Benes new tape establishes him '
ps writer and musician’s musician
hy Mick Dyer |-^ K~\
je Awake
loger Benes
ndependently Produced Tape
This is a confession.
I liked Roger Benes’ solo-per
ormed and solo-produced tape, ‘ ‘Lie
Vwake.’’
I really liked it. I wasn’t prepared
for that, because I generally don’t go
for that brand of catchy pop-funk
melodramatic glamour rock.
Hmmmm... that’s quite an admis
sion for a long-time, long-haired al
ternative rocker to make. Here are
some reasons this tape grabbed my
ears.
IliUsir
But first of all, some clarification
of terms about the tape. Roger Benes
is a member of the band Lie Awake.
The music on this tape is single
handedly written, performed and
produced by Roger Benes. It carries
the name “Lie Awake,’’ because the
band of the same name sometimes
performs these same songs. It’s really
a Roger Benes tape, but it’s kind of a
Lie Awake tape, too.
Got it?
This tape was great fun to listen to.
Lie Awake’s popularity at certain
bars, college parties and high school
proms speaks for itself. At any rate,
the music on this tape sounds as good
or better than anything I’ve ever
heard on KFRX, seriously.
That’s because the tape is ex- a
tremely well-arranged and well-pro
duced. Each song effectively delivers
a subtle balance of musical elements.
Rhythms and melodies never
struggle for dominance, but work
together to enhance one another.
Tempo and volume dynamics take
turns driving the song forward. Many
songs appropriately arc garnished
with bells, flutes and unusual percus
sion sounds. The whole is greater
than the sum of its parts, and the result
is a slick-sounding tape.
As for the songs themselves, they
arc safe, neo-disco techno-pop tunes
full of 1980s sexual angst -- reminis
See BENES on 14 I
Benes: Future
of Lie Awake
not in Lincoln
By Mark Lage
Senior Reporter
Roger Benes, lead singer, key
boardist and songwriter for the Lin
coln band Lie Awake, said his main
goal right now is to be able to make a
life out of music.
“And I don’t want to do it playing
cover songs,” Benes said. ‘‘I want to
be writing music.”
In its two-year existence, Lie
Awake has been known around cam
pus as primarily a college-music
cover band, but Benes said that the
band’s live shows now are comprised
of about 25 percent original music
written by Benes.
And Benes recently has released
an independent cassette containing
nine of his songs. The tape was re
corded entirely on an eight-track re
corder in Benes’ own apartment.
Although Benes does all the playing
and singing on the tape, he named it
“Lie Awake” because the band
plays the songs live.
Benes said he has been writing
songs for about six years, and cites
among his main influences bands like
The Cars, The Fixx, The Police, and
The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“I never played in high school,”
he said, “and then, midway through
my senior year - music!”
Benes attended Lincoln’s Pius X
High School, and then moved on to
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
He graduated from UNL about a year
and a half ago, with a degree in busi
ness, he said. Since then he has con
centrated all of his time on playing
See AWAKE on 14
Shaun Sartin/Daiiy Nabraakan
Roger Benes
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