Los Empresarios and Desaparecidos

Deriving from the Spanish for “disappeared ones”, in relation to people detained by South American military juntas and never seen again, Desaparecidos earliest incarnation lasted for only a year. Formed in 2001, the band’s popularity grew substantially in a short amount of time with the release of two EPs “The Happiest Place on Earth” and “What’s New For All” both in 2001. In support of the EPs Desaparecidos toured alongside Jimmy Eat World and The Promise Ring, and made an appearance on MTV’s “You Hear it First”.

The band’s full-length debut “Read Music/Speak Spanish” was released in 2002 on Saddle Creek Records and earned acclaim from the musical press and was popular among fans. Noted for its emo-garage-thrash delivery, after the release the group disbanded as Oberst was unable to dedicate much of his time to the project with the unexpected success of Bright Eyes. Drummer Matt Baum went on to drum for The ’89 Cubs and Race for Title, keyboardist Ian McElroy plays under the moniker Rig 1, bassist Landon Hedges performs with Little Brazil and Denver Dalley is a member of Statistics and Intramural.

Desaparecidos returned eight years later for a show at the Concert for Equality in Omaha in 2010. Two years later the band announced they would officially reunite and played the years Omaha MAHA festival, and a subsequent summer tour. Desaparecidos released two new singles in 2012 “MariKKKopa” and “Backsell”, which continued the band’s theme of spreading a socially-conscious message dealing with civil rights abuses against undocumented immigrants. A year later the songs “Anonymous” and “The Left is Right” in response to the prominent Anonymous hacker group and Occupy movements became available to stream through Rolling Stone. Towards the tail-end of 2013 Desaparecidos released the singles “Te Amo Camila Vallejo” and “The Underground Man”, and signed with Epitaph Records in early 2015.