Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.

Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (born May 27, 1966) is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the bands Jellyfish, the Moog Cookbook, Imperial Drag, and The Lickerish Quartet. He has also spent several years as a member of Beck's backing band, contributed to several recordings by the band Air, and toured or recorded with acts such as Jay-Z, Blink 182, and Johnny Cash. In 2005, he released his first solo record, Solid State Warrior, followed with Robo-Sapiens (as "Mailibu", 2007), Catnip Dynamite, and Glamping (2018). He is usually credited by his full name to avoid confusion with the folk musician Roger Manning.

Early life Roger Joseph Manning Jr. was born May 27, 1966, the first child of Roger Manning, a businessman for Monroe Calculators, and Jane DeLara, a schoolteacher. He has two brothers: Chris (born October 6, 1968) and Tim (born September 10, 1970). The family later moved from Valencia, California to Pleasanton. As a child, Roger was enamored with ragtime music and took piano lessons; later he taught himself to play the drums. The first records he bought with his own money were Kiss' Alive! (1975) and the Beach Boys' Endless Summer (1974).

Career

Jellyfish

Manning attended Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton in the 1980s. There, he met drummer Andy Sturmer. After graduating, Manning moved to Los Angeles and enrolled at USC to study musical composition. He involved himself with the local scene and began auditioning for various bands. In August 1989, a year after Atlantic Records released Beatnik Beatch's eponymous debut album,

Jellyfish released two albums: Bellybutton (1990) and Spilt Milk (1993), whose combined sales totaled over 269,000 copies. During this era, Sturmer and Manning worked with Ringo Starr, for his 1992 solo album Time Takes Time, and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Wilson and Jellyfish had one songwriting session and it was unproductive; Manning described the experience as "utterly surreal". and in May, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Jellyfish had disintegrated due to "creative differences". Afterward, Manning formed the short-lived glam outfit Imperial Drag with ex-Jellyfish guitarist Eric Dover. On stage and in their promotional materials, the band donned space-suit disguises that were similar to outfits worn by another emerging electronic duo, Daft Punk. This was reportedly only a coincidence. Music journalist Brian Chidester commented that the band "yielded solid overseas sales amidst the retro-obsessed landscape of Pulp Fiction, the Swing revival and thrift shop mania. The duo even ... found a small domestic audience attuned to similar electronic psych-pop coming out of Europe by bands like Stereolab, Mouse on Mars and the High Llamas." Initially, the trio did not intend to record; rather, they wanted to have small writing sessions. Eventually, though, they wrote and recorded twelve songs, which are being spread across 3 EPs (titled Vol. 1, Vol. 2, and Vol. 3) through 2020 and 2021, with the releases being joined by singles from the EPs. Session drummer Jeremy Stacey joined to augment the trio on the recordings. Andy Sturmer, however, wasn't invited to work with them due to his reluctance to work within the music industry.

Solo In early 2006, Manning released his first solo album in Japan only: Solid State Warrior. He credited it under his full name to avoid confusion with the folk musician Roger Manning. It was subsequently issued in the U.S. under a different title, The Land of Pure Imagination, along with an altered song content. The album included one of the songs Manning wrote with Brian Wilson, "Wish it Would Rain", albeit with Wilson's contributions omitted.

In March 2008, Manning released his second solo album, Catnip Dynamite, in Japan only. It was released in the U.S. on February 3, 2009 with the addition of three bonus tracks that were recorded during a live performance at Fujifest in Japan.

In 2019 Manning co-wrote and performed background vocals on the song "You'll Never Guess What Happened Today" with internet pioneer Jaye Muller, "Count Jaye" for his 2019 album release.

Discography Solo and collaborative Logan's Sanctuary (2000) Solid State Warrior (2005) Robo-Sapiens (2007) Catnip Dynamite (2008) Glamping (2018) Radio Daze & Glamping (2023)

With bands

Beatnik Beatch Beatnik Beatch (1988) Jellyfish Bellybutton (1990) Spilt Milk (1993) Imperial Drag Imperial Drag (1996) The Moog Cookbook The Moog Cookbook (1996) Ye Olde Space Bande (1997) Bartell (2005) Oxbow Love's Holiday (2023) TV Eyes TV Eyes (2006) The Lickerish Quartet Threesome Vol. 1 (2020) Threesome Vol. 2 (2021) Threesome Vol. 3 (2022) Fables From Fearless Heights (2022) (collects all three EP's plus two bonus cover songs: "So Like Candy" and "Sugar Me")

Appearances Esa Linna – This Is Who I Am (2013) Esa Linna – She's Not a Human Being (2012) Marianas Trench – "Echoes of You" (on the album Phantoms, 2019) Justice – "Incognito" (on the album Hyperdrama, 2024)