f3ralcat

After years of working as a sideman and collaborator to other artists' creative endeavors, Roger has embarked on my own artist’s journey to develop the character and repertoire of improvised music through the lens of a DIY emo musician.

Growing up in a bi-cultural environment (Latinx & American), the music he was exposed to came from across a spectrum of genres. His youth in the Bronx was most affected by the music my family listened to, which was largely salsa and merengue by artists like Marc Anthony and Juan Luis Guerra. He was fortunate enough to live a quick train ride away from performances by the most forward-thinking living jazz artists of today, such as saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks and drummer Brian Blade. He witnessed live examples of boundaries in jazz/improvised music being broken in ways that have directly affected my playing and musicality. 

In contrast, his teenage years were spent in New Jersey hanging out with punk rockers listening to metal and hip hop, with artists like Avenged Sevenfold, Metallica, Eminem, and Lupe Fiasco in heavy rotation on his first iPod mini. He was introduced to emo/post-hardcore shows in high school, largely in DIY settings. He loved the excitement and bombastic energy of movement in the moment with the crowds of these shows. Even as a self-proclaimed “band geek”, participating in marching band, pit orchestras, jazz combos and big bands, he frequented concerts by bands Circa Survive, Underoath, and Enter Shikari.