Roger O'Donnell - I use the name The Cure whenever I can, but it doesn't help unless I release a goth album which I am not about to do.

Roger O'Donnell (born 29 October 1955) is an English keyboardist best known for his work with The Cure. O'Donnell first joined The Cure in 1987, replacing Lol Tolhurst on keyboards. He played with The Cure during their "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" tour and co-wrote songs for the next album "Disintegration". He also features on the live album from this period "Entreat". Following the band's "Prayer Tour" in 1989, tensions intensified between the band members and O'Donnell left the band temporarily in 1990 to rejoin the band in 1995 to record the albums "Wild Mood Swings", "Bloodflowers", and "The Cure". The collaboration with Smith and co abruptly ended in 2005.

Apart from having an on and off relationship with The Cure, O'Donnell has also performed in the Psychedelic Furs, the Thompson Twins and Berlin, and is also an active solo artist with a stress on vintage gear. Not surprising as in the early 1980s, while with The Thompson Twins, Berlin, and The Psychedelic Furs, O'Donnell was a big fan of synthesisers produced by Sequential Circuits, which produced such classics as the Prophet 5, Prophet T8, and Prophet VS. While on tour with The Psychedelic Furs, O'Donnell for instance set the record for having the most Sequential models onstage at one time.

O'Donnell equally started up his own label "99 Times Out of 10" or "99X/10" for short, and is assisting on Erin Lang's work, material that deserves a broader audience for sure. Side-Line contacted this keyboard fetishist par excellence for a chat on the past, present and future. (By Bernard Van Isacker)

SL: You started your own label a few years ago, "99 Times Out of 10". What bands are actually signed to it or do you just keep it as an outlet for you and Erin at the moment?

RO: Yes, Erin and I started the label in 2005, we released an amazing sampler (editor's note: featuring material by Alka, Dead Waiter, Ecce, Erin Lang, Goddamn Electric Bill, Pale Amber Glow, Roger O'Donnell, Sensory Factory, Somnolent, The Maybe) but it was just at the time when the record industry was starting its upheaval. We then made it a digital only label but we are once more reviving it and blowing new life into it. The most recent release is a 7" vinyl, "Fifi", by the band I manage, Machetes.

SL: Tell me, how did you come about this 4 piece all girl punk/glam/rock band? From the material I have heard they sound nothing like I would imagine from you... what are your plans with them?

RO: I found them in Toronto when I was forced to go to their second ever show. I saw something in them I hadn't seen in a long time and the next time I saw them they were better and just kept getting better I was a punk in art school so I can associate with the music even if its not something I have listened to in a long time. I manage them and look after everything. My plans are global domination ! We will see...



SL: Being digital only is not yet the way to go for a label?

RO: It was that physical production is so expensive and really not required. I think you can make a label work with just digital if you have some artists who sell !

SL: When can we expect the release of Erin's debut "You are Found" ? I noticed that the EP's "Choose your own adventure" and "Foundlings and strays" were out on iTunes via your own label?

RO: Later this year we are going to release Erin Langs debut album "You are Found" which we recorded in Weilheim, near Munich with Mario Thaler. I mixed my first album with Mario because I loved the sound he got on The Notwist and Lali Puna records. We asked him if he would produce Erin and he said yes, we jumped at the chance... We have everyone in mind who loves good music , Erin is an incredibly talented musician and I am very lucky to be able to work with her.

SL: I guess you will self-release the album as well? Wasn't it the plan to shop the album around?

RO: We have tried unsuccessfully to shop the record which has been very disappointing. Erin has always held out for a proper deal and release but we recently came to the decision that we should release it now. It was finished over two years ago and its time to move on. We are currently waiting on artwork and mastering then it will be pressed and released in September I hope.



SL: You run the label together?

RO: Yes we run the label together, she is level headed one haha I make all the wrong decisions!

SL: Your second solo album "Songs From The Silver Box", after 2006' "The Truth In Me", was released earlier this year on Great Society records in New York, people loved it but it didn't sell all that well you said. But what is selling well these days?

RO: Simply? Nothing hahaha! Its a challenging time for musicians and labels but there are huge opportunities for something different we just have to work out what that is.

SL: Why not releasing your 1994 album "Grey Clouds Red Sky" on iTunes?

RO: I have thought about that and I might do it , thanks for reminding me! It sounds so 90's though and I don't think it has aged well somehow.

SL: The same goes for "Big Buildings" which you wrote and recorded in the period 1994-1995. You talk about the material not being relevant enough, then again, collecting dust is not all that relevant either no? The same goes for "My Days Beyond" which you wrote in 1997-1998.

