allegra gellar

allegra gellar really started in a car. the band name was borrowed from a movie about the world’s greatest game designer, reality, and trust. a few songs were written before the road trip, but allegra gellar actualized during a two-week road trip from atlanta to los angeles.

in september 2003, jeremy and denver arrived in los angeles, sleeping on couches and floors until their possessions finally arrived weeks later. once reunited with beds and instruments, they set up a studio in their new silverlake living room. they immediately began recording “the make-up artist,” a full-length debut about an emotionally destructive breakup and the cross country move.

during the recording, george visited from portland and participated. eventually, he moved to los angeles and would have a breakup of his own. in the summer of 2004, “the make-up artist” was finished. jeremy met olive and was no longer heartbroken. george slept on a couch, and denver decided to leave. he spent the next two and a half years immersed in photography and living just about anywhere in los angeles except silverlake.

in late 2004, jeremy and george recorded “where i’ve been has faded,” a second full- length built around acoustic guitars and electronic beats. “faded” sounded less like a full band effort than “make-up,” in an attempt to move away from a sound that could not be achieved without denver’s bass and 4 string guitars. upon completion of the second record, another friend, pez, moved to los angeles from new york and picked up the bass.

throughout 2005, allegra gellar was a three piece with either a laptop or a sampler acting as the drummer. the band recorded another single, “quicksand,” which returned to a more shoegaze-rock sound and then an acoustic ep, “there is a fine line between us.” late in the year, a west coast tour occurred which led to some pondering over the future of the band. jeremy and george were unclear if they should focus on rock songs (which los angeles clubs and fans react better to), glitchy electronics (which they tended to be attracted to but weren’t always enjoyable to play live), or stick closely to the acoustic core of their songwriting. with no clear answer or direction, 2006 found allegra gellar starting the year by taking a break.

after a couple months off, jeremy decided that allegra gellar should start recording a new record. this time they didn’t worry about how to translate the songs into a live show. jeremy returned to the sounds and moods of the music he had been both listening to and writing his entire life. gone were the attempts to sound like anything specific, not rock, not electronic, nor acoustic. jeremy and george spent nearly a year recording the collection of beautiful, thoughtful, ethereal songs that would become “cassette.” they used every tool in the studio with deliberate minimalism and had friends stop by to help create a lush texture with more depth, space, and intrigue than any allegra gellar project to date. “cassette” is both the completion of a trilogy for allegra gellar, tying up the loose ends of the previous two records, and a new beginning.

excited by the idea that they had finally created the definitive allegra gellar record, jeremy and george have decided to head back to the live stage. no longer feeling that being chained to a laptop the entire set would be fun, they have recruited olive to play drums. with pez busy playing in other projects started during allegra gellar’s 2006 hiatus, denver was contacted and asked to return to the fold. feeling like a unified family, this new, complete allegra gellar is turning the songs jeremy and george burned to cd into a live experience more inspired by “cassette” than an exact re-creation of the record.