Rogue Wave Wakes Up To Unplanned Success

When Zach Rogue, the lead singer of San Francisco's Rogue Wave, was laid off from his job in the computer industry, it became the best thing that's ever happened to him. "I was playing music before and I had a job, and no one came out to see us at all. Now that I was jobless suddenly, [I could] do it full time. So, I didn't expect to become a professional musician," Zach articulates. "Really by accident the band was started, and our music was put out on a whim, and none of that was really a plan."

Since then, Rogue Wave has released three albums, been on two reputable labels and were recently on tour with Jack Johnson. As impressive as this may sound, being the opening band on a tour is never an easy job. For indie pop-rockers Rogue Wave, opening for an international star like Jack Johnson seemed a daunting task at first. "Jack's music is very rhythmic, and serene and beautiful and kind of an island music, and ours was not [any] of those things. So I wondered if we'd get some disgusted looks, some heckling or just nothing, which is the worst." Fortunately, Zach's concerns turned out to be nothing. "Every show has been great, and I don't think the people that go to see Jack are a monolithic group. People who like all different kinds of music like his music, and I think that's why he did think it would be possible that if we played, some people might be into it."

Rogue Wave signed on to Jack Johnson's label Brushfire for their latest album, Asleep At Heaven's Gate. The whole album is fraught with contrasting images, "a balance of unbridled joy and real fear for what's to come," as Zach describes it. "I think the record is about duality," Zach explains. "When I was recording, my daughter had just been born and I was feeling this immense joy. [But] you turn on the television, and you see this a**hole president who is this evil sinister person who is representing you. And the crime rate is just absurd, on my own street, [there are] murderers and people ripping each other off. And [I'm] wondering where is my child going to go to school when every school district is bankrupt."

Rogue Wave's music reflects this social consciousness. Lake Michigan, the dreamy single off Asleep At Heaven's Gate is loosely based on the theme of environmental damage. Although touring is an essential part of being a professional musician, Zach realizes that aspects of it are harmful. "There's so much waste in rock music or any kind of touring situation. It feels like the most self-indulgent thing in the world to do, and it seems really damaging even though spiritually it's nice to be hearing music and to be performing."

That's why Rogue Wave has chosen to participate in Clif GreenNote's Protect the Places We Play benefit album to raise awareness for eco-conscious touring. "I want to be a part of a group that's actually interested in trying to diminish the waste and to provide any kind of means to make it better." As for their touring, "We did bio-diesel whenever we could, [but] we couldn't do it for every show because we're the opening band and we could hardly afford it."

Socially conscious, musically talented and touring with big-name acts, Rogue Wave has found unexpected success and has a promising future ahead of them.