Erik Norlander

Erik Norlander is a progressive rock keyboardist, composer and producer from California. He has written and produced over 30 albums since 1993 with his chanteuse spouse Lana Lane, his band Rocket Scientists, his own solo albums and numerous guest appearances. Erik's evocative keyboard technique is reminiscent of the legendary Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Patrick Moraz and Jon Lord while still very unique and forward-moving in its own right. Erik takes many of the classic riffs and phrases of his heroes and reinvents them with highly emotional pitch bending, vibrato and authoritative phrasing. This technique combines brilliantly with Erik's mastery of sound and production. Erik has personally led sound design efforts on several major brand synthesizers, and his knowledge of synthesis and audio engineering are second to none. Erik's perpetual live use of vintage and classic instruments, particularly Moog synthesizers, give his concerts a depth and authenticity of sound seldom seen in modern stage productions.

Erik Norlander was born in Hollywood, California, and grew up studying both jazz and classical music on several instruments from a young age through his years at the university where he also graduated with a degree in English Literature. While clearly a prog rocker, Erik is surprisingly quite adamant that he prefers melody over flashy playing and strong songwriting over artsy meandering.

Erik's latest solo release The Galactic Collective (2010), an prog rock tour de force of re-imaginings of his best instrumental compositions written for Lana Lane, Rocket Scientists and his previous solo albums. Previous solo albums are Threshold (1997), and instrumental progressive effort with a decidedly electronically bent and Into the Sunset (2000), a prog metal vocal album with a more traditional rock band sound.

Erik's third album is a 2CD rock opera concept album with an all-star cast entitled Music Machine about the dramatic rise and fall of genetically engineered rock star. The Music Machine rock opera was released worldwide in June, 2003, followed by a successful European tour with Lana Lane and vocalist Kelly Keeling.

Erik Norlander Promo Photo 2006

photo by Raj Naik
In 2004, Erik released his live recording, Stars Rain Down, featuring concerts in Europe. Later in 2004, Erik released a wholly electronic CD titled Seas of Orion which debuted at the Dutch Alfa Centauri Electronic Music Festival where Erik headlined that year. Erik’s DVD/CD titled Live in St. Petersburg, recorded in the Russian "northern capitol", was released in July, 2006. In 2006 Erik released Hommage Symphonique, an album of classic progressive rock cover songs produced and arranged in Norlander's signature style. Additional recent releases include his band Rocket Scientists’ Revolution Road (October, 2006) and Looking Backward (November 2007) and Lana Lane's Gemini (November 2006), Red Planet Boulevard (November 2007) and Best of Lana Lane 2000-2008, released in November, 2008.

In 2007, Erik joined ASIA featuring John Payne, the latest incarnation of the classic supergroup, as the band's keyboardist. He has toured extensively with the group throughout 2008 and 2009 and is working on new studio recordings. In 2009, Erik also toured in Europe with another supergroup, BIG NOIZE, featuring hard rock all stars, Joe Lynn Turner, Simon Wright, Phil Soussan and Carlos Cavazo. Erik also works extensively with THE BOB MOOG FOUNDATION and performed a 2009 concert along with Keith Emerson to open "The Legacy of Moog" exhibit at The Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California, and the epic "Moogus Operandi" concert in Asheville, North Carolina in 2010.

Erik Norlander has been featured in the October 2009 and September 2006 issues of KEYBOARD magazine in the USA as well as four appearances in the Japanese KEYBOARD magazine along with multiple appearances in BURRN!, STRANGE DAYS, PROGRESSION and ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN. He has been interviewed on numerous radio shows and continues to receive energized reviews in numerous publications around the world.

Norlander has toured and / or recorded with singers Kelly Keeling, Joe Lynn Turner, Glenn Hughes, Lana Lane, Tully Winfield, James LaBrie, Edward Reekers, Robert Soeterboek, Scott Kail, Mark Boals and Buck Dharma, bassists Tony Franklin, Don Schiff, Kristoffer Gildenlöw and Phil Soussan, guitarists Peer Verschuren, Neil Citron, Jim Williams, Gary Wehrkamp, Carlos Cavazo, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, drummers Greg Ellis, Gregg Bissonette, Ernst van Ee, Virgil Donati, Simon Wright, Vinny Appice and Chris Quirarte, flute and sax player David Schiff, flautist Martin Orford, trumpet player John Pappenbrook, trombone player Eric Jorgensen, violinist David Ragsdale and cellists Cameron Stone and Mike Alvarez.