Gonzales (also known as
Chilly Gonzales) is an MC-meets-keyboarding-producer-meets-singer-extraordinaire. At a young age,
Gonzales was introduced to the piano by his parents and overachieving brother. Using the instrument as an avenue of self-expression, he quickly advanced into the production realm. Through his Hollywood-based older brother,
Gonzales wrote music for soundtracks under various aliases.
Though born in Canada, the artist took up residence in Europe, mainly in Germany or France, just after signing to Kitty-Yo. Known for his often comical live shows complete with MCing,
Gonzales branched off into singing with Kitty-Yo labelmate
Peaches in 2000 for the single "Red Leather." His debut full-length, 2000's
Gonzales Uber Alles, was followed later that year by
The Entertainist. Touring and collaborating with
Peaches brought both artists more renown, with the press nicknaming the duo the Bonnie and Clyde of Prankster Rap.
Gonzales stepped back into the studio and recorded 2002's Presidential Suite, but moved from Berlin to Paris during 2003 and inaugurated a co-production relationship with
Renaud Letang (
Manu Chao). He was also instrumental in the production of Feist's award-winning
Let It Die, having toured with her and recorded songs from an early demo stage.
Gonzales and
Letang also recorded with French pop royalty, including
Jane Birkin (her 2004 duets album
Rendez-Vous) and
Charles Aznavour (sessions eventually canceled by
Aznavour), as well as
Christophe Willem.
When
Gonzales returned to his own career in 2005, he issued what was easily the most distinctive record of his career,
Solo Piano, which found him performing 16 themes (for left-hand accompaniment and right-hand melody) and asserting the influence of French impressionists
Erik Satie and
Maurice Ravel. In 2008, he released an album on Mercury titled
Soft Power, an album of assured piano-led pop that channeled the production gloss of '70s and '80s pop/rock.
Two years later, after piano battles with
Andrew W.K. and a stint with the German rap group
Puppetmastaz, and setting a Guinness world record for the longest solo piano performance in history (27 hours), he recorded
Ivory Tower, the soundtrack to a film he co-wrote with Céline Sciamma, directed by
Puppetmastaz's Adam Traynor. The film included appearances by
Gonzales,
Peaches, Feist, and
Tiga (the latter of whom played
Gonzales' brother in the film).
Gonzales has also popped up on several albums by
Jamie Lidell. A second volume of solo piano, appropriately titled
Solo Piano II, followed in 2012. More piano material arrived in 2014, in the form of Re-Introduction Etudes, an album and book of basic piano instruction designed for novice players who gave piano up and were looking to return to the instrument. In 2015,
Gonzales released
Chambers, an album recorded in tandem with the Kaiser Quartett that took the melodic structures of contemporary pop and translated them to the style of chamber music. ~ Diana Potts