Rogue Element - About the Band:

The current line-up for Rogue Element is Jerome Ramsey & Brendan Pollard, who have both been involved in various aspects of the electronic music scene for some time - doubtless some of you out there may know or have heard of them before...

The following information is based on on an interview by Paul Rijkens, that first appeared in the E-dition magazine. You can visit the E-dition web site here.

Jerome Ramsey and Brendan Pollard own a true museum of equipment, (including a Mellotron with sounds by Tangerine Dream), and synthesisers by, amongst others, Moog, ARP, Oberheim, Sequential Circuits, Elka, Korg, Roland, and Yamaha. Their love for the Berlin School spawned their debut album, premonition, which instantly places this duo at the top of this genre, and the four long pieces are nothing short of spectacular.

What is the story on Rogue Element? When and how did the band form?

The band was formed in the late 1990's. We're not sure of the actual year since the band arose out of the two of us jamming together on a regular basis. We had met through a mutual interest in electronic music, particularly the Berlin School of the 1970's. We used to correspond with each other, and then decided to get together to jam on the occasional basis. We discovered that we worked well together, and both wanted the same things out of our music. We both preferred the band environment to a solo environment.

Have you already played and/or recorded music before Rogue Element came to life?

Jerome had been working from his home studio since the late 1980's. And he has a number of tracks that were recorded prior to Rogue Element, with a few having been made available via a very small scale cassette release. None of the remainder is ever likely to see the light of day now though. Brendan also had a small home studio at about the time rogue element was formed. But it was only really starting out at that time, so his work has mainly been with the band. As a band we worked on an aborted album, (tentatively titled "Storm Passages"), but neither of us was satisfied with the results, due to the conditions under which it was recorded. We booked three days of commercial studio time, and then attempted to record the entire album, including gear set-up, and removal in these three days. We went in with all the sequences, etc, prepared, but found that there was too much time pressure, which hampered our creativity since we did not have the time for many mistakes or aborted takes.

We then changed our approach and rented a studio on a full time basis. This was in late 2002, and was probably the beginning of our being able to work together in the manner we felt was most comfortable.

(More information on Storm Passages is available in the DISCOGRAPHY, and two tracks are available for download in the FREE STUFF area).

How do you work? Is it improvised music? Is it composed before you record it, or perhaps a combination of the two?

It is definitely a combination of the two. We spend a great deal of time in preparation of the track structure, sounds and sequences, etc. We then jam for a while, some of which is recorded and makes t onto the final track, whilst other ideas might be developed more, and take on a more composed nature by the time they are actually recorded. One thing we definitely do avoid, however, is extensive editing of what we have already recorded. If we are not happy with what we have done, we prefer to re-record it rather than play around with it for days on computers.  The music on the album surely has has a reference with that of the Berlin School, mainly Tangerine Dream.

Do you recognise this? And is it the music that influenced you?

Without a doubt there is a great 70's Berlin School influence. We both love the albums that Tangerine Dream released during that decade, and that was definitely the direction we wished to take. There were also other great artists from that time, such as Popol Vuh and Klaus Schulze, who produced some inspirational music, which also influenced our sound. Although probably some of the influences are more subtle than others.

You own a real arsenal of old and new equipment. Do you have a certain preference in instruments?

Most of the instruments have their place, although some of the equipment is not used as much as some others. The real workhorses of our set-up though are the Mellotrons and the various modular synthesisers. So we suppose that, on that basis, they would rank as our favourites. Some of the other synths may only have one or two really usable sounds, but they are such individual and evocative sounds that we would hate to have to do without them.

(You can see many photos of Rogue Element equipment on the photos page.)

How did you get your hands on the Mellotrons? And how do you maintain the 'trons, and the original tapes you use?

We bought the first one at an auction, and the second was sourced for us by a vintage instrument dealer who knew we were searching for another. There is a small firm in England named Streetly Electronics, who service and repair Mellotrons. They do the work for us, and provide a great service.

(You can see pictures of the Rogue Element Mellotrons HERE, including the Tangerine Dream tape banks).

What is attractive about the Mellotron in your opinion?

It has a sound that cannot really be reproduced via other modern methods. It arises as a result of the actual instruments and choirs that are recorded onto strips of tape. Due to the imperfections in the whole process - the tape itself, together with the mechanical process involved in the actual playing of the tapes by the Mellotrons - the sound, when reproduced, is not quite the same as would be obtained by simply sampling the same source sound. These imperfections, however, result in in a sound which takes on a whole new life of it's own. It's a sound which has stood the test of time, and which bands are still going back to today.

Will you use your old equipment live?

Yes. The intention has always been to make the live show as close to what we do in the studio as we can possibly achieve. This will inevitably make live shows a great deal more trouble, and more expensive on our part. But, we really believe it is worth the extra effort. We don't believe that people would want to see the two of us behind a lap-top computer with a keyboard each.

There was a long 25 minute track you recorded before "Premonition". Do you have plans to do anything with this track?

There were aspects of the track that both of us were not entirely happy with, so we decided not to release it. Maybe our feelings will change over time, so who knows? Part of the track may appear at some stage, we have not entirely ruled it out.

(The track in question is "Thoughts for dead leaf motion", and it appeared on volume 6 of the E-dition CD. See the DISCOGRAPHY PAGE, for more information.)

At the moment there is a lot of wonderful retro-electronic music. What is your opinion about this? And what do you think of the future of this kind of electronic music?

We think it's a great thing, as it's a genre we both love. We think there are a number of bands producing music of a very high standard, and that can only be good for the fans. The high standards will certainly keep us on our toes!

Mellotron M400 + various Tape Frames Expanded Doepfer/Analogue Solutions Modular System Digisound Modular System Digisound Dual 8 Sequencer Unit Doepfer MAQ 16/3 Analogue Sequencer EMU Vintage Keys EMU ESI 4000 Roland MVS1 Roland JP8080 Behringer Virtualiser Behringer Composer Behringer 1602 Desk Behringer 2804 Desk Evolution EVS1 Roland 501 Space Echo JR Electronics Drum Synth SRS Dual Phaser Unit Yamaha SY1 Synth Oberheim OB1 synth Farfisa Compact Duo Korg Poly 800 ARP Odyssey ARP Pro Soloist ARP Omni 2 Roland SH101 Novation Bass Station Chase Bit 99 Roland JD800 Roland Juno 6 Sequential Circuits Pro One Elka Rhapsody 610 Alesis Quadraverb Aphex Aural Exciter Boss Phaser unit Boss Flanger Unit Atari 1040ST Kenton Pro 2

Mellotron M400 + Various tape frames, Bohm Soundlab Modular system The Beast Duophonic Modular System SRS RP3 Noise Generator Modular System Doepfer MAQ 16/3 Analogue Sequencer Elka Rhapsody 610 ARP Pro DGX ARP Solina String Ensemble Logan String Machine Moog Micromoog Octave Kitten Korg Lambda Korg Delta Korg MS2000 Roland JP8000 Roland MVS1 Vintage Synth Module EMU Classic Keys EMU ESI2000 EMU ESI4000 SRS ZV3 Bass synth SRS FX Station 2 SRS Dual Phaser Unit SRS Philtertron Electro Harmonix Flanger Melos Echo Chamber Behringer Autocom compressor Behringer Virtualizer Viscount EFX 10 Kenton Pro 2 Philip Rees MCV x2 JMS CGX Interface Soundlab Equaliser Danelectro Reel Echo unit Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeller x2 Soundcraft Spirit Folio Desk Atari 1040ST

Gearheads will want to see the Rogue Element Photos Section!