The Bone Bazaar Journals
R.Roulette
Although Devin and I didn’t officially meet until 1988, our paths had crossed twice prior.
We shared the same stage at a club called Backstage on Bissonnet at Hwy 59. I was the singer for a band called R. Roulette (we just called it Roulette for short) and Devin was the singer in a band called the Saints of Valhalla (which would eventually change to Star-Crossed Lovers).
I was 18 and fresh out of high school. My friend Kevin Lockler had introduced me to a band that he was working with and I somehow became the lead singer.
It wasn’t my first band, but in terms of longevity, dedicated rehearsals, and writing original material, it was my first “real” project.
R.Roulette was primarily a cover band with a couple of original songs. We were heavily influenced by Van Halen and all the affluent 80’s bands of the time.
R.Roulette consisted of myself on vocals, Mike Conde on guitar, Raudel Estrada on drums and Devin Nelson (not to be confused with my close friend, Devin Napoleon) on bass. Devin preferred to go under the moniker, Shadow.
We covered bands like Ratt, Dokken, White Lion and Whitesnake. If a band had a great guitarist, we more than likely covered them. We could’ve been a Van Halen tribute band with all of the VH songs we covered. Mike, Raudel, and I were pretty passionate about Van Halen.
Shadow was a die-hard Kiss fan, so for every Van Halen song we covered, he mandated that we would have to learn a Kiss cover. I wasn’t a big Kiss fan at the time, but it kept the peace within the band.
Mike Conde was an absolute beast of a guitarist. Still to this day, he ranks in my top-five list of guitarists that I’ve had the pleasure of working with. He was a purist when it came to covering other guitarists. He would learn every solo note-for-note. I had never met anyone like him before. I dubbed him “Kid Conde”.
We would feed off of each other’s energy during our live performances, always trying to emulate Van Halen’s animated stage shows.
I had developed a routine where I would jump off the stage and use the tables in the audience as extended catwalk stages. I also did the witty stage banter between songs like David Lee Roth.
Mike played through all of the songs seamlessly with incredible showmanship. He was explosive on stage. He was also an excellent vocalist.
We were pretty good, and were beginning to make a name, but the band dynamic was too diverse, and we couldn’t get beyond the drama that eventually took its toll and saw the demise of R. Roulette.
We had managed to write a couple songs together as a band. Keep On Dancing and Worse Comes To Worst were our introduction to songwriting. Both sounded a little too much like they could’ve been lost Van Halen demos.
We didn’t end on the best of terms, but I’m always happy when I see Mike or Raudel post about upcoming performances in whatever bands they’re in. I wish them nothing but success.