Penguin Prison
American musician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Penguin Prison (born 1983) is an electropop project composed solely of New York City singer, musician, producer and remixer Chris Glover.[1] His stage name comes from a freestyle rap he created with his friend about George W. Bush when they started saying "He's a penguin vision, he went to the penguin prison, and assumed a penguin position".[2] Penguin Prison is known a solo act, but his original songs are often created with the help of other musicians.[3][4] He has a band for live shows and tours consisting of Andrew Pertes, David Gross, Ben Grubin (of the band Hockey), and formerly Ernesto Karolys.[5]
Penguin Prison | |
|---|---|
Penguin Prison in October 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Synthpop, dance-pop, indietronica, Disco |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Label | Downtown |
| Members |
|
| Past members |
|
| Website | penguinprison |
Life and career
Early life
Chris Glover was born in 1983 and grew up in New York City's Upper East Side. His early musical influences came mostly from his mother's love of country music[citation needed]. Glover's favorite artists growing up were Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Hank Williams.[citation needed] Glover showed an interest in performing music at an early age when he joined his school's gospel choir at age 10, singing alongside future R&B artist Alicia Keys.[1] While a teen, he performed at CBGB's with his punk band The Museum[citation needed].
1999-2008: Career beginnings and first album
He attended Bard College, where he formed a popular "crazy, fake boy band" called Smartest People At Bard, which he describes as "a cross between Backstreet Boys and Beastie Boys".[1][6] He was signed to Interscope in 2005 under his birth name in quotes, and recorded an unreleased pop-rap album called Hell Isn't Even That Funny[7]. The album was promoted with the single "Stand On Your Seat" (2005).[7][8] The album went unreleased because "[The record label] didn't really seem to know what to do with it so I just waited... and then finally said I'm gonna just do something else... and I started doing Penguin Prison shortly after that.".[2]
2009-2014: Penguin Prison
As Penguin Prison, he started remixing with the Jamiroquai song "White Knuckle Ride", the Faithless song "Feel Me", the Goldfrapp song "Rocket", and the Marina and the Diamonds song "I Am Not a Robot". These remixes, among others, led into the release of his self titled album Penguin Prison on October 11, 2011 through Downtown Records to positive reviews.[9] After this, he continued remixing songs, and created two songs for the soundtrack of the web series "Dirty Work".[10]
2014-2016: Lost In New York
In 2014, Glover collaborated with other artists such as RAC and Viceroy, and made covers of "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie and "Hang On to Your Love" by Sade.[11][12] On May 5, 2015 he released his sophomore album "Lost In New York".
2017-Present: Turn It Up EP and singles
Glover continued making remixes, and released the Turn It Up EP on February 9, 2018.[13] On May 10, 2019, he released "The Heat".[14] On October 9, 2020, he released "Better",[15] a song about the COVID-19 pandemic. Glover stated on his Instagram "This has been a very difficult year for a lot of people - a global pandemic, social injustice, climate change and countless other troubling developments. I wanted to make a song about rising above it all".[16] On February 12, 2021, he released "All Your Love".[17] He explained the meaning of the song on his Instagram, saying "This song is my version of a ballad and a dedication to my wife - an acknowledgement put into record. The past year has brought on a lot of feelings for everyone. For me, a renewed sense of gratitude for the people closest to me."[18] On February 23, 2024, he released a remix of "The Worst" by The Sometimes Island.[19]
Discography
With Smartest People at Bard
| Title | Details | Track Listing |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome To The CD[20] |
|
List
|
| ...Or Both[21] |
|
List
|
As "Chris Glover"
As Penguin Prison
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Penguin Prison[25] |
|
| Lost In New York[26] |
|
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Golden Train Remixes[27] |
|
| Multi-Millionaire Remixes[28] |
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| Fair Warning Remixes[29] |
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| Don't Fuck With My Money Remixes[30] |
|
| Calling Out Remixes[31] |
|
| Turn It Up[13] |
|
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Calling Out |
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| Never Gets Old |
|
| The Heat[14] |
|
| Better[15] |
|
| All Your Love[17] |
|
| Title | Year | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| I Am Not A Robot[32] | 2009 | Marina and the Diamonds |
| Hurtful[33] | Erik Hassle | |
| Rocket[34] | 2010 | Goldfrapp |
| Fingers of Steel[35] | Sébastien Tellier | |
| Resurrection[36] | The Temper Trap | |
| Little Secrets[37] | Passion Pit | |
| White Knuckle Ride[38] | Jamiroquai | |
| Get Outta My Way[39] | Kylie Minogue | |
| Zombie[40] | Natalia Kills | |
| Feel Me[41] | Faithless | |
| Settle Down[42] | Kimbra | |
| Remedy[43] | 2011 | Vinnie Who |
| Talk Talk Talk[44] | Darren Hayes | |
| Little White Doves[45] | Dirty Vegas | |
| Starry Eyed[46] | Ellie Goulding | |
| True Romance[47] | Golden Silvers | |
| Bang Bang[48] | Mani | |
| It's Time[49] | 2012 | Imagine Dragons |
| Paddling Out[50] | Miike Snow | |
| Blue Velvet[51] | Lana Del Rey | |
| She Gets Down On Her Knees[52] | Yoko Ono | |
| Blue Jeans[53] | Lana Del Rey | |
| My Mind[54] | 2013 | Hockey |
| Change[55] | Churchill | |
| Too Young[56] | Ghost Beach | |
| Dark Again[57] | Gold Fields | |
| Love Somebody[58] | Maroon 5 | |
| Stars[59] | Youngblood Hawke | |
| Weekend[60] | 2014 | Verite |
| Blast[61] | 2015 | Allan Kingdom |
| Molecules[62] | Atlas Genius | |
| Legs[63] | Chuck Inglish | |
| Love Me Badder[64] | Elliphant | |
| Head Up High[65] | Oh Land | |
| Too Much To Handle[66] | Great Good Fine Ok | |
| Us[67] | 2016 | Kaskade & CID |
| Bridges[68] | Broods | |
| I Wish[69] | The Knocks | |
| I Am My Only Love[70] | Baby Raptors | |
| Big Girls Cry[71] | Sia | |
| As Long As I Can See[72] | 2017 | Broke Royals |
| Junkie[73] | Freedom Fry | |
| Waiting On The Summer[74] | VHS Collection | |
| Cellophane[75] | 2018 | Soren Bryce |
| Electric Touch[76] | 2019 | A R I Z O N A |
| Electric[77] | CLARA-NOVA | |
| Stripes + Squares[78] | Julietta | |
| Down Low[79] | Lyrah | |
| So Many Ways[80] | Monogem | |
| Preach[81] | 2020 | Saint Motel |
| Together Lonely[82] | Tim Atlas | |
| The World We Were Born Into No Longer Exists[83] | 2021 | Dotlights |
| I'm Alright[84] | LEADR | |
| Aslan[85] | 2022 | Kyle McEvoy & Sunshine Recorder |
| The Worst[86] | 2024 | The Sometimes Island |
