Roger O'Donnell Interview | The Cure | Psychedelic Furs (Part 1) - Keyboard Chronicles Episode 163

Roger O'Donnell is a long-serving members of The Cure, shaping their sound for coming up to 40 years (with a couple of breaks). Aside from that critical role, Roger formerly held down keys duties with The Psychedelic Furs, Thompson Twins and Berlin. Add to that his incredible solo output and you have a fascinating guest for the show. In Part 1 we cover off Roger's early career, musical upbringing and his solo albums, finished off with a start on our discussion on The Cure. 00:00 - Introduction 02:28 - Roger’s health battle with lymphoma and recovery 03:30 - Completing the trilogy: The new solo album "Projections" 04:25 - The Rhodes Mark 8 and the joy of real instruments 06:00 - Atmos mixing vs. Stereo mastering 09:15 - The concept behind "Projections": A summation of influences 16:00 - Breakdown of the track "Two Plus Two is Three" 17:53 - "I Can Only See You in a Mirror" (A tribute to his hairdresser) 19:50 - The Una Corda piano and "Seven Different Words for Love" 22:00 - Scoring the movie "Sam & Kate" (Dustin Hoffman, Sissy Spacek) 25:45 - Meeting Philip Glass and the value of sheet music 28:33 - Musical upbringing: Born next to a piano 31:30 - Joining the Thompson Twins and The Psychedelic Furs 34:30 - Early days: Playing in cabaret bands and working men's clubs 37:20 - The transition to synthesizers (Prophet 600, T8) 39:37 - Joining The Cure: Learning to play less 41:58 - Why Robert Smith kept Roger in the band 44:33 - "Songs of a Lost World": The Cure’s new album Discussion topics covered during the show: Roger's past year The Cure - Songs From A Lost World - https://youtu.be/7BvcayRnpDE?si=klOhj00gvC3UZuNv Roger's new solo album - Projections - https://mfl-stores.myshopify.com/collections/roger-odonnell Roger's new Rhodes Mk 8 The challenges of doing Atmos mixes Roger O'Donnell - The Truth In Me - Roger O'Donnell - Songs From The Silver Box The brilliance of the Rhodes Mk 8 in an album context Roger O'Donnell - 7 Different Words for Love - https://youtu.be/_fDTMm7DxzY?si=fE-MVySOfROiWb5L The Una Corda piano - https://youtu.be/bGw7ujCNuBo?si=7WLd0Spw__98evlx Roger's work on the movie Sam & Kate - https://youtu.be/874mdNz74pU?si=XLS1-YADYgqRPD-M A brief time with Phillip Glass Roger's musical upbringing and being born next to the piano Buying a Prophet 600 and joining The Thompson Twins The move to LA and joining The Psychedelic Furs Roger in action with The Psychedelic Furs in 1987 - https://youtu.be/3cVmtNMZ4vM?si=kNdAS50mFTP6BvIZ The Flirtations - https://youtu.be/J_KHCI_UgqQ?si=H7ICX7nHShoxNj8P Thompson Twins keyboard rig Roger's enormous Sequential Circuits-based keyboard rig with The Psychedelic Furs Recording Disintegration with The Cure and the keyboards used Adjusting playing style when joining The Cure What makes the working relationship with Robert Smith successful Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/keyboardchronicles Substack - https://thekeyboardchronicles.substack.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/keyboardchronicles Threads - https://www.threads.net/@thekeyboardchronicles BlueSky - https://bsky.app/profile/keyboardchronicles.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekeyboardchronicles/ Our mission is to interview the best and brightest keyboard players from around the world.

Added 31 Jul 2026