Ill Niño

Ill Niño



History

Ill Niño was founded in 1998, had released a demo EP in that same year with Jorge Rosado on vocals and Christian playing bass. The EP was entitled El Niño, when they were originally called El Niño, after the weather phenomenon. It wasn't until 1999 that they had officially formalized. After Rosado's return to his band Merauder, the band held auditions for a new vocalist, but ultimately decided that the best decision was for Christian to step up to vocals. El Niño, recently having changed their name because it was already being used by another band, then released another demo EP in 2000, the first that was readily available to the public, and they signed with Roadrunner Records shortly thereafter.

They released their debut album, Revolution Revolución, on September 18, 2001. In support of the album's release, the band was part of the Ozzfest and Jägermeister tours in 2002. The album's single, "What Comes Around," also received significant airplay on MTV2 in late 2001. In early 2003, right before Ill Niño was set to record the follow-up to Revolution Revolución, guitarist Marc Rizzo and percussionist Roger Vasquez left the band, due to personal conflicts and the desire to pursue different projects. Rizzo stayed aboard long enough to record the guitars for the new album, and they got percussionist Danny Couto to replace Roger Vasquez for the recording. Shortly before the release of Confession, the band hired Ahrue Luster, formerly of Machine Head, to fill the vacant guitar spot.

Ill Niño's follow-up effort, Confession, was released on September 30, 2003. The album debuted at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 charts.[1] The lead single, "How Can I Live," featured on the Freddy vs. Jason soundtrack, and was subsequently their first single to break into the Billboard charts, peaking at No. 26 on the mainstream rock charts. The album had sold more than 110,000 copies in the US within its first five months of release and is considered by some to be Ill Niño's best album so far.[2]

The band's third effort, One Nation Underground, was released on September 27, 2005. The album debuted at No. 101 on the Billboard 200 charts[3], and struggled to sell as well as its predecessor Confession. The band announced they had parted ways with Roadrunner Records on July 15, 2006.[4]

Nine days later, it was announced that Ill Niño had signed new deal with the recently formed Cement Shoes Records. Drummer Dave Chavarri stated that their split from Roadrunner was "amicable" but felt that they weren't getting the proper attention and support from Roadrunner they had received on their past two releases.[5] Somewhere in this time period, for reasons unknown, the band parted ways with guitarist Jardel Paisante, and replaced him with Diego Verduzco.

Roadrunner Records released The Best of Ill Niño on September 29, 2006. The album features 13 tracks from their three Roadrunner releases. However, it was only issued in the US.

As a lead-up to their Cement Shoes debut, the band released the five-track EP The Under Cover Sessions on November 7, 2006. Three cover versions were recorded, which included Faith No More's "Zombie Eaters," Nirvana's "Territorial Pissings," and Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain." Two new tracks, "Arrastra" and "Reservation for Two," were also included. 1,300 copies were sold in its first week of release.[6]

The band's fourth full-length album, Enigma, was due for release on October 9, 2007, but was pushed back several times, eventually being released on March 11, 2008.[7]

They have toured Europe, Eastern Europe, America and South America in support of their fourth studio album Enigma and in January 2009 parted ways with the record label Cement Shoes Records. During the band's downtime, Dave Chavarri has been running his management company C.I.A. Management (who also manages Ill Nino), and producing records for signed bands Exilia, and May The Silence Fail. Cristian Machado and Laz Pina have also been busy producing artists such as singer-songwriter, Darren Fisher (darrenfishermusic.com), in their New Jersey production studio, Sound Wars Studios. Ahrue Luster is also producing artists with his production company, Illustrious Productions, in Colorado, whereas Diego Verduzco has been busy running his tattoo shop in California called, Artifact Tattoo.

In March 2010 the band announced that they had inked a deal with Victory Records, would be in the studio in April, and that the album is due out Fall 2010. On June 2nd, 2010, Ill Niño released a brand new track, Scarred (My Prison), from their currently untitled album. [8]


[edit] Members

* Cristian Machado – lead vocals (2000-Present), bass guitars (1998-2000)
* Diego Verduzco – rhythm guitars (2006-Present)
* Ahrue Luster – lead guitars (2003-Present)
* Lazaro Pina – bass guitars (2000-Present)
* Dave Chavarri – drums (1998-Present)
* Daniel Couto – percussion (2003-Present)

[edit] Former

* Jorge Rosado – vocals (1998-2000)
* Marc Rizzo – lead guitars (1998-2003)
* Roger Vasquez – percussion (2000-2003)
* Jardel Martins Paisante – rhythm guitars (1999-2006)
* Daniel Gomez - rhythm guitars (1998-1999)

[edit] Guests

* DJ Pookie – keyboards/turntables/electronics on self-titled EP
* Omar Clavijo – keyboards/turntables/electronics (For all studio recordings after self-titled) was official/touring member from Summer 2003 until Spring 2004
* Max Illidge – vocals on "Have You Ever Felt?"
* Chino Moreno - vocals on "Zombie Eaters" (Faith no More cover)
* Mikey Doling – guitar on "Two (Vaya Con Dios)"
* Jamey Jasta – vocals on "Turns to Gray"

[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
Album information
Revolution Revolución

* Released: September 18, 2001 (U.S.)
* Label: Roadrunner Records
* Chart Positions: 28 (Heatseekers)
* US Sales: 300,000 (approx)
* Singles: God Save Us, What Comes Around, Unreal

Confession

* Released: September 30, 2003 (U.S.)
* Label: Roadrunner Records
* Chart Positions: 37 (Billboard 200)
* US Sales: 500,000 (approx)
* Singles: How Can I Live, This Time's for Real, Cleansing

One Nation Underground

* Released: September 27, 2005 (U.S.)
* Label: Roadrunner Records
* Chart Positions: 101 (Billboard 200)
* US Sales: 100,000 (approx)
* Singles: What You Deserve, This Is War

Enigma

* Released: March 11, 2008 (U.S.)
* Label: Cement Shoes Records
* Chart Positions: 145 (Billboard 200)
* US Sales: -
* Singles: The Alibi Of Tyrants, Me Gusta La Soledad

Dead New World[9]

* Released: Fall 2010 (U.S.)
* Label: Victory Records
* Chart Positions: -
* US Sales: -
* Singles: -

[edit] Other releases

* Ill Niño EP (2000)
* The Best of Ill Niño (2006)
* The Under Cover Sessions EP (2006)
* Demo Sessions (2008)

[edit] Singles
Year Song US Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock U.S. Mainstream Rock UK Singles Chart Album
2001 "God Save Us" - - - - Revolution Revolución
2002 "What Comes Around" - - 28 81 Revolution Revolución
2002 "Unreal" - - - 126 Revolution Revolución
2003 "How Can I Live" - - 26 - Confession
2004 "This Time's For Real" - - 36 - Confession
2005 "Cleansing" - - - - Confession
2005 "What You Deserve" - - 33 - One Nation Underground
2006 "This Is War" - - - - One Nation Underground
2007 "Alibi of Tyrants" - - - - Enigma
2008 "Me Gusta la Soledad" - - - - Enigma
[edit] DVD
DVD information
Live from the Eye of the Storm

* Released: November 23, 2004 (U.S.)
* Label: Roadrunner
* Number of discs: 1
* Format: Color, Dolby, Live, NTSC
* Region: Different versions
* Review: -