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Roger Manning Jr.'s New Supertoy...
Roger Manning and his Voyager
Roger Joseph Manning is one of the most well-known keyboard players in the pop music world, and his contributions to modern and vintage keyboard music have created a musical legacy that's hard to match. Manning was a founding member of seminal pop band Jellyfish, as well as Nineties rockers Imperial Drag, and has worked with artists as diverse as Beck, Blink182, Luscious Jackson, and French duo Air. He’s even appeared on the soundtrack to "Muppets in Space" playing drums and Fender Rhodes amidst a host of musical legends. But it is his work with the Moog Cookbook that puts him squarely in the Moog Hall of Fame, and helped keep Moog keyboards at the forefront of modern music. The creative product of Manning and musical partner Brian Kehew, The Moog Cookbook released two albums of covers recorded using many classic Moog keyboards, making over songs from modern and classic rock bands into analog synth masterpieces. Also in the realm of Moog music is "Logan’s Sanctuary", which finds Manning collaborating with former Red Kross drummer Brian Reitzell on the soundtrack to an imaginary sequel of the Seventies sci-fi thriller "Logan’s Run". Manning’s painstaking creation of Jerry Goldsmith’s retro-futuristic style of music was a labor of love, and also featured the vocals of former Jellyfish member Jason Faulkner, with whom Manning has teamed for his latest project, TV Eyes.
If Jellyfish was born of the Seventies, TV Eyes is firmly rooted in the synth-driven Eighties, giving both Manning and Faulkner ample room to play with the idiom. Collaborating with drummer Reitzell, the trio has begun to play shows, and Manning surrounds himself with a mix of new and vintage gear, including a well-used Moog Prodigy. But Manning is excited by the new Moog Voyager, and its numerous benefits. "They gave you all the frills," says Manning. "MIDI, programmable patches, oscillators, cross-mods- all without sacrificing the great sounds that made us fall in love with the Moog in the first place." Manning also mentions that Moog Cookbook collaborator Brian Kehew sold his Minimoog because "the Voyager has all the things I wished for."
Manning stresses how crucial the Voyagers' presets are. "For years I played a Moog Source mainly for the presets. Sonically, the Source had a more modern, new wave tone- great robotic dancey tones that I wouldn’t necessarily turn to the Minimoog for. Plus the touch sensor plate worked really well, though the new one on the Voyager is just great." No stranger to Moog’s variety of models, Manning also praises the Moog Prodigy for its versatility and the instinctive setup of the knobs. Indeed, each Moog model has its own idiosyncrasies, though the Voyager collects them all in one keyboard.
Aside from TV Eyes, Manning has a few solo records in the works. One he describes as his "electronic statement" a la Fatboy Slim; the other he calls "pure pop" stemming from the styles he explored in Jellyfish and Imperial Drag. The ever-prodigious musical mind of Roger Joseph Manning has more in store for fans worldwide, and you can be sure Moog keyboards will be a part of it all.
Links for more info:
TV Eyes
Jellyfish
Moog Cookbook
Imperial Drag
Robbie Gennet 2003
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