25 Personal Questions
1. Name, Nickname, Birthday?
Roger Thomas, N´glish, Jan 30th
Where were you born?
Manchester, England
Where were you raised? (what cities)
Bronx and Queens, New York
2. What is your family background? (Nationality)
British born, Jamaican (Father), Guyanese (Mother)
Family?
(Siblings, married, children,etc.) Lynette (wife), Jordan (daughter), Quincy (Son) and Kennedy (Daughter). Brothers: Warren (in the band), Jonathan and Graham. Sister: Rachael
3. Before the band you were…and if you were not singing what would you be doing?
An Entrepreneur in both cases.
4. What is your voice part and your “vocal play” specialty?
I’m the 4th Tenor (or 5th if Warren is singing and not drumming)
5. What is your vocal range?
C2 to C4
6. What is the best thing and what is the hardest thing being in N7?
The best thing is doing what I love to do and would do for free. The hardest thing is being away from my family for long periods of time.
7. Do you play an instrument?(list)
Yes, Guitar, (enough to get through)
8. What’s your favorite place to perform?(why)
I don’t really have a favorite place…any place can be great, it depends on the vibe of the people, the acoustics and how well we are delivering. That could be in a cave for all I care.
9. What’s the worse thing that has happened on a stage and what was the best thing?
Worse thing is anytime we can not hear ourselves and we are in two or more keys at the same time and sometimes that can take several seconds to fix…I usually just want the ground to open up and take us out of the misery. The best thing is still probably winning the 1999 A Capella competition. (The Harmony Sweepstakes)…because we were still so new and it was the first time I remember an entire audience listening to every note, breath and dynamic…love it!…Quincy Jones’ 75th Birthday celebration singing “Wall of Sound“ and The BET Honor Awards Tribute to Herbie Hancock gave me similar emotions when the audience gave us an instant standing-O!
10. What are your musical influences?
It starts with my Dad’s gospel group “The Kings Proclaimers” because that got my brother and I interested in being in groups period. Then there was the Jackson 5; When Warren and I discovered some old records my Aunt had…we played them everyday religiously…jumping around like we were crazy. Later I got into anything harmonic…especially male groups. “New Edition”. My parents had a Simon and Garfunkel album that I played all the time and that probably had a major impact on my songwriting. Take 6 would be the biggest single influence on my starting Naturally 7. Without them, I would have no belief that complex harmony could be made into a commercial animal, although it became my goal to take that further.
11. Name your five favorite albums?
Of course this is a hard question, I’ll answer by the albums that I’ve spent more time listening to at the time they came out. I’m the type that once I love it, I listen to nothing else for months!
Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits
Michael Jackson “Thriller” (Production is the standard for all Pop Albums)
Take 6 (first album)
Salvador “ Into Motion”
Brandy “Full Moon” (Production and Harmonics)
12. Name your five favorite artists?
The Jackson’s, Take 6, Simon and Garfunkel, Coldplay, Rakim
13. What’s your favorite bible verse?
1st Corinthians 15:51 “For we shall not all sleep…”
14. What’s your favorite character from the bible?
Elisha
15. What are your hobbies?
Songwriting, arranging, looking at art, watching track and Field, Bowling, Ping Pong, Dominos, Spades (cards), anything competitive really.
16. What are your 3 favorite movies?
A Beautiful Mind (Russel Crowe), Crimson Tide (Denzel Washington/Gene Hackman), The Bourne Identity (Matt Damon/entire Trilogy)
17. What’s your favorite book?
The Bible, Paradise Lost (John Milton)
18. Favorite sport to watch, favorite sport to play?
Track and field and Basketball (watching) Volleyball and Ping Pong (Play)
19. What’s your favorite team in sports?
Lakers (NBA) Manchester United (Soccer)
20. Who is your favorite athlete/s?
Muhammed Ali, Usain Bolt, Kobe Bryant and Carl Lewis
21. What’s your favorite historical sports moment?
Usain Bolt breaking 100 meter record at 2008 Olympics.
22. What are the most unique items you travel with?
A roll up keyboard and jump rope
23. What is your biggest pet peeve?
That the world teaches “The Theory of Evolution” as if it was a scientific fact!
24. Who is your hero? (not parent)
Alex Haley for writing “Roots”
25. What is your view of life?
That one must seek the path to live again.