Roy Moller is a Scottish singer, songwriter and poet. He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1963; his parents were from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in Canada, and he was adopted soon after birth. His early musical influences included

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

, The Fall,

Ivor Cutler Ivor Cutler (born Isadore Cutler, 15 January 1923 – 3 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, singer, musician, songwriter, artist and humorist. He became known for his regular performances on BBC radio, and in particular his numerous sessions recor ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

. He attended Trinity Academy, then moved to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

where he studied English at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

. While there, he won the Keith Wright Poetry Competition. Moller played in bands including Meth O.D. and The Wow Kafe. His first solo work was 2003's "Maximum Smile". He has collaborated with

Stevie Jackson Stephen Thomas Jackson (born 16 January 1969) is a Scottish musician and songwriter. He plays lead guitar and sings in the Glasgow-based indie band Belle and Sebastian. Career Jackson's early musical influences include Madness, ABBA, OMD, ...

from

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...

in a band called the Store Keys. He played with

Davy Henderson David Alexander "Davy" Henderson (born 1962) is a Scottish singer and guitarist whose career began in the 1970s. He is best known for his work with The Fire Engines, Win, The Nectarine No. 9, and more recently The Sexual Objects and Port Sulph ...

in the band Jesus, Baby! When

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Tape, and also w ...

interviewed him on BBC Radio in 2011, he called Moller "Scotland's best-kept secret". In 2008, Moller had a son with wife Emma, named Peter. In 2013, Moller moved to

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

. In 2014 he took ''My Week Beats Your Year'', his musical tribute to

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

, to the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

; Gus Ironside called it "witty, mesmerising and highly poignant". In the same year his poetry debut ''Imports'' was published by Appletree Writers Press, and his album ''One Domino'' was called "intoxicating and compulsively habit-forming". Moller has been involved in the Dunbar CoastWord Festival, and with

Neu!Reekie! Neu! Reekie! was an Edinburgh-based literary company and arts production house founded in 2010 by poets Michael Pedersen and Kevin Williamson. They produced over 200 live shows and published poetry anthologies including ''#UntitledOne'' (2015), ' ...

He contributed a poem to ''The Sea'', a 2015 anthology to raise funds for the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on s ...

. ''

Louder Than War ''Louder Than War'' is a music and culture website and magazine focusing on mainly alternative arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication that was started by the English musician and journalist John R ...

'' called ''There's A Thousand Untold Stories'' (2016) "a tour de force of sparkling lo-fi gems". In 2017 he performed ''Redemptions'', an evening of poetry and song, with Paul Hullah and Martin Metcalfe, at the

Scottish Poetry Library The Scottish Poetry Library is a public library with charitable status specialising in contemporary Scottish writing in English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic. The library, which is free to join for UK residents, celebrated its 40th anniversary in ...

. In 2019, Dionysia Press published Moller's poetry collection about his birth and adoption, "Be My Baby" Later that year, he returned to music, by releasing a single, ''Semicolon'' with the Chain Pier Group. Moller's musical work has been compared to

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

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, and

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

. He is dyspraxic, and believes his experience of dyspraxia has influenced his work. He is a supporter of

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Discography

*''Speak When I'm Spoken To '' (2006) *''Playing Songs No One's Listening To'' (2011) *''The Singing's Getting Better'' (with Sporting Hero, 2012) *''One Domino'' (2014) *''My Week Beats Your Year'' (2014) *''There's A Thousand Untold Stories'' (2016) *''There's A Thousand More Untold Stories'' (2016)

References

External links

BBC artist page

ThokeiTapes
1963 births Living people Alumni of the University of Strathclyde People with developmental coordination disorder Scottish male singer-songwriters Scottish singer-songwriters Scottish male poets Scottish people of Canadian descent Scottish adoptees {{Scotland-writer-stub