CAUSE & EFFECT
SEAN ROWLEY
interviewsofrecordingartists.com
When the Sacramento based techno pop band Cause & Effect first learned their single "You Think You Know Her", was a top forty radio hit as well as an alternative hit and Top Ten BILLBOARD dance hit, they were concerned fans would think they were selling out for greater commercial appeal "For the past ten years," said keyboardist Sean Rowley in a telephone interview from a dressing room in a Baton Rouge nightclub, "the quality of music on Top Forty Radio has been going downhill. Even though we've had a Top Forty Hit with "You Think You Know Her ", I wouldn't want our fans to think that's the only type of music that we want to play." For Rowley, the love of keyboard instruments began at age eight. He was taking piano lessons and becoming interested in musical composition. by the time he was 11, he'd abandoned formal lessons and started to take interest in techno pop pioneers OMD and Joy Division. His older brother was living in the San Francisco Bay area and had begun sending tapes to Rowley who was living in Denver. By listening to tapes of Depeche Mode, the young Rowley began to write his own melodies which sparked an interest in electronic keyboard oriented pop music.Eventually Rowley decided he wanted to form a musical group devoted to the techno pop genre. He hooked up with British born Robert Rowe for the first lineup of Cause & Effect. The venture didn't last long and Rowley joined a local band, leaving Rowe to work on solo projects. After a while Rowley grew tired of playing other people's music and got back together with Rowe to re-form Cause & Effect. "It was then I decided to be really serious about my music," Rowley said. With the new Cause & Effect Rowley and Rowe signed a contract with Sedona Recording Co. and went into the studio to record the "Another Minute" release. Drummer Richard Shepard had been studying drums for more than twelve years when he was asked by Rowley if he would be interested in touring with Cause & Effect. After a successful tour with the band, Shepard joined Cause & Effect as a full time member. Since the top forty hit single Rowley had found a much wider group of people have been coming out to see Cause & Effect in concert. "I'm amazed at how varied our fan base is. We get the really young kids and the really way out alternative kids. We've also consistently had people in their thirties come out to see us. it's really neat."
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