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Marcel Rodeka | ||||||||||||||
Drums / Guitar / Bass / VocalWhen Marcel was 11 years old, he volunteered to hit a big bass drum with a mallet twelve times in a school play. He recalls he felt huge and important and has never looked back. He went from the mallet to sitting on his bed with old suitcases and rolled-up Road Safety magazines for drumsticks, playing along to Pete Sinclair's radio Hit Parade on Thursday nights, the only light in the room coming from his Pye radio. Then his parents bought him a set of Beverly drums, sparkling red metal flake in colour. “One roll from the snare to the tom and I was hooked.” The first international band he saw was The Sweet at the Dunedin Town Hall in the early 70’s."They were in full glam-rock gear, awesome and loud. The drummer, Mick Tucker, spun his sticks at the end of a fast roll; the first time I had seen someone do that. It was amazing." By now he was working the local traps with bands E-Shed, Bullfrog and Argus. Mother Goose formed in 1975 with global dreams and a dynamic stage act with outrageous costumes and tight choreography. The songwriting behind the tutus and sailor suits was strong with keyboardist Steve Young winning the APRA Silver Scroll in 1981 with the song “I Can’t Sing Very Well”. Moving to Australia in 1976 the band released “Stuffed” on the Mushroom label a year later. The album’s single “Baked Beans” was a massive hit with a memorable rock video shot in a supermarket. Rock videos were in their infancy so nobody forgot Mother Goose and “Baked Beans”. The rock and roll dream took them to America in 1978. Playing shows in Los Angles and New York over the next nine months generated plenty of interest but an international deal never came. The band made two more albums in Australia - ironically they were always much bigger there than in New Zealand - and toured relentlessly, still in costume, before calling it a day in December 1984 after a five month tour of Canada. Marcel’s fast and furious drum solos and exciting stage tricks had always been a highlight of the Goose show and he was quickly picked up by Mushroom label mates “Perfect Strangers”. Again showmanship was the key, with singer Andy Clayton Smith, a former top gymnast, hanging from the rafters and back-flipping across the stage. But when Smith died from cancer the band broke up, and Marcel returned to Dunedin. After 15 years of sharing stage and studio with artists like Queen, Ritchie Blackmore, Chris Rea, Joan Armatrading, Blood Sweat & Tears, Sir Bob Geldof, Midnight Oil and Jimmy Barnes, Marcel settled back in Dunedin and co-founded the popular covers band The Rockdaddys. He began a position in promotions and marketing with Vidmark Productions and twelve years of film, television and video work followed. In 2003, he was invited by bass player Craig to become an Oxo Cuban. The two quickly established a rapport as a rhythm section and with Doug on keyboards, have been firing’ up the engine room and driving the band ever since. Marcel says, “These days my musical world is full of gigs, rehearsals and teaching drums. My regular gig is with the Oxo Cubans. I’m still learning new skills and disciplines through the many different gigs the Oxos play. I think the combination of that and teaching continues to give my drumming an edge. I'm definitely enjoying my music and drumming now more than ever. Beginning with the core trio of Doug, Craig and myself, the band has multiple lineups including an 8-10 piece Blues Revue, a 12 piece Country Roadshow, a full on 20 piece R&B Big Band and tops out at a 50 piece production with a variety of singers and dancers. We play all sorts of events, concerts and shows and I love the different combinations we put together depending on the nature of the gig. Consequently I get to play with a wide variety of great musicians. I love playing in the Oxo Cubans.” “Aside from gigging, I have my own drum tuition business in Dunedin called the Drum Studio. To find out more about me or my work, visit my website and don't forget to send me an email”. MARCEL RODEKA The Drum Studio Dunedin New Zealand. Phone Studio: 64 3 471709 Mobile: 027 6544970 Email: info@drumstudio.co.nz Web: www.drumstudio.co.nz | ||||||||||||||
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