The Roland High Life is a power-pop/indie rock band from Boston that plays coffee shop songs cranked up to 11. Founding members Thom Dunn (vocals/guitar), Walker Dieckmann (vocals/keys), and Chris Correia (drums) first started making music together in the mid-00s, bonding over their working class roots, time spent in scrappy New England ska/punk/hardcore bands, and their love for well-crafted songwriting. The aspired to combine that DIY energy with thoughtful, literary lyricism in the vein of Bruce Springsteen, Alex Chilton, and Elvis Costello. They spent a few years playing around the Boston area, even headlining legendary venues like TT the Bear’s.
But sometimes life gets in the way of rock & roll. And sometimes there’s not even a good story to go along with it; the band just sort of fizzled out as the members all stumbled through the chaos of their 20s. They still kept in touch over the years, casually sharing songs and making music. After a decade-long hiatus, they started recording again—this time joined by bassist Jake WM, who’d filled in for the band a few times in their first incarnation. They released two new EPs as a studio band — 2019’s “Another Other Dorset” and 2020’s “Songs About Comic Books & Mid-30s Malaise,” both of which they engineered and produced themselves at home.
It wasn’t until 2022 that the band finally started playing shows again, recruiting lead guitarist Nick Krefting to help fill out their live sound. The newly refreshed quintet is tighter than ever, and has swiftly established a new reputation with their memorable songwriting and earnest, energetic performances. Whether playing to a packed house at the Silhouette Lounge, or an outdoor stage at the JP Music Festival, or at the prestigious Boston Rock & Roll Rumble, the Roland High Life is known for making crowds go, “Wow, they were like, actually pretty good.”
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