1 | Worldwide sales: 500,000 Cert. 5x Platinum |
| 1999 | Late at Night
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1 | Worldwide sales: 300,000 Cert. 3x Platinum |
| 2001 | I Was Dead for 7 Weeks in the City of Angels
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1 | Worldwide sales: 215,000 Cert. 2x Platinum |
| 2003 | The Flame
|
12 | Worldwide sales: 50,000 Cert. Gold |
| 2006 | Follow the City Lights
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4 | Worldwide sales: 180,000 Cert. 2xPlatinum |
| 2010 | I Ka Kené
|
14 | Worldwide sales: 15,000 |
Compilations albums
| Year | Title | Chart pos. | Sales/Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPA | |||
| 2007 | 2
|
30 | Sales Spain: +25.000 |
Singles
| Album | Singles |
|---|---|
| Devil Came to Me |
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| Late at Night |
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| I Was Dead for 7 Weeks in the City of Angels |
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| It's Good to Be Me |
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| The Flame |
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| Follow The City Lights |
|
| 2 |
|
| I Ka Kené |
|
EP
- 2002: "It's Good To Be Me"
Music videos
| Year | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Come With Me | |
| 1997 | Serenade | |
| Loli Jackson | ||
| 1999 | DJ | |
| Cherry Lee | ||
| Far | ||
| Flashback | ||
| 2000 | The Hitter | |
| 2001 | King George | |
| The Weak Hour of the Rooster | ||
| Better Day | ||
| 2002 | Mystic love | |
| 2003 | The Flame | |
| Honest | ||
| Die for Rock & Roll | ||
| 2006 | Let Me Out | |
| Do Ya | ||
| Keep On Moving | ||
| 2007 | Soldier | |
| 2010 | Dannayá | |
| Under Your Spell |
DVD
- 2003: "DOVER: 1993-2003"
Video
- 2001: "Dovercametome"
See also
External links
