This is the first in a series of Moog Featured Artist profiles, which will highlight the work of musicians making innovative use of Moog gear.
Roger O'Donnell is a luminary in the world of music and we are very proud to have him as our first Moog Featured Artist. We recently asked Roger a few questions to find out more about his creative process.
Moog-Roger, you have been involved with some of the most influential bands of the 80’s and 90’s, including The Cure, The Thompson Twins, Berlin, and Psychedelic Furs. How have you seen your approach to music and gear change over the years?
Roger- My approach to gear hasn't changed. I still want everything, but I suppose now I'm lucky and have most everything. In the old days I would perhaps be more inventive. Maybe I have come full circle now, though, as most of what I do is with just one instrument...my Voyager.
My approach to music has definitely changed as everything does with age. I am more comfortable with what I can do, yet at the same time much less comfortable with doing things within my comfort zone. The only thing that really interests me in music is going forward and discovering, creating and doing things differently.
One of the biggest revelations to me on stage was that my instruments were my friends and when I stepped on stage and looked down at the pattern the keys made, I was no longer intimidated. I was there with old friends. It was a strange feeling, but very warming.
Moog-At what age did you start playing/performing music?
Roger- I think I probably started playing piano as soon as I could walk or stand...there was one at home. As I grew up, I was never very far away from a piano and whenever I am, I feel uncomfortable.
I started performing in my late teens, but my first real show was when I was 21 in Oxford with Arthur Brown, a quite eccentric English rock icon.
Moog-How do you use your Moog gear with other software programs? What software do you use?
Roger-Well I don't, not in any kind of syncing or controlling way. Since the day I realized the Voyager wasn't multi timbral I stopped using midi (hahahah). I use the librarian software for back ups and transferring my sounds to other instruments. The weird thing with that is they never ever sound the same on two different instruments and I love that.
I use Logic in the studio for recording and remixing and Ableton Live for the stage. The most important thing for me in software is that it is transparent and allows me to record my ideas easily, if the Voyager is my paint palette, then the software has to be the canvas and I need it to be clean and white and take the colours without changing them.
Moog-What Moog gear do you use?
Roger- My most important instrument is an Anniversary Edition Voyager which Amos and Cyril (of Moog Music) modified for me. It has red backlighting and the most incredible touch sensitivity and after touch. It transcends electronic. It is an organic acoustic instrument to me.
I have another Voyager which Moog custom painted powder blue for me which I use on stage, an LP (Little Phatty), which I am honoured to have been involved in the design process of. I own all the Moogerfooger pedals, an Etherwave Theremin....and in my vintage collection a Mini Moog Model D which has a midi retrofit, a Micro Moog which is the first Moog I ever owned. A Moog Source, a Memory Moog and a Moog 4 band Parametric Equalizer. I made a video demoing all the Moogs which you can see below. To be honest though, I don't use the old synths. The tuning is diabolical !
Moog-Do you use the same setup in the studio as you do live?
Roger- On stage, I use two Voyagers running into a MOTU Ultralite interface into my MacBook Pro and I use Ableton Live software to loop. Without Live I couldn't play a show, so it's an amazing piece of software which just keeps getting better. I also have a range of tiny midi controller boxes called FaderFox which allow me to control everything in Ableton.
In my studio I generally only use one Voyager...my AE, and that's always hooked up in stereo to a Focusrite Platinum preamp into my MOTU 828 interfaces and into my MacPro running Logic software. I use everything inboard, the software with no external effects. I love working like this, everything is instant recall, apart from me, that is .... Logic is an incredible applicatioin.
I try to recreate on stage what I do in the studio, but its very different and very difficult and am rethinking my approach. I may just improvise entirely on stage from now on. There's no real point in trying to copy something you may have written in a moment of inspiration years ago better to try and let that moment happen again in a new way. I spend way too much of my career playing 20 year old songs every night.
Moog-What aspects of music inspire you the most these days?
Roger- Not a lot, I have to be honest. I despise the way old bands rest on their laurels and new bands seem content to reprocess and reissue what was done years before. I honestly don't see where we are going musically unless people are prepared to take risks again.
However, I believe that we will soon see the end of the music business as we know it and I find that inspiring. The fact that the control of it will be removed from the hands of the few and democratised.
Music instrument technology on the other hand I find totally inspiring, the new possibilities that instruments put in the hands of musicians. We just need a new breed of musicians that are prepared to step up and use it. Having conversations with people like Cyril and Amos and hearing what they have planned is very very exciting.
Moog-What has been the biggest challenge for you in the music world?
Roger- Leaving the comfort and security of a big band and going out on my own. Reminding myself of why I started playing music in the first place.
Right now, trying to keep up with how things are changing so quickly in the industry. I have also just recently started managing a band and I am finding that really stimulating and hugely rewarding. I love the idea of giving something back.
My biggest challenge when I started was making enough money to pay the rent but now it's a much more internal thing, it's about saying something new. Not saying the same thing differently, really striving for the new.
Moog-Do you remember your first concert?
Yes I do. It was at a folk club on a Friday night and I was completely blown away by hearing music played live. I have to recapture that feeling, thanks for reminding me.
MoogHow has Moog changed the way that you approach music?
Roger- I was lucky enough or rather old enough (haha) to know what music was like pre-Moog , pre-synthesizer. For a keyboard player, it was another world and one dominated by guitar players. When Jan Hammer came along with his Minimoog, it took keyboard players out of the shadows and placed them centre stage. It allowed us to express ourselves...
For me over the past 5 years it has been an amazing transformation rediscovering synthesizers. The Voyager has given me a voice and a way to express myself in a unique and emotional way. I'm not bound by sound designers or engineers. I can make any sound I imagine...I am totally without boundaries. I have created two records entirely with a Voyager and to me they are just gifts. They came at the exact right moment in my life and I can never thank Bob enough for his creation.
I remember a jazz drummer explaining why he didn't have keyboards in his band saying that keyboard players think to linearly. Moogs have always broken down the lines, its not black and white when you look at a Moog keyboard it is totally technicolor.~
We have posted a sample of "The Crow Flies" by Roger on the Moog Music Myspace Page. Moog's Jason Daniello was lucky enough to add The Moog Guitar to his song. Click Here to listen.
This is the first in a series of Moog Featured Artist profiles, which will highlight the work of musicians making innovative use of Moog gear. 