Santa Barbara-based songwriter and producer Ruben Zarate created the musical persona Dante Elephante in 2010, beginning as a surfy indie-rock project. After self-releasing his first EP, German Aquatics, Lollipop Records later released it on tape, and then Dante Elephante worked with Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado to produce the band’s debut album, Anglo-Saxon Summer, and again later on for the single “Call Me (On The Phone).”

Dante Elephante released his second album in 2018, Rare Attractions, which began his shift toward a more soulful sound, as he embraced horns, strings, and a layered production sound that set the tone for his music afterward. Rare Attractions led to appearances at SXSW, Treefort Festival, as well as supporting The Orwells, Summer Salt, and Real Estate. Around the same time, Zarate met Paul Cherry, with the two jazzy soul-pop artists hitting it off, leading to Cherry producing Dante Elephante’s third studio album, Mid-Century Modern Romance. Released by Born Losers in early 2021, the disco-soul record could also sound right out of 1979.

Across the last several years, Dante Elephante has performed at Lollapalooza and has his music praised by Consequence, American Songwriter, Brooklyn Vegan, KCRW, and more. Brooklyn Vegan said of his first album that he is “banging out surfy jams with big wave hooks,” while KCRW said of his more recent soulful sound, “Zarate's restless creative spirit led to another stylistic sea-change with their latest album, Mid-Century Modern Romance, which wraps his smart but heartfelt songwriting in gauzy disco fabrics.”

Dante Elephante has toured the entire US since 2016, supporting additional acts such as Japanese Breakfast, Rubblebucket, Awolnation, Cold War Kids, Hunny, Hot Freaks, No Vacation, and more. With several albums and tours under his belt, Zarate is currently working on his fourth studio album.

When Zarate isn’t in the studio or on the road, he has also been running the Dante Elephante podcast since 2020, having in-depth conversations with guests like Bob Nastanovich (Pavement), Chris Cohen, Tops, Video Age, Jerry Paper, Jonathan Rado (Foxygen), Sam France (Foxygen), Dent May, and more.

MGMT: colin@freshpaintmusic.com

Booking (North America): brandon@roamartists.com

Label: Born Losers