El Radio Fantastique

EL Radio Fantastique comprises a unique menagerie of sights, sounds and musical styles. Indeed, the vibration emitted from this group defies all genres as much as an archaic knob would turn on an antique radio.  EL Radio Fantastique is known to put on bewitching and alluring shows with steamy theatricality.   Led by its creator, the charismatic singer, songwriter, dumpster diver and one-time gravedigger Giovanni DiMorente, EL Radio... More

EL Radio Fantastique comprises a unique menagerie of sights, sounds and musical styles. Indeed, the vibration emitted from this group defies all genres as much as an archaic knob would turn on an antique radio.  EL Radio Fantastique is known to put on bewitching and alluring shows with steamy theatricality.   Led by its creator, the charismatic singer, songwriter, dumpster diver and one-time gravedigger Giovanni DiMorente, EL Radio Fantastique is a collection of talented and electrifying musician-performers from the small farming community of Point Reyes Station, California. "El Radio Fantastique started from a personal family narrative handed down to me and told with great conviction by my great uncles and great grandfather” DiMorente says. “The mere re-telling of their first-hand experiences with it would put them in great psychological turmoil.” Their accounts chronicled the chaos brought about by an old found radio that reportedly possessed and haunted its listeners.  “As if through some auditory telekinesis, this radio would play the most beautiful music from the past, present and future, yet over time would slowly and methodically drive the listener mad.”  Years later, upon serving as pallbearer for these relatives’ funerals, the young DiMorente took to frequent isolation in the woods.  A lonely teenager having a predisposition for daytime hallucinations and heavily influenced by a 40’s crooner father and punk rock, he started to feel the sinister coaxing of faint transmissions bleeding through from his dream world. “In later years, the radio legend became much more benevolent and controllable.  When I finally got to the point where I could take the reins of the story and direct it, I started a band based on the tale. Di Morente is no stranger to the spotlight. As a member of the pop duo Times Two in the late 1980's he and his partner made a fairly standard pact with the Devil. In return for sacrificing their musical standards and artistic control, they scored a top 40 Billboard hit, made an appearance on American Bandstand with Dick Clark, and even were featured in the teenybopper staple magazine Tiger Beat. El Radio Fantastique represents musical redemption for Di Morente, a way to wash away his musical sins of the past... and he is relishing the opportunity to rise again, this time with his musical integrity fully intact. The overarching musical influences for the group derive from DiMorente’s coveted record collection scavenged from abandoned tenements in New Orleans and a lifetime of dumpsters.  EL Radio Fantastique comprises a unique menagerie of sights, sounds and musical styles. Indeed, the vibration emitted from this group defies all genres as much as an archaic knob would turn on an antique radio.  EL Radio Fantastique is known to put on bewitching and alluring shows with steamy theatricality.  Consistent with DiMorente"s folklore, witnesses have remarked that the band’s players appear to be charmed and somewhat possessed, inspiring a visceral and enchanted concert experience. Members: Giovanni DiMorente: Vocals, Flute, Guitar, Sax, Theremin,PercussionColin Schlitt: Bass, Vocals, GuitarGene Fisher: DrumsRobin Livingston: Piano, Vocals, Percussion, GuitarPatrick Byers: Baritone sax,Flute, Guitar, VocalsLiz Trombone: Trombone, Flugelhorn, PercussionEmily Squirmbot Thundermouse Haltom: Violin, Vocals, Percussion Less