Roger Rivas is a reggae producer, dub engineer, organist, and DJ from Los Angeles. Roger is best known for his productions and playing style that hark back to the Jamaican music of the 1960s & ’70s. As a student of early Reggae music, he lends his unique style of keyboard playing to several bands which include The Long Beach Dub Allstars, The Aggrolites, Night Owls, The First Cuts, and his house band The Brothers of Reggae. He has recorded and played keyboards for many original Jamaican artists such as Alton Ellis, Prince Buster, Derrick Morgan, Pat Kelly, The Cables, Leonard Dillon, Keith & Tex, King Jammy, Soul Syndicate as well as contemporary artists Jason Mraz, Quantic, Slightly Stoopid, Ozomatli, and Tim Armstrong. Rivas has performed on the stages of the Coachella Festival, Fuji Rock, Leeds Festival, Reading Festival, KROQ’s Weenie Roast, & the Byron Bay Bluesfest among others.
Roger grew up in Los Angeles and comes from a very musical family. Roger’s father played a crucial part in the "Brown Sound" of East L.A. playing keyboards for the legendary Chicano group Tierra. Roger would be introduced to key musicians of that scene including the members of WAR, Malo, El Chicano, Thee Midniters, and many more. Much of Rivas’s musical influence is owed to this. He quotes " The whole Chicano sound of back in the day shares so much with Jamaican music. Any lover of The Techniques is gonna easily love Sly, Slick, and Wicked. Any lover of Gene Chandler is gonna dig Alton Ellis ."
Rivas owns his own analog-based studio (Rivas Studios) which pumps out productions that are influenced by early Jamaica. He is known for achieving a signature “vintage” sound which can be found on all of his releases. The recording, engineering, and mixing process all go through Roger. The studio houses many of Roger’s own vintage keyboards, organs, and pianos. He also owns many of the effects units and gear that were specifically used in early Jamaican Music.
In 2020 Roger along with his co-host Devin Morrison created the now popular podcast “The Reggae Podclash” which was housed under the Rootfire platform. The RPC's mission is to share the stories of foundational reggae artists, creating a historical record told by the artists themselves, while building bridges to new artists who have followed in their footsteps.
Roger is also known worldwide as a dub engineer. When creating dub versions, Roger chooses to use the same mixing approach as the originators did in the 1970s & ’80s. He is a student of the classic dub genre and relies heavily on the same original instruments and effects that defined the music. He is the owner of the famous Rivas Studios, which houses many of Roger’s own vintage keyboards, organs, and pianos as well as era-specific equipment which allows him to produce authentic-sounding mixes that echo those of King Tubby, Scientist, Errol Thompson, and Lee Perry.
