Roger Ortega is an amazing, vivacious, high-spirited, animated, hot and talented recording artist. He has appeared at Feathers and Posh and loved performing for the gay audience. and guess what, they loved him back! He already has one album released and is working on a second one slated to be released in February next year. Easy going and very candid, sporting an awesome sense of humor, he can be viewed on YouTube as well. We had an extraordinary conversation, and he has agreed to perform at the Get Out! awards this fall, which he says “would be an honor.” He is a very humble entertainer with a great voice and a sexy style!
So you’ve appeared at Feathers and Posh?
I did, Yes.
How did that go for you?
It was great! I’ve never heard so many guys “woo” at one time. I’ve heard “woo” girls, but never “woo” guys, and I love it! It was a good time!
So introduce yourself to our readers.
I am originally from Kansas. I moved out here about 15 years ago because I had a record deal with a “boy band” that I was in. You never heard of us because once we got up here there ws a shift in the industry. Universal was buying out everybody, and we got caught up in the merger, and so they never did anything with us. I ended up at the age of 24 kind of walking away from music because I felt like I was doing it since I was 14 (I started my own group at 14), and I thought this is a young man’s game, and I’m 24 and “I’m too old for this now.” Then I played for fun just here and there, and eventually, maybe 10 years later, I got another record deal on an independent label. I reluctantly signed it as an artist, because again I was like, at this point I had a family, and I was just not ready to take that on. Again, I didn’t know how the audience would accept me, being a little bit older now, and I found my niche. I feel I have a more mature audience now. My fans are roughly 25 and up, and they’re very loyal, and it’s amazing. The first album I released surprisingly reached number 62 on iTunes. I thought a couple friends would buy it, family, and when it came out, it just kept climbing higher and higher. I was like, who is this guy?
What’s the name of that album?
It’s called “RNB TOP WRYTR.”
So, how old are you anyway?
Between you and me … between you and my fans, I guess, I just hit 40 in April.
You’re looking good!
Thank you. I’m blessed, I have some good genes and I try and take care of myself.
What are you doing currently?
Well, right now I’m working on the second album. I’m about halfway done with it. I’m hoping to have the album out by February. I’m releasing a song September 30 called “She Ain’t Thinking Twice.” The way it was written was, it’s me giving advice to this guy: “Listen man, you had her, she was beautiful, she’s everything you wanted, and you dropped the ball basically, and now she’s gone on and ain’t thinking twice about you.” And throughout the song you realize that I’m really just talking to myself, and I’m the one that dropped the ball. I lost her.
I love that.
It’s kinda a nice little twist to the song.
So you write you own songs?
Yeah, I do , yes. I write every song that I do. I try to write based on real-life experiences of my own, or real-life experiences that I’ve seen other people go through. I try to become a character when I’m writing that song, and see it from their perspective and go from there.
So you sound like a lot of fun. Some of my questions aren’t typical industry questions, so let’s have some fun.
All right, let’s do it. I’m nervous.
You should be! If you were a superhero, name your powers. To fly, which is ironic, because I’m scared of heights.
If you were a porn star, what would your name be?
Gizmo Lake.
That was fast.
It’s one of those things where you name your first pet and your first street.
That’s how a lot of drag queens come up with their names too.
That’s funny that that came to me so quick. I didn’t miss a beat with that. That’s funny.
Do you have children?
I do. I have a 10 year old and a 2 year old. She’ll be 2 on October 1.
You wake up in the morning, have some coffee, and then what motivates you?
Honestly, my fans. I wanna give the best of myself to them. If you would have said what motivates me to get out of bed, I would have said my alarm. My ringtone to wake me up is the theme from “Rocky.”
Growing up, who inspired you?
I was inspired by Michael Jackson of course, but also songwriters like Richard Marx, Lionel Richie, George Michael and The New Kids on the Block were really instrumental and made me want to do this as a group. And then eventually Boyz 2 Men, Color Me Badd, and then I hit the puberty stage of my career, basically finding out who I am. For a long time it was Wham, George Michael and Michael Jackson. Those were my idols in my young years.
If you could pick someone to play your life story, who would it be?
The Rock.
What’s your favorite movie?
“The Three Amigos.” That has always been my favorite movie. And then it’s “Dumb and Dumber,” so obviously you get my sense of humor here.
What’s the one thing you would want to tell me?
That I think I’m more charitable than I let on. I constantly help people out. A lot of them don’t ask for it, and it’s because I’ve been there, where I’ve needed money. Growing up my family didn’t have a lot of money, but there was a lot of love. Now that I’m in a position where I can give back a little bit, I do. For instance, I was upstate somewhere, and I was coming out of a grocery store, and I saw this lady crying. She was an older Spanish lady, and this little boy who was maybe 3 years old was sitting in her shopping cart, and I could tell she didn’t want him to see her crying. She was kind of hiding her eyes. I was thinking I don’t know what her problem is. I went back and I gave her $50. She didn’t want to take it, so I told her to take it for her little boy.
Aww.
And even with fans. When I see fans struggle, I’ll secretly send them a little bit of money, something to help them out a little bit. I don’t really broadcast that, but if you were gonna know something about me, that’s it!
