Skip to main content

Roommate Biography

roommate
  • Formed in: Colorado Springs, CO
  • Years Active: 2000s-present
  • Genre: Rock & Alternative

The idea for Roommate, the alter ego/group of Colorado Springs native Kent Lambert, came about in 2000, after Lambert, a graduate of the University of Iowa who was working in New York City in the acquisitions department of a film distribution company, began writing little songs that his Brooklyn roommate and college friend Noah Minnick suggested he record. After attending a film premiere that starred River Phoenix's sister, Summer, and seeing members of the Phoenix family in person, Lambert wrote the song "RP (Forget the Metaphors)" and realized he had enough fame-themed material to make an EP. He self-released Celebs in August 2001 under the name Roommate, shortly before moving to Chicago. Though Lambert didn't spend much time marketing his material, a copy of Celebs made its way to the Studio Brussel radio show Duyster, where it received critical praise. In 2004, Lambert, who is also an experimental filmmaker, turned Roommate into a live band and began touring the Midwest. The Chicago-based Fresh Produce Records reissued Celebs in 2006, the same year that Lambert and company released the full-length album Songs the Animals Taught Us on Plug Research. In early 2007, the digital-only EP New Steam came out, showcasing the new, more organic, fuller sound the band was pursuing, and a year later the lovely We Were Enchanted hit shelves. ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi

Advertisement