Daily Inspiration: Meet Paul Rogers

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Rogers.

Hi Paul, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been a musician formally for the last 17 years starting out in the high school choir, but I’ve had a lifelong love of music and had some kind of noise maker in my hands for as long as I can remember. Interestingly enough I don’t come from a musical family, at least in the way that my parents are not themselves musicians, nor are any of my other relatives as far as I know. That being said my father has always had a love of music and as a result, there was always something playing on the stereo when he was home, and I am guilty of pilfering his CD collection, as well as my older sisters whenever no one was looking. I started playing in bands not long after I got into the school choir, and not surprisingly I was a vocalist. I moved to South Africa during my freshman year of high school and while there I started singing in our jazz band, and tried my best to learn how to play trumpet, rather unsuccessfully I might add. I did however have a friend show me how to play a few things on guitar and I took to that immediately. It has inadvertently become my lifelong passion. It wasn’t until I was in college that I would start actively playing guitar, writing songs, and singing in bands like I do today. I’m self-taught and have always viewed music as an artistic outlet rather than an academic exercise. To that end, I can’t play anyone else’s music, I’ve spent years working on my own songs, and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve just never felt the urge to learn how to play someone else’s music. Somewhere a trained musician is cringing hearing me say that. My current project, Soviet Mothers, has been my main focus since I put the band together in late 2015.

I started working on most of the songs we currently play while living in Phoenix Arizona. My parents have a home that is butt up against the White Tank mountains out on the far west end of Phoenix and it allowed me to spend a lot of time taking in the desert. It is, to say the least, a very strange environment to be in. It’s harsh, hot, and hellish; but it has a magical quality that is hard to put your finger on without sounding too poetic. That being said, it really influenced my mindset and my songwriting at the time. We started to get some momentum behind us right around the time the Pandemic hit in 2020 and like so many other bands we had to put everything on hold. My band more or less dissolved, with my lead guitarist moving to Nashville to pursue session work as a studio musician, and my bass player and drummer picking up gigs with other bands that were in the process of recording some full-length albums. I took this setback in stride and tried to work hard to put all the pieces back together. The benefit of being the soul songwriter in a band is that you are a bit of an island, insulated from things that are generally a catastrophe for other bands. When times get tough you just put your head down and keep working until you pick up steam again. I got my band back together with some new folks and we started playing again earlier in 2022. Since then we have been steadily building momentum, and if I’m being honest I keep finding myself being surprised. The surprise is not because we are doing well, but more that we keep finding interest and opportunity in places where before there was none. I am always fascinated by the cyclical nature of music scenes both locally and nationally, and as someone who plays in an alt-rock band that leans toward some goth/punk subject matter, it’s always refreshing to see the younger generation that’s coming into music now showing a lot of interest in music that had fallen out of vogue not ten years earlier. We are currently working on an EP and expect to have it out in the Spring of 2023. I have always been a pragmatist in regard to my music, I write music that I enjoy playing and love sharing, but I don’t try and fit a mold.

That being said, I have a good feeling about things, things feel different this time around, and as much as I always try and manage my own expectations of how things might go, I really feel like we have a good shot of being able to get music out there for the masses. Music is hard, it’s not always about talent, sometimes it’s luck, and sometimes it’s something else, but at the end of the day you just have to love it and you’ll never regret a moment.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
If I said things have been easy I’d be lying. I have struggled with band drama as does every band, changing lineups and the like, but I have also struggled with undiagnosed ADHD for most of my life, which has affected my ability to write and perform to some degrees, as well as interact with others. I have always tried to be aware of how I interact with others. I have been very upfront with friends and folks I play with that I am not always the easiest person to get along with or understand because things that may seem important or stressful for me seem inconsequential to others. Most folks I have ever played in bands with our understanding, but being difficult to be around can become tiresome, and not everyone is willing to overlook quirks.

I struggle with the fact that a lot of the things associated with my ADHD that allow me to have such strong creative output and passion for music are also likely the same things that make me so hard to be around. Music has always been the domain of quirky people with larger-than-life personalities, but sometimes it’s hard to feel like I’m doing the right things. That’s why I always try to be aware of how I come across to others, and why I need help to get myself focused on occasion. Getting an ADHD diagnosis and starting on a path toward making sense of things I’ve struggled with for my entire life has been huge, and it’s changing the way I look at the world. Life’s messy, but everything we experience makes us who we are, and as an artist that makes me ever grateful for my experiences in particular.

Everything is songwriting material at some point.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am the lead singer and guitarist for my band Soviet Mothers that I started in late 2015. I’d say the thing that people know me for more than anything is my unique songwriting and in particular my voice. I am super proud that despite a lot of setbacks this band is still around and doing well, and in fact, getting ready to really step things up in the next year; new EP coming out, a tour, and new songs getting ready to be debuted.

What sets us apart from most of the other bands that our piers are in is our unique songwriting style. We don’t really fit in with anyone in the local scene that we are a part of, and that’s really cool, but also a bit of a pain. I encourage anyone to listen to our single on all major streaming platforms and follow our Instagram to see what we are up to weekly.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
If there is one thing that I could impart to a young musician starting out, don’t give up, ever, for any reason. You won’t always love the music you listen to now, you won’t always play the same music, and you will become a better musician, just give it time and stay with it. You will write terrible songs, and annoy everyone around you, but it’s all worth it, every second of it.

Too many people start out and expect to be good immediately. They tear themselves down worrying about whether people like their music or if they are too old to be in a band. The reality is that if you write music you love to perform and you keep at it, eventually you will find your audience. They are out there. You are not the only weird kid who likes obscure rock bands, and when you find your people they are going to love what you are doing because it will speak to them in a way that nothing else does.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sovietmothers/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SovietMothers/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SovietMothers