DOMINIK LUKAS
Born and raised in Vienna, Austria my musical journey began when I was around 4 years old absorbing my parents' record collection. I was so fascinated opening those double Vinyl records of CCR, Elvis and The Beatles, while leafing through the booklet, gazing at the photos of those bands performing on stage. I remember looking at every detail and instrument, and being completely mesmerized by the sound of pure Rock`n`Roll. Seeing my dad performing on stage and spending time at his band`s rehearsal space gave me a real life connection to the independent world of music. Those experiences made me realize early on that making music is something I could and must do myself.
Like my dad I started to learn the drums first but when I discovered the guitar it changed my life. Studying my favorite players like Jimi Hendrix, John Frusciante, Mark “Ace” Kent, Keziah Jones were a huge inspiration for me. Besides Indie and Rock music I deeply fell in love with Soul and Funk. The variety of rhythms, melodies, sounds and their heritage made me want to learn more about music from around the world and showed me that this journey is forever.
By the age of 15 I started playing in my own bands. Creating and writing music with people was all I wanted to do. To me the universal, connective experience of making music together is magical and deeply precious, this feeling has never changed. Over the years I've played in multiple bands, played many shows and wrote many songs. In my late twenties the last band I was in broke up, at this point I had already finished university, this lead to yet another fork in the road, a new journey.
I was always interested in the music business as well and had the burning desire to help artists to get to their next level and being heard and seen by the public. Working for a local record label was my entrance to the music business. At 28 years old I started the music agency ROLA MUSIC which focuses on the areas of booking and PR. We worked mainly with local talent and helped bands form other European countries to tour Austria. A couple of years later I got the opportunity to co-produce my first record with the Austrian band “Giantree”, a band I had signed to ROLA MUSIC a year before. Working as a producer for the first time outside of my own band productions was eye opening for me and helped me connect with what I am truly passionate about: people, sound, songwriting and navigating the mysteries of business side of music.
Their bands first record became a huge success in Austria and opened doors to radio rotation and playing the biggest festivals in the country. In the next year I got offers to produce more bands in Austria, but then life brought me another unexpected opportunity to start a new adventure. In my early thirties I packed my bags and moved to the USA. I settled down in Portland, OR and discovered an amazing music scene there. ROLA MUSIC then started to work with international artists to introducing them into the European territories. Parallel to my agency work I started producing bands in the US. 10 years later I feel very blessed and thankful to have gotten the opportunity to produce bands from all around the world and living my dream.
MUSIC IS LOVE, LOVE IS MUSIC.