Gregory Rogove

Gregory Rogove
Origin Lancaster, PA, USA
Genres Indie music, freak folk,[1] psych rock,[1] prog rock[1]
Instruments Drums
Years active 2000-present
Labels Knitting Factory Records
Associated acts Devendra Banhart[2]
Megapuss
Website gregoryrogove.com

Gregory Rogove is an American indie music drummer[3] and songwriter.[2][4][5] He is notable for partnering with indie artist Devendra Banhart to form the group Megapuss. He signed a record contract with Knitting Factory Records in 2011.

Background

Rogove grew up in Amish country in Lancaster, Pennsylvania of Jewish parents with some of his distant ancestors being Mennonites.[1][6] When eighteen, he traveled to India on a year-long scholarship and studied the tabla.[1] He described India as a "swirl of energy."[6] He traveled to Singapore, Mali, and Mexico.[6] He spent five weeks in China at the Peking Opera and commented that the sound of the gongs made it seem likely that one's head would split in two.[1] The journeys influenced his musical sensibility and helped him achieve a "rich repertoire" with diverse influences from freak folk, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, classical music, punk rock and world music, according to one source.[1] At Wesleyan University, he studied musical composition.[1] Upon his graduation in 2002, he was the recipient of the Pokora Prize, awarded annually to the outstanding undergraduate student in music composition.[7] In the music scene in New York City, he founded a band called Tarantula A.D. which later became the band Priestbird.[1] He performed with artists such as Beck and met Paul McCartney.[1] He plays piano, organ, flute in addition to his mainstay of writing songs.[1]

Priestbird

The band Priestbird was formed by mutual associations of friends.[8] One reviewer described Rogove in Priestbird as anchoring a "welcome foray into sludgy, feedback-heavy noise-rock" after a performance in 2009.[3] A second reviewer found the songs to be "trippy" and were more "epic, heavy, and hypnotic."[9]

Megapuss

During these years he became friends with musician Devendra Banhart, and they collaborated on songs and toured together.[10] According to one account, Rogove and Banhart started their association on the project Megapuss "as a joke" but ended up writing numerous songs together, and the project gelled into a band and an album.[1][11][12][13][14] The band was "built for laughs"[6] and emphasized "fun",[6] and Banhart and Rogove had promotional pictures featuring the two men "standing stark naked".[1][6] A reviewer later asked: "Have you found yourself talking about your genitals a lot?" and Rogove said it had been a "prescribed aesthetic decision" in which "everyone is very well represented."[6] The album Surfing was recorded in a cabin near Los Angeles and released in 2008.[15] One report was that the words Mega puss translated from Swedish to English means Mega kiss or big kiss.[15][16]

Reviews have varied from positive to mixed.[17] One reviewer described the Megapuss album entitled Surfing as something that "sounds like a freak pop version of the Doors" and with a video that was entertaining as "heck" and might have been "something the Monkees might have come up with after not showering for several weeks ... and taking lots of drugs."[18] Another wrote that it was not fruitful to search for levels of meaning in the song Chicken Titz but to "just listen and laugh," and described the song Crop Circle Jerk 94 as "warm and sunny."[19] The reviewer described Theme from Hollywood as having a catchy melody but criticized the "meowing breakdown" at the end of the song.[19] A third reviewer described the album as "obnoxious."[20]

