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I
was born in East London, England the youngest of four children into
a musical and artistic family. I was born at home next to the piano
so it was kind of like a cab driver being born in a car or a director
in a cinema… My
big brother George taught me how to play 12 bar blues on the piano
and I taught myself the rest. I would listen to records and work out
how they did it note by note. I grew up musically with Frank Zappa
and Jimi Hendrix and through them I discovered jazz and funk and Herbie
Hancock. I started going to watch bands at local pubs and hanging around
with them after. They told me about electric pianos and with the help
of my father and a summer job I bought my first electric piano, a Hohner
Pianet. Sadly I didn’t have an amp and had to play it through
my parents clock radio !
I didn’t really enjoy school very much but the thought of getting a job
was even worse so I went to art school and at about the same time started to
get serious about being in bands. My first professional performance was with
crazy English pop legend Arthur Brown who rose to fame singing a song called ‘Fire’ and
setting light to his head on stage, luckily when I played with him he
had sobred up a quite a bit. After this first taste of the stage I decided
that this was the life for me. I was also sadly forced to choose between
art and music by my tutors; I chose music.
During the early years we would do anything musical that earned us money.
It just seemed incredible that anybody would pay us to play, we did quite
a bit of cabaret and backing band work in working mens’ clubs up and down England
and a couple of residencies in Europe. We would do the gig at night and spend
all day rehearsing our own music for pub gigs when we had nights off but we really
weren’t going anywhere. The band gradually fell apart and we went our separate
ways until a chance meeting with Boris Williams who’d been the drummer
in those early bands. He had made the "big time" and was playing
with the Thompson Twins, he told me they were looking for a new keyboard
player and a few months later I was on tour with them. I worked with
them from 83-85 when both Boris and I left , he went on to The Cure and
I joined the Psychedelic Furs. Looking back it was a pretty amazing time
the fact that we were both in major bands but sadly not playing together.
In the spring of 87 Boris called me on tour in Denmark with the Furs
and asked me if I would be into playing with The Cure for a tour of the
states. The chance of playing with Boris again was too good to pass up
so I said yes even though I didn’t really know anything about the
band. I was a member of The Cure form 1987 until 1990 when things got
pretty bad within the group and I left rejoining in 1995 for a further
10 years. I co wrote and performed on 4 albums, Disintegration, Wild
Mood Swings, Bloodflowers and The Cure.
For the last couple of years I was a member I was increasingly unhappy,
I felt I’d lost sight of where I started and the reasons why I got into music
in the first place. It seems the bigger the band the more removed you are from
the actual music. I began to agree less and less with the direction the band
was going in and the decisions being made. After our last major tour however
I started talking to a few young indie bands and about making music and goals
and expectations and I realised I hadn’t lost my love of music I just needed
to start making it for myself. I found out I was no longer in The Cure through
the internet but if I hadn’t been pushed I would have jumped….
During the last few months as a member of The Cure I started work on
a solo record inspired, composed and recorded entirely on a Moog synthesizer.
Definitely not a concept album more of a concept for an album concept,
it was a re-visiting of my early days of composing using limited. Consciously
un-compromised or commercial, it's a mainly instrumental ( Erin Lang
sings 3 songs ) journey through my musical influences and where I am
now. Finally, music that I am satisifed with and that satisfies me. "The Truth In Me" are
the 10 songs that say what I have been trying to say for a long time.
During the process of trying to release this album I was lucky enough to find
the one person who believed in it and was prepared to take a chance. Luckily
that same person, Kevin Wortis, had just started a record label, Great Society
Records with his partners at Worlds Fair in New York. After so many years of
being in this business to be involved at the very beginning with a new company
who are as excited about this music as I am is a real pleasure.
It has been a long story and I am not sure what the next chapter of the
story will be but I know it will involve music. It’s been a part of my whole
life and although I have other interests I’m never as happy as when I’m
making music.
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EMAIL
ME > ROGER@ROGERODONNELL.COM
MAIL
ME > PO BOX 19,
EX18 7WZ, UK
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