Featured Artist Friday: Roger This

This week's Featured Artist is Chicago Rock/Reggae band, Roger This. Roger This specifically hails from Evergreen Park, but are a familiar face on the Chicago DIY scene. The band is comprised of four members; Lead vocalist and guitarist Reece Krider, bassist Max Steinberg, guitarist Jason Rauen, and drummer Matt Thompson, who is the newest member of Roger This.

"It's always been a seamless mold between the 4 of us," said Krider. "There's never been a moment where we're not on the same page or know what the other one is thinking. If we're talking about personally, we're most definitely a family. Max, Jason, and I have lived together making music in our apartment for over six years. We're currently moving into a bigger and better place and our drummer Matt is coming along for the ride. It's an amazing sense of camaraderie and brotherhood between all of us and I can honestly see us doing this regardless of where it takes us. It's home."

Roger This takes a unique approach when it comes to song writing. The group draws their inspiration from attending various concerts, working with other musicians, and hearing new records from other bands that they like. This inspiration leads to a blending of sounds that is unique to Roger This.

Every member of the band contributes to the songwriting process. The four members will brainstorm ideas with each other to formulate riffs, lyrics, the chorus, and even how the drums will sound until they've reached a point where they feel a song has come together. This style of songwriting allows for the band to draw influence from a number of different genres, including funk, pop, reggae, punk rock, and rock n roll.

"We're constantly coming to the table with new ideas that have been fueled by the fact that we've never limited ourselves musically," said Krider. "For example, we're currently working on two different EPs. One with our punk/rock sound that everyone is familiar with and then one that is heavily reggae/ska/jam influenced. There are no rules, and exploit the hell out of that."

The variance in sound can be heard on their most recent release, Owl Right. Songs like "This One Goes to Eleven" and "This Is My Nightmare" have a heavier rock sound to them while "Fly With The Seabirds" bring a more relaxed and reggae sound. The songs manage to be unique from each other, but at the same time defines Roger This as a band with a sound that has been unheard before them.

"Our goal is to play music, simple as that." said Krider. "We don't particularly stress about success, notoriety, who we play for, where we play, or any of that. We do it because it's what we love to do. But things we're aiming for right now include recording and releasing the insane amount of new material we have done and in the works. We'll also be making appearances in both local original venues and the bar scene because we enjoy playing other people's music too."

Roger This' next show will be a farewell show to their Evergreen Park apartment on Saturday, September 23rd. Other performing artists for that show will be Pat Egan & The Heavy Hearts and Nightmare, another band that features Krider on guitar.

Next Friday's Featured Artist will be Chicago band, The Flips. The Flips and ODMG have worked together many times in the past, including an EPK video about their album "Better Days" and their September 1st show at The Cubby Bear. Make sure to follow ODMG on Facebook and Instagram for all of our newest content.