R.S. ROWEN - Battery & Electrical - CD

CD (Solo Debut album from Dublin’s Jonny Rowen)

Jonny Rowen was born on the outskirts of Dublin City in 1972. Being the quiet type, and growing up in a large and ever-expanding household, from his youngest years Jonny sought to escape the hassles and the hustle of an overcrowded home and took refuge in the one room to where all things not-in-use were abandoned. The Record Player, a couch, a load of records, and any amount of ‘other stuff’ all competing for parking space in the same squashed quarters became both shelter and a haven of melody and/or attitude, where, if it weren’t for the liquid tones spilling out, he could remain almost forgotten.

At the age of nine Jonny was uprooted from the suburbs and dropped into the middle of rural nowhere. In this new setting his appreciation of all things musical continued to grow, not just in affections but also in import and consequence. No longer was music a channel for mere entertainment or distraction, it became a necessity as vital as the air he breathed. In time it would become his language, his medium learned, through which he could express his take on the world; his response to, and negotiation of the things that were happening to, and around, him.

In 1992 Jonny formed the band ‘R’ (the capital letter with a circle around it – the symbol of a registered trademark) with two friends and set about writing the songs that would become their stock in trade. They played mostly in Dublin City, building what fanbase they could. Their manager, the very liked and able Stuart Marshall, took ill in 1994 and had to retire from the music business.

With a new manager came a new name, Pelvis. In 1996 Pelvis won the Heineken sponsored Green Energy Festival, a battle of the bands type competition for emerging bands playing original music, which allowed them to go to a studio to record some demos.

The following year, 1997, saw Pelvis sign a record deal with Setanta Records. In early 1998 they recorded and released their debut album, Who Are You Today? produced by Rob Kirwan, for a scheduled release in July of that year. The producer from Later With Jools Holland, Mark Cooper, saw the band perform and promptly booked Pelvis for the show. That same year Pelvis toured Europe with The Divine Comedy. The response to the tv show was great but there was no finished work which was ready for release and a great opportunity slipped them by.

Trouble ensued with the label, the bubble had burst, and the three members of the band went their separate ways. Jonny continued writing, filling his rooms with carefully crafted songs. Along the way he took on projects with other established musicians, a bit here, a bit there. He has worked with Dave-id Busaras ex Virgin Prunes, wrote a song for the Irish film Small Engine Repair, and also worked with Irish singer and songwriter, Niall Toner Junior.

Jonny, performing an impromptu acoustic version of his song, Photograph, in a city wine bar, attracted the attention of the film director Volker Schlöndorff who happened to be present. The song was included in Schlöndorff’s movie Return To Montauk.

In 2018, as Jonny continued to write and do the occasional performance, he was ‘discovered again’ by Carlton P Sandercock of Easy Action Records. This album, Jonny’s solo debut, is the result of conversations that followed that discovery, the encouragement, conviction and belief.

Tracklist:

1. These Tears Won’t Last Forever
2. You Don’t Set Me So On Fire
3. Movies Without Sound
4. Won’t Be Home
5. Far Away
6. Waiting For You
7. Already Gone
8. We Will Make It Through
9. Photograph