Zru Vogue Side Projects
Info on the latest Zru Vogue side projects and solo projects from founding members Andrew Lawrence Jackson and Rick Cuevas.
Listen to songs from Andrew Jackson's solo albums.
Listen to songs from Rick Cuevas' solo albums.
The Last Romantic
Andrew Jackson's 2010 solo album conjures moods from downtempo to upbeat, playing off Jackson’s requisite themes of life, love, and dreams — all filtered through his surrealist lens. Get it from iTunes.
Many of the songs are inspired by the sound of 80’s electro beats from classic drum machines and tinted with shades of post-punk-goth, punctuated by Jackson’s distinctive vocal style.
Standout tracks include “Your Dreams,” with its languid mid-tempo groove and the more frenzied (painfully yet amusingly honest) “Definition of Insanity.” Check out the space-lounge groove that kicks in halfway through “Locked Up,” the moody art-rock psychedelia of “Come Back Around,” and the electroclash funk of the album’s definitive opening track, “Return to Love.”
Looking Back
Rick Cuevas's: solo album number 15. Or should we say therapy session 15? A mix of pop, funk, and blues. Get it from CD Baby.
"The title track talks about how perhaps I have spent a lot of time and effort on music (and dreaming); but in the end, no matter the outcome, it has been worth it."
"Also in this album, my young daughter Sophia is co-vocalist with me on the song "Headphone Monkey in the Hood Dog Place". Say what? The "Hood Dog Place" refers to a Cafe' in Italy that spelled "hot dog" wrong on their menu. They spelled it 'hood dog', and we got a kick out of that. In the same Cafe' there was a poster for a musical event, and it had a monkey wearing headphones on it. And we got a kick out of that, too. Thus, all that should explain the song fairly well."
Savage Roger
Whatever became of the unlikely lads? In the Savage Roger story, Tad Too Much is known as “the smart one.” Rick Tasty is “the funny one.” Flippa Coyne is “the cute one.” Handy Andy is “the other guy.” Together they are Savage R0g3r.
“You know how there’s that parody of a rock band, and then there’s that real rock band whose real career seems like a parody?,” Andy says, “Savage Roger is different. We’re like a parody rock band in our own minds.”
“You know how they used to say reality is for people who can’t handle drugs?,” Tad chimes in, “Well, it’s really the other way around for us.”
Someone’s girlfriend says, “you look just like the guy who used to take my order at Hot Dog On A Stick.” And Mr. Too Much replies, “I am who I am.”
It makes you think.
The Backstory
Since the beginning of Zru Vogue, and even before, there have always been multiple band projects and solo side projects.
Before Zru Vogue, Rick and Andy played in the band Idiot (1974-77), which spawned side projects like Parallel Grooves and Slim Chances. Then there was The Plus (1978) and Random Factors (1979), more like concepts and experiments, but bands nonetheless.
1980 was the birth year for the dada-art-funk-inspired Zru Vogue, and by 1982 their successful side project Science Patrol ("Bandit Ducks From Outer Space") had gained plenty of attention with its blend of quirky techno-pop and experimental electronics. Since the late 70's Rick and Andy were both busy in their spare time crafting lo-fi multi-tracked cassette recordings of solo songs that sometimes got band play but usually lurked in an underground space of their own.
All throughout the 80's and 90's Andrew Jackson and Rick Cuevas made solo albums and self-published them, first on vinyl and cassette, and then on CD and via the Internet. In the 2000's and 2010's, Jackson and Cuevas have become even more prolific, often releasing several CDs per year, including solo projects, collaborations, and "official" Zru Vogue albums.