In 2011, Rogove lives in Los Angeles.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 MaryAlice Bitts (Nov 22, 2009). "From Intercourse to India: Greg Rogove's musical travels". Lancaster Online. Retrieved 2011-09-01. It's a long way from the rolling hills of central Pennsylvania to Radiohead's VIP list - a really long way - but musician Greg Rogove has navigated that circuitous path.
  2. 1 2 Mike Ragogna (November 23, 2009). "HuffPost Reviews: Beyonce, Rihanna, Buddy Holly, The Doors, Susan Boyle, and More". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2011-09-01. ... Devendra on vocals and guitar; ... Greg Rogove (Priestbird) on drums and backing vocals ...
  3. 1 2 Andy Downing (November 18, 2009). "Review: Devendra Banhart in Chicago". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2011-09-01. ... and drummer Greg Rogove (Priestbird) anchored a welcome foray into sludgy, feedback-heavy noise-rock.
  4. ↑ Jon Pareles (September 29, 2007). "Picturing the ’60s, Using a Wide-Angle Lens". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-01. Mr. Banhart ... let two of his band members, Greg Rogove and Noah Georgeson, play their own songs...
  5. ↑ "Gregory Rogove". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2011-09-01. Composer
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Anthony Carew (interviewer) Greg Rogove (interviewee) (5 November 2008). "Interview: Greg Rogove of Megapuss". About.com Guide. Retrieved 2011-09-01. hows a band built for laughs; not least in the fact that promo pics have found Banhart and Rogove standing stark naked. ...
  7. ↑ http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/scholarships/prizes/recip2002.html
  8. ↑ (interview with Priestbird members) (March 4, 2008). "Crustcake Interviews Priestbird". CrustCake.com. Retrieved 2011-09-01. Question: How'd you guys meet? Gregory: Friends of friends of friends of friends of friends.
  9. ↑ Michael Alan Goldberg (Mar 8, 2007). "What has six legs and flies?". Phoenix NewTimes Music. Retrieved 2011-09-01. ... Priestbird still employs pianos and the occasional banjo, sings all trippy, and dresses weird; it's just that their songs are a bit more epic, heavy, and hypnotic.
  10. ↑ Brie Savard (Aug 16, 2010). "Devendra Banhart Announces Select Fall Tour Dates". Under The Radar. Retrieved 2011-09-01. Devendra Banhart and his backing band The Grogs have announced some fall tour dates ... Greg Rogove (Priestbird) on drums and backing vocals ...
  11. ↑ David Greenwald (Jun 17, 2008). "Devendra Banhart brings his Megapuss to the Hammer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-09-01. ... the band is Banhart and Priestbird drummer Greg Rogove, who started the duo as a joke and ended up writing eight songs. ...
  12. ↑ Whitney Matheson (interviewer) Devendra Banhart (interviewee) (Dec 18, 2007). "Top 100 interview: Singer Devendra Banhart". USA Today. Retrieved 2011-09-01. ... Priestbird, Greg Rogove ... We're gonna record a real record, and we're called Megapuss.
  13. ↑ Craig Jenkins (interviewer) Devendra Banhart (interviewee) (November 5, 2009). "Devendra Banhart: Interview". Prefix Magazine. Retrieved 2011-09-01. Also, the project with Greg Rogove and Fab Moretti [of the Strokes and Little Joy] -- we're also going to change that project's name -- is gonna start recording through the tour this year.
  14. ↑ Joy Yoon (June 2011). "Dunhill Mexico's Soiree with Devendra Banhart and Greg Rogove of Megapuss". Paper Mag. Retrieved 2011-09-01. Afterward, Megapuss took the stage. At one point actress DianaGarcia joined Banhart and Rogove, displaying a bit of musical prowess to the crowd's delight.
  15. 1 2 James McQuiston (September 23, 2008). "Megapuss = Greg Rogove and Devendra Banhart and Fabrizio Moretti: releasing debut CD". Neufutur. Retrieved 2011-09-01. Eventually, founding members Greg Rogove and Devendra Banhart ... Megapuss is not a side project but a real group. ...
  16. ↑ "megapuss means mega kiss". Google Translate. 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2011-09-01. (word translation)
  17. ↑ Andrew Gaerig (November 7, 2008). "Megapuss: Surfing (album review)". Pitchfork Magazine. Retrieved 2011-09-01. Megapuss has the feel of a short-lived side project, but it may ultimately prove a blueprint for the type of left-field, anti-hero path for which Banhart seems suited.
  18. ↑ "Singles File". The Washington Post. November 11, 2008. Retrieved 2011-09-01. Megapuss: ... and Greg Rogove of Priestbird. Their first single sounds like a freak pop version of the Doors, and the accompanying video is entertaining as heck, like something the Monkees might have come up with after not showering for several weeks. And taking lots of drugs.
  19. 1 2 Ryan Lowell (January 22, 2009). "Megapuss - Surfing (music review)". State of Mind. Retrieved 2011-09-01. Sure‚ one could try and pick apart songs like "Chicken Titz" searching for subtext‚ but it's more enjoyable to just listen and laugh. The relaxed vibe of opener "Crop Circle Jerk 94" feels warm and sunny...
  20. ↑ Traviss Cassidy (Nov 18, 2008). "Megapuss: Surfing (record review)". Cokemachineglow. Retrieved 2011-09-01. ... Surfing ... it is, considering all ephemeral connotations, a side project. And an obnoxious one at that.
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