We are 100% completely indestructible and cannot be beaten, either on the field or in court! Roger is positive and is about everyone – you too are a bad mothafonker and part of Roger’s trip whether you like it or not
We are 100% completely indestructible and cannot be beaten, either on the field or in court! Roger is positive and is about everyone – you too are a bad mothafonker and part of Roger’s trip whether you like it or not
This month we are very fucking priviledged to talk to the craziest, most empathic, most spiritially supercharged, wigged out band on this Earth. Incendiary love Roger and their new album This is The Shit soo much, we’ve all ended up talking like them. All day.
Richard Foster asked Roger himself just what was going on…
IN: The Kingdom of Roger present themselves as being a very specialist hand picked unit, each with a defined role. Can you tell us why you felt it was important to promote your image and music in the way you have?
R: The band is called Røger! The Kingdom is the home of Røger..,yes indeed. This, in terms that relate to American sports fans is like having Dr J, Joe Namath, Babe Ruth and OJ (in recent years) all on your team, along with Mark Spitz in case you have to get your feet wet. Second, as if this was not enough, we have Astley Le Jasper, The Docktor, J Edgar (sometimes), Leonard matrix, Special Needs, Sindy X, etc etc etc…all of whom are the musical equivalent of the six million dollar man with extra funk superpowers and highly developed sexy lady equivalents. We are 100% completely indestructible and cannot be beaten, either on the field or in court! Roger is positive and is about everyone – you too are a bad mothafonker and part of Rogers trip whether you like it or not!
IN: "This is the Shit" (and may I take the opportunity to kneel in front of its genius, seriously!), packs one hell of a socio-political punch. You go for both the throat and the tickling stick, don’t you?
R: Thanks – we’re always blown away when people dig it! We are not playing games. This is Serious …The Destroyer is going DOWN!
IN: It must be really inspiring being on Julian Cope’s Head Heritage label
R: Very. There’s much, much, much, fondness and that which is due to someone so who has been very important to me, although I’ve been wondering who my vastly inferior Tommy Thayer-like replacement will be in The Stairway To Heavens. Buy 2 copies of his new book, The Megalithic European – as it will be completely amazing. And then petition him to oust Tommy Thayer using the pages of one of them as notepaper, and ask him where the July album of the month Roger review is while you’re at it.
IN: You obviously feel opposed to the, ahem, (sorry about this) "automaton" nature of modern living. With this in mind, do you consider yourselves inspired by any past epochs, or are you trying to keep to a modern day approach in all that you do?
R: You have to remember that everyone has amazing ideas, it’s just that not everyone carries these ideas through to the end, so it’s important to try to break out of the box people try to put you in, and also to stand up for what you believe in. It’s not people’s fault they don’t believe they are free..For the second part of your question, the new Roger LP is about some serious time travel and is historical funk trip, which we think should be added to the national school curriculum! There’s everything from the formation of the Roger Band in the year 3000, as in Bring The Badd Boy Bass, to discourse on the Pilgrim fathers in Plymouth Ho, to the Spanish inquisition from a FONK perspective in Torture.
IN: I think what is also evident is that you really love music, quite unashamedly. Which makes you pretty unique, and very much in contrast to the po-faced stuff that’s around. Is that fair comment or are we being contentious?
R: Yeah, we are all INSANE about music, and there’s so much amazing music out there to be inspired by and drive you over the edge. Now, about the po-faced thing..to me it actually seems like there’s been an upsurgence in humour in music, but you just have to be careful which side of the joke you’re on if there’s even one intended!
IN: How the hell do you create stuff in the studio? It must be a gas.
R: Oh, it’s total craziness. I go off for a while and work up what I call Fonk Fuel as the raw elements of the track, the Iron, the Krypton, the Unobtainium as it were….Astley and I will then have hour long vaguely conceptual rants down the phone at each other about what the tracks are gonna be like, usually largely consisting of shouting "yeah! yeah! yeah!" at each other! Lastly, the band convenes and we have 2 or 3 day sessions in full Roger stage gear under extreme circumstances, recording as fast and fonkily as possible.. Sometimes we listen back a couple of days later and don’t even remember writing or recording a song!
IN: Turning aside from music, are there any other things you draw strength from creatively?
R: I love nature and especially the mountains and snow. Spending some time there recharges me…
IN: What’s all this about a guitar competition atop the sacred Silbury hill?
R: I think people should go over to the Roger website at www.kingdomofroger.com check out the news section, and read about it for themselves!
IN: Okay I’ll leave you with a plea; when, oh when are we seeing the live Roger experience in Holland?
R: Amsterdam is one of the few places on planet earth we’d loove to make a base for The Rogership. The last visit was very messy…I vaguely recall something about Bourbon Street, a deers head, Drambuie and Prince covers. Get us a promoter with balls, and we’ll be there! Thanks so much for talkin’ to us!