Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"Knife in Water" galvanized Dialog, a new CD that finds Iyall older but no less inspired. Best song Venus in the Supermarket! Silke Tudor
- BAM
...It's more fun to hear the sexually suggestive scenarios, Iyall is scripting now, when she hisses - Watch
Me- over Dunne's creepy crunchy riffs, she aint talking about printmaking. Iyall looks and sounds fabulous! - Tom Lanham - Tom Lanham
The unforgettable chorus of their best-known song, 1981's "Never Say Never," the phrase on its own makes the song sound like some kind of shock-value novelty, and indeed, that's probably how many people remember it. Yet a careful listen to the verses, with their intimations of incest, murder, homelessness, and other dark subjects, makes plain that singer/lyricist Debora Iyall has more on her mind than simple salaciousness.
The combination of Iyall's powerful vocals and searing imagery with the band's muscular blend of Joy Division's atmospherics and the Gang of Four's rattling momentum, with Benjamin Bossi's splattering free jazz saxophone coloring everything, made Romeo Void one of the strongest of the American post-punk bands. - All Music Guide/Stewart Mason
"The disc's dark dance beats and Iyall's brooding vocals won't disappoint her longtime fans - J. Poet
SF Weekly/ House of Tudor
- San Francisco Chronicle/Lively Arts
Discography
* 1995 Totally Wired, Razor and Tie Records Compilation including cuts by: Gang of Four, Pylon, Delta 5, Bauhaus, Joy Division, Bush Tetras, Raincoats and of course, Romeo Void RE 2076
* 1994 The Best of 415 Records, 415 Records/Sony/Legacy includes Wire Train, Red Rockers, Translator & RV
* 1991 Warm in your Coat, Sony/Legacy Romeo Void CD compilation CK 47964
* 1986 Strange Language, Sony/Legacy (Debora's solo record, very limited release) vinyl
* 1984 Instincts, Columbia Records (Includes Girl in Trouble, Romeo Void's top 40 single) vinyl
* 1983 Benefactor, Columbia Records (includes shorter radio (MTV) version of NVR say NVR) vinyl
* 1982 NVR SAY NVR, Columbia Records (This has the original vinyl version of NVR say NVR)
* 1981 It's a Condition, 415 Records (1st romeovoid release, rare now) vinyl
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Romeo Void singer/lyricist rocks again!
Debora hadn't been living in Oregon long when Portland's own Kevin Jarvis came to town with Grant Lee Phillips and made keen introductions among his friends. That's how Debora began to recruit the amazing talent that is now set to join her onstage as Nvr Say Nvr.
In October 2003 Debora Iyall and her 80’s “new wave” band Romeo Void were featured on VH-1’s Bands Reunited, which brought memories of the band to many and also won a new generation of fans who dig honest, edgy, danceable rock n’roll. College radio and vanguard commercial radio (KROQ in LA and WBCN in Boston) discovered Romeo Void with their first release “It’s A Condition” on 415 Records. In 1982 MTV, dance clubs and radio made Romeo Void’s “Nvr Say Nvr” an 80’s classic with its edgy stratspheric sax solo and memorable refrain
“I Might Like You Bettter if We Slept Togther”. The EP was produced by Ric Okasek of The Cars at Boston’s Synchro Sound Studios. Network television soon joined in. Casey Kasem’s “American Top 40” countdown and Dick Clark’s American Bandstand both presented Romeo Void when “Girl In Trouble” from 1985’s “Instincts” was a Top 40 hit in 1984
Now - Nvr Say Nvr is Mary Sue Tobin (saxaphones), Greg Paul (guitars), James Wallace (bass), and Steve Salmon (drums). Together they perform music from Romeo Void with other Iyall-penned post-Romeo Void tunes.
Mary Sue Tobin (saxophones) holds a Masters in Saxophone Performance and a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from Portland State University. She has played with Portland jazz luminaries (including: Glen Moore, Darrell Grant, Thara Memory, Alan Jones and many others) in addition to leading her own groups. Current performing ensembles include: Andrew Oliver Sextet, Paxselin Quartet, People's Music Orchestra, Swamp Cactus, The Groove and The Portland Jazz Orchestra. She performs regularly with The Oregon Symphony Pops (Pointer Sisters, Johnny Mathis) and has appeared at numerous Jazz Festivals (including The Portland Jazz Festival, The Mount Hood Jazz Festival, The Vancouver Wine and Cheese Jazz Festival, The Banff International Jazz Festival) and has shared the stage with international jazz stars such as Dave Douglas, James Moody and Esperanza Spalding. She appears in the movie "Hear No Evil" with the group Dub Squad and has toured internationally with the groups Flatland and Dub Squad, opening up for legends like Herbie Hancock, Steel Pulse and Third World. She and her family live in Portland, OR where she teaches and performs professionally.
Greg Paul (guitars/vocals/engineer) guitarist Greg Paul leads a multi-faceted existence in Portland, Oregon as a songwriter, recording engineer, studio musician, project sideman, and accomplished producer with over forty CD/vinyl projects, both film and musical scoring, and countless national ads to his credit.
James Wallace (electric bass/vocals/music coordinator) is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music in Boston. Jim has performed with: The Odds with brothers Duane and Kevin Jarvis, Crazy 8's, and the infamous Theatre of Sheep, which provided soundtrack cuts to the film "Kurt and Courtney", as well as countless additional groups. James is a featured sideman with Mark Spangler on "Don't go in the Basement" released in 2001 and recent commercial session work.
Steve "Coho" Salmon (drums/vocals/engineer) is a veteran of the Portland rock scene of the 90s. In addition to his work with Nvr Say Nvr, Coho founded and directs the Corp-Vets a drum percussion ensemble, plays studio and freelance casual music, and enjoys sound engineering with radio credits to his work from his own Coho Sound Studio in Clackamas, OR. Steeped in rudiments with progressive rock inspiration, Coho rounds out the rhythm section.
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