Fitness Forever

Fitness Forever's effervescent, fitness-themed indie pop fit right in with Elefant Records' roster in the early 2000s, which at that time boasted a number of comparably giddy, fun-loving bands including La Casa Azul and Cola Jet Set. Paster, "Big Tony" Fresa, Luigi Scialdone, and Carlos Valderrama teamed up to form the group in 2006. With the exception of Paster, who made her debut as a vocalist with Fitness Forever, all the members of the band were in the midst of working on other projects at the time; Fresa was involved with Kantango and Fresa Trio, Valderrama belonged to a handful of bands, including the Preachers and Valderrama 5, and Scialdone was working with groups like Inigo and Marzouk. Fitness Forever was initially signed to EMI; the group's debut single, "Mondo Fitness," was released in 2007. Fitness Forever's relationship with EMI wasn't exactly harmonious, and they opted to sign with Elefant Records the following year. The band's debut full-length, Personal Train, was released in 2009. After a long break, the band returned in 2013 with its second album, the soft rock and Brazilian pop-inspired Cosmos. Taking their time in the studio as usual, it was another four years until the next album. Arriving in 2017, Tonight was heavily inspired by disco, especially the sounds of Italo disco, and featured guest appearances from Vincent Mougel of Kidsaredead, Anna Jean of Juniore, and Paulita Demaíz, who was the original vocalist for Papa Topo. Just in case anyone might doubt their devotion to re-creating the classic sounds of disco, the album was mixed by Antoine "Chab" Chabert, who won a Grammy for his work on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories. ~ Tim Sendra