Tommy Giles Rogers Jr.

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Tommy Giles Rogers
Rogers in 2015
Rogers in 2015
Background information
Birth nameThomas Giles Rogers Jr.
Born (1980-12-30) December 30, 1980 (age 43)
Morganton, North Carolina, U.S.
OriginRaleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • musician
  • songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • guitar
Years active1999–present
Member of
Formerly of

Tommy Giles Rogers (born December 30, 1980[1]) is an American musician, most notable for being the lead vocalist, keyboardist and lyricist of the progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me, which he co-founded in 2000. His vocal style combines death growls and screams with peaceful clean singing melodies, sometimes including falsetto. In 2005, Stylus Magazine named Rogers one of the three most versatile rock singers at the time.[2]

Career[edit]

Rogers grew up playing guitar but he sang for a hardcore punk band named Soul Integrity in high school. In 1999, he became the guitarist for the metalcore band, Prayer for Cleansing; when they disbanded, Rogers co-founded the progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me in 2000. Although he intended to be their guitar player at first, the band could not find a vocalist which prompted him to take that role.[3] After acquiring a full lineup, Between the Buried and Me released their three-song demo and then their self-titled debut album in 2002. In 2004, Rogers released a self-titled debut album for his electronica side project, named Giles. Rogers was one of the vocalists for the metal band From Here On and has appeared in numerous other musical projects, including the metal band Undying.[4] He was part of a clothing line and a small musical duo project with Jacob Troth that is known as Jacob Rogers.

He has made numerous vocal guest appearances since the success of Between the Buried and Me, such as his featuring on the Devin Townsend Project album Deconstruction and the Ayreon album The Source, portraying The Chemist.

Rogers recorded a solo album under the name of Thomas Giles, entitled Pulse, which was released February 1, 2011.[5] His other solo albums are Modern Noise, released November 25, 2014, Velcro Kid, released November 4, 2016, and Don't Touch the Outside, which was released on November 9, 2018, via Sumerian Records.[6]

Influences[edit]

Rogers' biggest influence is experimental singer Mike Patton, including his bands Mr. Bungle and Faith No More.[7][8][9][10] Other artists that have greatly influenced him are Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Mars Volta,[11] Nine Inch Nails, and Muse.[12] Since high school, one of his biggest inspirations has been electronic music; some of these artists include Adult, Funker Vogt, Air and Dieselboy.[13][7] The singer has consistently named the Beatles among his favorite bands.[14][15] Furthermore, Rogers draws techniques from directors and filmmakers of works like The Twilight Zone, The Hateful Eight and The Godfather series.[14]

Rogers grew up a big fan of extreme metal, but only once he discovered metallic hardcore bands such as Earth Crisis he began to write music devotedly.[16] After being in hardcore bands until his early 20s, Rogers realized that his tastes were much wider and decided to explore many musical avenues.[10] He has a long-standing fascination with the Scandinavian black metal scene, admiring its experimentation around the turn of the millennium and bands like Ulver and Leprous.[14]

In 2019, Rogers named Radiohead's OK Computer, any Beatles record and Mr. Bungle's California his three favorite albums.[17]

Personal life[edit]

Rogers currently resides in Laguna Niguel, California with his wife and son.[3] He is vegan and straight edge.[18]

Discography[edit]

With Between the Buried and Me
With Jacob Rogers
  • Jacob Rogers (2012)[19]
As Giles
  • Giles – Victory (2004)
As Thomas Giles
With Prayer For Cleansing
With From Here On
  • Hope for a Bleeding Sky – Tribunal Records (1999, 2005)
As a guest
  • August Burns Red – Constellations – featured vocals on "Indonesia" (2009)
  • The Devin Townsend Project – Deconstruction – featured vocals on "Planet of The Apes" (2011)
  • Intensus – Intensus – featured vocals on "Outlast Robinsum" and "I'm A Wisdom" (2011)
  • Johnny Booth – Connections – featured vocals on "Ink and Sky" (2011)
  • The Safety Fire – Mouth of Swords – featured vocals on "Beware The Leopard (Jagwar)" (2013)[21]
  • Abnormal Thought Patterns – Altered States of Consciousness – featured vocals on "Nocturnal Haven" (2015)
  • Ayreon – The Source – character "The Chemist" (2017)[22]
  • Charlie Griffiths – Tiktaalika – featured vocals on "Arctic Cemetery" and "Under Polaris" (2022)

Honors and awards[edit]

  • Nominated for a GRAMMY Award, Best Metal Performance Condemned To The Gallows[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Laban, Linda (December 24, 2009). "Between the Buried and Me's Tommy Rogers Doesn't Want to Get Older". Noisecreep. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  2. ^ Lee, Cosmo (September 28, 2005). "Between the Buried and Me – Alaska". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "ARTIST PROFILE: TOMMY ROGERS". Toontrack. May 14, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  4. ^ Julien, Alexandre (November 3, 2011). "Redstar Records Interview". Abridged Pause Blog. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  5. ^ "BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME Frontman To Release Solo Album". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. November 29, 2010. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  6. ^ https://shockwavemagazine.com/thomas-gilesannounces-new-album-dont-touch-outside/
  7. ^ a b "Giles – Interview mit Thomas Giles Rogers, Jr". BurnYourEars (in German). June 27, 2005. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  8. ^ Captain Chaos (March 14, 2010). "BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME: Quer denken – Kreatives schaffen". Vampster (in German). Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  9. ^ Rowe, Riley (May 26, 2016). "Tommy Rogers Tells Us His Dream BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME Setlist & Tourmates". Metal Injection. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Speter, Tiana (December 10, 2019). "INTERVIEW: Tommy Rogers (BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME)". Thesoundcheck.org. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  11. ^ Neilstein, Vince (February 23, 2011). "THOMAS GILES [BTBAM'S TOMMY ROGERS]: THE METALSUCKS INTERVIEW". MetalSucks. Archived from the original on February 26, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  12. ^ Holmes, Mark (February 9, 2011). "THOMAS GILES". Metal-discovery.com. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  13. ^ Dick, Chris (July 20, 2011). "Tommy Rogers(Thomas Giles) interviewed". Decibel. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  14. ^ a b c Daly, Joe (November 9, 2018). "Between the Buried and Me: Interview with Tommy Giles Rogers, Jr". Outburn. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  15. ^ Rothmund, Andrew (July 11, 2018). "Everchanging but Everlasting: Between the Buried and Me's Tommy Rogers". Invisible Oranges. Archived from the original on July 14, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  16. ^ Frank, Maximus (October 28, 2014). "Making the Best of This World: An Interview with Thomas Giles". Gear Gods. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  17. ^ Hebbs, Vicky (December 9, 2019). "Interview with TOMMY ROGERS from BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME". Amnplify.com.au. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  18. ^ "Hi Reddit! Between The Buried And Me here to answer your questions!". AMA. Reddit. September 29, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  19. ^ "Jacob Rogers". January 10, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  20. ^ "BTBAM Vocalist Tommy Rogers To Release Debut Solo Album "Pulse" On February 1st, 2011". Metalblade.com. November 29, 2010. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  21. ^ "Unveil forthcoming second album 'Mouth Of Swords'". Insideoutmusic.com. June 5, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  22. ^ "Guest Musicians". New Ayreon Album. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  23. ^ "Tommy Rogers at Grammys". GRAMMY.com. January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2024.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tommy_Giles_Rogers_Jr.&oldid=1201065260"