RO: You make good points but these recordings are more of a demo standard, maybe I will just give it away on my site?

SL: Do you actually use your Cure past to get things moving?

RO: Yes I use the name The Cure whenever I can hahaha! But it doesn't help unless I release a goth album which I am not about to do. I think it actually harmed me in the electronic world.

SL: By the way, there's this rumour that has been widespread. After his split from Depeche Mode, Alan Wilder was approached by Robert Smith with an offer to join The Cure around 1995. I guess that was just before you actually rejoined the band? Were you aware of this at the time?

RO: Hahahaha! That's not true and I'm sure Alan would have lasted about 5 minutes in that environment especially after having left Depeche Mode for the reasons he did! I met Alan a while ago and consider him a friend although we don't hang out and don't talk... I think he does his thing and I do mine, a collaboration would be fun though.

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SL: I gather from your comment that the environment in The Cure has always been rather tense? Was that a perfect ambient for you to work in?

RO: The environment in The Cure is very particular, I wouldn't necessarily say tense although the making of the last album was very tense. No it was the exact opposite of a creative, nurturing ambiance. It was driven by ego and stupidity. I hate tension in any form. I need harmony in which to create...

SL: Having played in The Cure, you don't have to worry about daily live any longer. That is what many think, but is that also the case?

RO: Hmm, well in a purely financial way I suppose 'yes' but we have to create to live. Again though I have the luxury of making music that I like and not chasing success, I would like success but on my own terms...

SL: Back to your own work, the jazz project Charlie Crow, formerly known as Vincenzos Moustache, offers a mix of jazz and electronics sounding quite lounge. Have you abandoned that project? You said you had enough songs for an EP so...? I especially liked the trumpets, that's Erin playing right?

RO: Yes, Erin plays trumpet and I am releasing it in September as well ... I really like it and was thinking earlier today of how I could play it live.

SL: I saw on MySpace you based the project in Lithuania for some reason?

RO: Ha, just a joke...

SL: Something tells me that marketing your own products is not really what you like to do? Music has to be found on its own? Are you someone who would enjoy doing what for example Nine Inch Nails does as far as distribution is concerned or has distribution another meaning for you?

RO: I am currently talking to a major distributor which would allow us to do so much more with the label, without distribution its very very difficult. It's easy for Trent to do what he does he has money and an audience. The Cure could do the same but Robert Smith doesn't have the confidence and likes to be treated as a star by his label.

SL: Running a record label, what kind of social media do you like including in your mix and why? Or are there media where you don't really see the relevance of it? Twitter for instance, just saying because it remains a mystery to many...

RO: Twitter is a bit mental isn't it ? Facebook is cool because its mainly my friends. I don't think any of these new media things really make much of a difference in the end. They are an excuse, I call it "busy work".

SL: How do you adapt as a musician and label owner to the current music market?

RO: I am trying my hardest but they keep moving the goal posts every day I wake up!

SL: In the current electro scene we often hear stock sounds or sequences, the craft of research seems more and more disappearing from the mainstream. Is this research in contradiction with having commercial success nowadays or have you heard proofs of the opposite lately?

RO: Everything , virtually everything I hear these days seems to me I have heard before it is very disappointing isn't it ?



SL: You are some kind of a fetishist when it comes to keyboards. Which ones have you been playing around lately and why exactly?

RO: Haha, I love my Moog Voyager but I have been playing my Steinway more recently as I am working on a piano and cello project with a friend in Toronto. The project is called Deux and my friend's name is Paul Vandongen. You can hear the first track on my website on the news page. He's a very old, very close friend of mine. I love the cello, I love my piano so its a perfect combination.



SL: How does a normal day look like for you?

RO: No such thing as normal right now, in fact I don't even know what normal is but it's not 9 to 5... I have a lot of work to do in my studio so that will be my home for the month of August.

SL: What websites do you visit daily?

RO:

• http://www.autosport.com/news/
  News about F1 my other passion
  
• http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=aapl
  to check on my shares in Apple
  
• http://www.new.facebook.com
  to see what's going on in the rest of the world
  
• http://www.guardian.co.uk
  newspaper

SL: And can you also give me an insight on what you actually listening to these days ? what albums?

RO: I don't really listen to anything. Especially when I am absorbed in creating. There is a wonderful unknown Canadian band though called Luxury Pond that I love and Efterklang from Denmark.

Label and online shop : www.99xoutof10.com
Band: www.rogerodonnell.com