Zechs Marquise formed in El Paso, Texas during the spring of 2003 when brothers Marfred and Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez came together with childhood friends Matthew Wilkson and Marcos Smith. The group soon named itself after a popular Japanese anime character and hit the studio to record its first album during the late summer months of 2004. That studio effort was later scrapped and in June 2006 the band instead released 34:26, a live improv set that showed its great range of talents and influences. By fall of 2006, Zechs was touring the west coast consistently, sharing the stage with such eclectic acts as Daedelus, Busdriver, The Album Leaf, (DJ) Nobody, Daddy Kev, The Gaslamp Killer, and Totimoshi. July 2007 saw the band return to the recording studio. Having learned from the difficulties of their first attempt, the quintet decided to keep all of the recording in house, purchasing a mixing board, microphones, and Pro Tools in order to track all of the recordings themselves. After a few days in their studios, dubbed Castle Greyskull and El Morro, the members realized they had enough material for a full length album. The record, Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare, was completed in February 2008. Zechs Marquise then spent time on the road auspiciously, touring with Free Moral Agents & Blank Blue. In March 2009, the band made its first adventure overseas to Europe, with Marcel performing double duty playing in both Zechs Marquise who were opening for the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group of which he is also a player. During their Overseas tour, Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare was released by RLP/ Willie Anderson on CD as well as the first pressing of the album on vinyl. In May 2009 Zechs Marquise signed with Cathy Pellow at Sargent House for management. Keeping it in the family as Pellow also manages and runs the Rodriguez Lopez Productions Label.
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