Paul Roessler (born August 27, 1958) is an American

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

and record producer. Roessler was a prominent member of the L.A. punk scene during the late 1970s and 1980s. He played keyboards in bands such as

The Screamers The Screamers were an American electropunk group founded in 1975. They were among the first wave of the L.A. punk rock scene. The Los Angeles Times applied the label "techno-punk" to the band in 1978. In the documentary '' Punk: Attitude'' ( ...

, Twisted Roots,

45 Grave 45 Grave is an American rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1979. The original group broke up in 1985, but vocalist Dinah Cancer subsequently revived the band. History The band was founded during the punk rock movement by Paul B. Cutler ...

Nervous Gender Nervous Gender is an American punk rock Electronic music, electronic band formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by Gerardo Velazquez, Edward Stapleton, Phranc and Michael Ochoa. Their use of heavily distorted keyboards and synthesizers made them, al ...

, SAUPG,

Geza X Geza Gedeon (born September 28, 1952), professionally known as Geza X, is an American producer. He was a personality in the Los Angeles punk scene in the late 1970s. He is now a producer. Early life and career Gedeon was born in Indiana and mov ...

and the Mommymen, Mike Watt and the Secondmen,

Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rise to prominence during the punk and Neue Deutsche Welle movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is ...

and The Deadbeats. Roessler has also released solo recordings such as "Abominable," "Curator," "The Arc," "6/12," "Match Girl," The Turning of the Bright World,""Burnt Church The Opera" with Jeff Parker, and a four double album set "The Drug Years." He currently works as a record producer at Kitten Robot Studios in Los Angeles, California. He is the older brother of

Kira Roessler Kira Roessler (born June 12, 1961) is an American musician who was the bass guitarist for the influential hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1983 to 1985. Since the mid-1980s, she has been a member of the rock duo Dos with her now ex-husband ...

, formerly of Black Flag, and the son of underwater photographer Carl Roessler.

Biography

Paul Roessler was born on August 27, 1958, in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

. In 1974, he moved to West Los Angeles where he met and befriended future Germs band members

Darby Crash Jan Paul Beahm (better known by his stage name Darby Crash, formerly Bobby Pyn; September 26, 1958 – December 7, 1980) was an American singer who, along with longtime friend Pat Smear (born Georg Albert Ruthenberg), co-founded the punk rock ba ...

and

Pat Smear Georg Albert Ruthenberg (born August 5, 1959), better known by his stage name Pat Smear, is an American musician. He was the lead guitarist and co-founder of Los Angeles–based punk band The Germs and a rhythm guitarist for grunge band Nirvana ...

at University High. After graduating from high school, Roessler went on to study classical music at

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

, for a few semesters before leaving in early 1978 to join innovative

electropunk Electronic rock (also known as electro rock and synth rock) is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock b ...

band,

. After two successful years,

found themselves rapidly disintegrating as a band, causing Roessler to leave in January 1980, and would then go on to play in

with former Germs drummer

Don Bolles Donald Fifield Bolles (July 10, 1928 – June 13, 1976) was an American investigative reporter for ''The Arizona Republic'' newspaper who was known for his coverage of organized crime in and around Phoenix, Arizona, especially by the Chicago Ou ...

as well as in

and the Mommymen. After a few months of going between bands, Roessler was recruited by

to join her for an upcoming European tour. After touring Europe and America with Hagen, they recorded ''

NunSexMonkRock ''NunSexMonkRock'' is the debut solo (and third overall) studio album by German singer Nina Hagen. It was released on April 30, 1982, by CBS Records. ''NunSexMonkRock'' marked Hagen's first release since her departure from the Nina Hagen Band, a ...

''. Before Roessler's second tour with Hagen, Pat Smear from the Germs joined the band. Later, when Smear left the band, Roessler left also. In 1981, he formed the band Twisted Roots with Smear and younger sister

. During this time, he was playing with

, Josie Cotton, DC3 (with

Dez Cadena Dez Cadena (born June 2, 1961) is an American punk rock singer and guitarist. He was the third vocalist and later rhythm guitarist for hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1980 to 1983. Cadena played guitar with Misfits from 2001 to 2015, initi ...

of Black Flag) and Crimony (with

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...

) as well. During this time Roessler was also doing sessions with many other bands such as the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

and Saccharine Trust. Roessler has continued to work with

and Josie Cotton. From 1998 to 2011, Roessler worked as the in-house producer at Satellite Park Studio with

. In 2006, Roessler released an autobiographical poetry book entitled ''Eight Years'' ( Brass Tacks Press, 2006). In 2010, Roessler produced and played keyboards on

's gospel album ''Personal Jesus'' (Universal). He has been a member of the Fancy Space People with

and Nora Keyes since 2009. In October 2011, they joined the

Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. ...

on their "Other Side of the Kaleidyscope" tour. In November 2011, he relocated to the newly opened Kitten Robot Studios in the Silver Lake neighbourhood of Los Angeles where he has continued to write and record his own music and produce dozens of bands.

References

External links

Personal WebsiteThe Burnt Church Website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roessler, Paul 1958 births Living people Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut American rock keyboardists American punk rock musicians