Defender is the brainchild of childhood friends Jorge Ledezma (guitars, keyboards) and Gabi Meszaros (bass, keyboards) who began making home recordings and sound collages in the early 90's. From the beginning Jorge found himself in the role of producer/engineer, often inviting various friends and acquaintances to sit in on the sessions.

In late 1999 Defender was completed by the addition of Angel Ledezma (Jorge's older brother) on drums. Angel (formerly of legendary Chicago punk rockers The Vindictives) is an attention commanding drummer, whose drum stylings could be compared to Can's Jaki Liebezit - only more manic and heavy (Animal meets Keith Moon may be more like it). The trio began playing shows in their hometown of Chicago and gaining a reputation for their cathartic live performances. Defender's tension-laden live shows are often made up of what the band calls "instant compositions" - a completely instinctive set of improvised music. The technique was at first hit and miss, but always worth watching. The free-form nature of their live set gave the band con€dence and allowed the members to develop a chemistry bordering on telepathy, resulting in shows with such notables as The Faint, The Rapture, Emperor Penguin, We Ragazzi, and 90 Day Men.

Defender's debut release Hemispheres, a split 12" with New Zealand's Meterman, features two tracks that depict the band's instrumental rock anthem spirit. Recorded at Chicago's Clava Studios alongside a dozen others that will make up their highly anticipated debut full-length, these introduction pieces serve as a glimpse of the "Big D" vision: powerful kraut-rock peppered with hum-along pop melodies. In "Please and Thank You" multi-instrumentalist Jorge Ledezma lays down an insistent guitar driven groove reminiscent of Neu!'s Hallogallo. Drummer Angel Ledezma and bassist Gabi Meszaros provide a solid lock groove rhythm section, while vintage analog keyboards provide counter melody and texture to the mix. "Aim High" is an ambitious keyboard-layered epic which ends in a lovely crescendo of reverb and delay drenched synths.

The release of Hemispheres will be celebrated with a show at Chicago's Fireside Bowl (Feb. 22nd 2003), with special guest Damo Suzuki (Can) providing improvised vocals over the Big D's epic and improvised rawkus.

Plans for Defender's as-of-yet untitled forthcoming rock album masterpiece (recorded in stages at a variety of Chicago studios including Engine, Clava and Soma) include orchestral arrangements from Sweden's elite Tambourine Studios (The Cardigans, Tom Jones), and guest musician spots from Chicago's Isotope 217, The Timeout Drawer, The National Trust, La Makita Soma, Mid-States and American Football. Keep these youngsters on the radar.