Do you have a story behind your artist name?
SEX-O-RAMA got started when our record exec asked me to be part of a team of producers to record music from 70s Adult Films. Adam Pike, my longtime co-producer, and I got the band together from musicians we knew in the music industry. Every one of us knew it was a great way to poke fun at the Religious Right, the Music Industry, even the Film Industry, so we all came into it with a smart-assed attitude and a sense of humour. By the end of that first album, the other producers, and the other musicians, had all dropped out. So we who were left decided that we were SEX-O-RAMA. Not just an album but a band. Albeit, a studio band, but still, we decided to just own it.
Tells us a bit about your music journey. How has it shaped you?
Personally, I think working with Sex-O-Rama has made me more eclectic. By practicing and living The Funk, it has made me far more funky. It has also taken me down the rabbit hole of Postmodern art, and made me look at “Low Art” as a valid source for “High Art.” With each passing year, that fascinates me more.
And also, I have become extremely suspicious of people’s moral outrage. Since we started out challenging societal taboos, and I was one of the few who used my real name on our albums, I’m constantly having to deal with people who want to dismiss our work, our musicality, my own classical background. It’s always grounded in some aspect of moral outrage, and peoples’ presupposition about my work, my motives, my life in general. Once people get on the Moral Outrage train, they can dehumanise anyone.
How would you describe your sound to someone unfamiliar with it?
Sex-O-Rama is what people THINK old pornos sounded like. It is the soundtrack for your dirty mind. We are highly influenced by those old Porno soundtracks, but our music is a completely new thing, disguised as a bit of very naughty time-travel.
We often use the term “Porn Funk” to describe our sound, but that’s just shorthand for the sound we came up with. Our sound is super-funky grooves with quite a bit of wah-wah guitars and heavy bass. It has evolved from sounding strictly 1970s to including styles and instruments from the 1980s, and all done with enough humour to keep it fun.
What drew you to the genre /instruments you’re playing right now?
The genre right now was actually the idea of our guy at Oglio Records, Hugh Jassol. He’s been begging us for an album that time-travels back to the 80s. So the instruments we used were all of our old axes from back in the day. I’m a very hands-on producer, so sometimes I sit in on guitar or synthesizer. My first synthesizer was a mid-80s Roland Juno. I still have it and so those sounds are all vintage. I also use a 1981 Moog Rogue synthesizer. I have a late 80s Carvin guitar and I often play it through a Crybaby Wah-Wah pedal and sometimes a Boss chorus. But all the guys in the band have vintage gear from when we were young.
And if anyone asks, I still buy Roland synths. I still buy Moog synths. I still use all the old Boss pedals and quite a few new ones and reissues. I like them because the sound good. They sound fat. The are easy for me to mix and EQ and get the tone I want.
What inspires you to write music?
For the Sex-O-Rama albums, my inspiration was to get into the collective dirty minds of society. How do people talk to each other about sex? How do we react to that? What makes us smile about it? What will make prudish people squirm? What do we find shocking? Why is it taboo? It’s a fine line, to avoid being pervy, to avoid letting it be gross or ick. The best way to remind people to open their minds is to present to them all the ideas and let them think. And maybe give them a laugh as well.
Would you tell us about your current project, album/EP, or song you’re promoting?
“Sex-O-Rama 5: Invaders From The Pleasure Planet” is a double-album musical journey through the 1980s, as heard in the soundtracks of Adult Films. It explores the different genres of music found in that decade, and the kinds of adult humour it was most associated with. The album progresses between Funk, Electro, Jazz, Blues, Rock, New Wave, ambient cinematic pieces, all intended to let your mind wander to the 1980s views about sex and sexuality. It was the pinnacle of the Sexual Revolution, and we thought all of society could use a reminder of what that was like, in all it’s messy, raunchy glory.
Only three of the tracks have lyrics, including “Alien Sex Bot,” which seems weirdly timely now, with the rise of AI. We also included a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.” Mostly just because we felt like it.
What do you want listeners to take away from listening to your music?
We all hope that we can make people smile and laugh and feel a little bit naughty. We want them to groove, both in their everyday lives and between the sheets, and carry some of that sexiness around with them wherever they go. And we want them to try this music at home with someone they love. Or at least someone they like a lot. And if jams like “Russian Pee Tape” and “Stormy Rides Again” helps remind you that the billionaires in charge are far more obscene than we are, we’ve done our jobs.
Who are your top three artists right now? If that’s not a fair question, what’s your favorite song right now?
Personally, I love Angelo Ferreri. His Disco-inspired House Music jams are funky as hell! I also really love Purple Disco Machine. In classical music, I’m still a big fan of Essa Pekka Salonen.
What’s the easiest way for fans to connect with you?
For Sex-O-Rama, the best way to connect with me is through Oglio Records. But for my own music it’s just as easy to contact my Facebook Page. I try to answer all messages.
Here’s our Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/SEX0RAMA/
The website is here:
http://sex-o-rama.com/
And this is the CD Booklet for the album (with story and credits)
http://sex-o-rama.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SOR5-CD-Book-3.pdf
Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/nz/album/invaders-from-the-pleasure-planet/1793303939
What’s next for you?
Sex-O-Rama has been in the studio for over two years on these two most recent albums, so after a well deserved break, I’m looking forward to doing a few modern remixes of our more disco-oriented jams. I want to bring our brand of sexiness to the dance floor.
Personally, I have been going back to my classical music roots and writing large symphonic works in the breaks between production, so I’ll enjoy a bit more of that. I also have a Disco Opera that I put on hold while I produced these two albums, so I’m excited about getting back to work on that one. And I’ve been preparing a retrospective of my more ambient synthesizer works from the past 30 years. It’s very spacey and I know there are a few people out there who might enjoy it.
Anything else you’d like to add or let us know about?
The two most recent Sex-O-Rama albums were recorded as complete albums, meaning that they were intended to be listened to in one setting, in album order, to give the listener a particular musical journey. It’s a bit old-skool, but that’s why you listen to Sex-O-Rama in the first place. They’re old-skool musicians doing old-skool things. I hope you enjoy the journey.
Carvin Knowles
Producer
Sex-O-Rama
Bio:
Made up of a clandestine group of renowned studio musicians, SEX-O-RAMA has operated in the shadows of the music industry for decades, creating the soundtracks for “adult films.” Fusing elements of funk and film score in secret recording sessions, they became the first masters of Porn Funk.
It’s Funk with a dirty mind…
