Cover photo by: Iggleton Irie
Today marks 23 years since Rozz Williams (Roger Allen Painter) departed the world. He has influenced many people and is near and dear to many around the world. Every year around his birthday (November 6th) and his death anniversary today people have Rozz nights in honor of Rozz. Many know him from his band “Christian Death”. But he also had other projects like “EXP”, “Premature Ejaculation” and “The Shadow Project” just to name a few. He is what we call California Deathrock. One of the pioneers of our Deathrock music in California. Many of us who live in Los Angeles or California are deemed lucky at times by others due to the fact that we live here and get the chance to be surrounded by and listen to music made by Rozz’s closest friends and former band members. It’s honestly harder every time I write about Rozz. I was too young to ever know him or go to his shows. However being close to people that worked with him or knew him- I always worry about whether or not I wrote enough or too much about Rozz. I find it easier to say the truth- Simply put; Rozz is loved by many people and continues to influence generation after generations of musicians and artists. That his music has meant and means a lot to many- that it has helped people with their emotional problems. That Rozz somehow understood pain- which led them to understand their own pain- which led them to heal or make life a little better. This is somewhat a reiteration of last year but I would like to add commentary from my daughter Brianna.
“Many people have a religion but my religion is music and Rozz Williams. His music has helped me a lot. Whenever I’m sad I listen to the 20 year anniversary double album that Gitane Demone & Rikk Agnew gifted me for my birthday in 2018. It’s so good and I get to listen to Rozz and Gitane together. It’s my therapy.” - Brianna
Some photos by Edward Colver