press kit
URSULA 1000 is the alter ego of Brooklyn, New York based producer/DJ/multi-instrumentalist Alex Gimeno. His 7 albums and mix sessions have taken you on a time machine ride of retro tinged exotic grooves and futuristic electronic disco funk fusions. Altering the past for a better tomorrow.
Originally signed to Thievery Corporation’s Eighteenth Street Lounge (ESL) label, Ursula launched his own boutique label Insect Queen Music to house his entire back catalog and future adventures.
His collaborations with Fred Schneider of The B-52s, Isabelle Antena, Dr.Luke, Kool Kojak, Lady Bunny, Puddles Pity Party, Shag, Cristina/Ze Records and Los Amigos Invisibles to name a few brought forth sheer magic on his first seven albums, The Now Sound of Ursula 1000, Kinda’ Kinky, Here Comes Tomorrow, Mystics, Mondo Beyondo, Voyeur and Galleria (which hit the #1 spot in the NACC Electronic Charts!). All Systems Are Go Go and Ursadelica showed the world his dj and taste making skills and Undressed had it all re-imagined by electronica’s finest like Deekline and Ladytron.
He’s remixed for the likes of Quincy Jones, Felix Da Housecat, The Faint, Fort Knox Five to a slew of television remodels for themes to Sesame Street, The Powerpuff Girls, The Incredibles and Yo Gabba Gabba. His songs have been used in TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Sex And The City, How I Met Your Mother, Bored To Death, Entourage, So You Think You Can Dance, the Emmy nominated documentary NY77:The Coolest Year In Hell, America’s Funniest Videos and films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Blue Crush and Pink Panther plus ad campaigns for Adidas, Grand Marnier, Skyy Vodka, Samsung, AT&T, Kelloggs and more. Some of his music has been used in video games like Destroy All Humans!, NBA 2K9 and Tap Tap Revenge. Ursula’s also created sound design/runway music for Issey Miyake, Desigual, Prada, Miu Miu, Hugo Boss, Miss Sixty, H&M and Christian Dior. The 2018 Olympics in Korea used his song Kaboom!
You can find him traveling the world (30+ countries clocked and counting!) performing at Fabric, Shambhala Music Festival, Corona Sunsets, Razzmatazz, Summer Stage, The Big Chill, Glastonbury, Joshua Tree Festival and Good Vibrations sharing the stage with the likes of Moby, Beastie Boys, Jazzanova and Snoop Dogg.
Ursula has created 3 side projects: the Halloween themed The Fangs with Fred Schneider, the sexy nu disco house sounds of Quetin Quatro and the ambient New Age space music project called Pretty Pretty Pegasus! He’s also dipped his toes into the soundtrack world creating the sound scape for Minor Accident Of War, the Award-winning animated short based on Academy Award-winning writer Edward Field’s WWII poem of the same name.
2019 marked the 20th anniversary since Ursula’s debut recording. That called for a celebration! Not a retrospective of familiar hits, but a fresh spin on the fundamentals; that was the spirit of Esoterique, his 8th album. Think “Ursula 1000 at his best,” rather than The Best of Ursula 1000. Think a lifetime of globetrotting grooves distilled into 56 minutes of bliss. Or don’t think about it at all. Just kick up your heels, expand your mind, and join the party. Featuring special guest stars Fred Schneider of The B-52s, Isabelle Antena, Loredana Grimaudo of Swingrowers, Qypthone, The Gentle People and remixes by Jazzanova and Fantastic Plastic Machine!
After the world hit the pause button on 2020, we are all starting to see the light again in 2021, and Ursula 1000 had a new batch of music to unleash. His Single Of The Month Club series put out 5 new songs ranging from 60’s groove to Acid House to Synthwave!
Let’s set our time machine back 20 years to 2002. Ursula started working on his sophomore album after the success of his debut, The Now Sound of Ursula 1000. His steady diet of 90’s lounge revivalism, UK Big Beat, German Club Pop, European Library Music, spy soundtracks and Japanese Shibuya-kei started to sharpen his skills in producing his own take on this melting pot of retro grooves and futuristic electronic beats. This vision would be more fully realized for this new album. He had an idea of a travelogue collection of songs, every track like a new stamp on your passport. For the opener, he originally had iconic model Verushka in mind for vocals. Locking her in became elusive and so he had a re-think. Swinging 60’s London. Groovy mod scenery. He needed a fun voice for this. Enter Rebecca Mader, who at the time was an up-and-coming model and actress, later to star in the hit series Lost and Once Upon a Time for ABC. A mutual friend connected them and she nailed the perfect cheeky, sex kitten delivery! Inspired by the 1966 film, Lord Love a Duck, featuring Tuesday Weld, where her character goes sweater shopping and runs through a laundry list of exotic color schemes, we riffed on that idea and made it our own kaleidoscopic palette. This song had it all…sitars, Hammond organ (performed beautifully by Brother Cleve of neo lounge act Combustible Edison), big beat drums and some acid house tweaks to make it into a nice retro/future cocktail. Originally released on Thievery Corporation’s 18th Street Lounge label and now on Ursula’s own Insect Queen Music imprint, this song would be called “Kinda’ Kinky” as would the album on which it was featured. Ursula was able to score world renowned contemporary artist Shag to design the cover in his distinctive space age bachelor pad style. For this 20th anniversary, Ursula decided to revisit this classic cut and give it a re-rinse, adding some tasty flavors of today but keeping its original kitschy vibe. For the flip, we have the one and only breakbeat legend A.Skillz transforming “Kinda’ Kinky” into a funky, disco house groove monster!
