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Roman
„Give the man a mask and he will tell you the truth!“
We cannot be exactly sure if Roman is actually wearing a mask, but he must be telling the truth. This music is immediate and rich, his voice is a seducer.
It aims straight for originality here and yet it´s a very sure shot on what Pop means today. With his debut album „5 Minutes to Match“ (Karaoke Kalk), a collection of crooning, electrically charged songs, he manages in 2003 to instigate the music critics to unfold in various ludicrous descriptions of his work. Whereas there is some dissent about the young songwriter, the reactions range from sheer euphoria to dedicated contempt.
With the release of his second album „So Ghost“ in 2006 and the hysterical song „I found Love“, the Cologne based Singer-Songwriter landed a small Indie-Hit (i.e. „Rolling Stone Magazine - New Noises Vol. 75“/ „SPEX Magazine CD #59“) and sealed himself a position as some kind of electronic allrounder, but already with a distinct confession to pop. Gameboy-Sounds encounter string arrangements, distorted drum machines encounter women choirs - a mixture, which at heart is more Punk than anything else.
Roman´s music is foremost Roman´s voice: an instantaneous debaucher who screams, whispers, purrs, rocks and comes straight from the heart. This is an artist who brushes off any music crisis or any desperate repeat offender, which is exactly what makes his future so thrilling.
In 2009 Roman dares to venture a step out of the home studio and shows, what pop can be today: electronic and handmade, retro and anti-retro, euphorical and melancholic. The songs were produced by Henning Schmitz (Kraftwerk), Bertil Mark (Thomas D, Sportfreunde Stiller) and the artist himself, supported by a number of various musicians, such as a string sextet or the Newcastle-born vocalist Tom Ashforth.
The album enters the electronic field through the backdoor and storms out of the main entrance as pure pop, with traditional, folk and classical components. A collection of extroverted songs, with innovative arrangements of which some clearly belong into the club and some belong into your own 4 walls. And again it is Romans voice, he does not seldom scream impatiently and in other moments knows to report the astonishing truth with its associative lyricism.
When performing live on stage, the artist is supported by his 4-piece live band - a constellation, that comprehends compiling the multifaceted and partly extravagantly produced songs onto the live stage. Therefore he has been gaining quite some experience with tours through Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Russia. In 2007 Roman accompanied Suzanne Vega as a special guest on her German tour.
Pressquotes:
"...heartbreaking underground soul. This boy sings a thousand times more beautifully than all other prominent yodelers". Rolling Stone, Germany
„Beautiful music that will send a tear to the eyes of all the cool electronic music experts.“ Musikexpress, Germany
"Straight to your heart." Spex, Germany
„An unique voice and an unique sound... he should play the arenas of the world!“ Intro, Germany
"A seething hunk of show-stealing electro-pop...totally infectious." Stylus Magazine, USA
„Earnest, heartfelt and undeniably charming music.” Earplug, UK
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