Local Musician Drafted by Cult Band Legendary Pink Dots

Since forming in 1980, English group the Legendary Pink Dots — fronted by enigmatic singer-songwriter Edward Ka-Spel — has been one of the most enduring cult bands in the world. Colorado musician Randall Frazier joined that cult as a goth-listening teenager in the ’90s, and now he's become one of its leaders.

"I've loved their music since I was in high school," says Frazier, the keyboardist and newest member of Legendary Pink Dots. "Edward called me last year and said, 'Hey, how do you feel about just joining Legendary Pink Dots? I can't think of anyone else who would be better suited to do this.'"

Frazier's history with the Pink Dots goes back to 2003. He was working in the music industry as a press and radio publicist for New York's ROIR Records, and he scored a gig helping the band, which was signed to ROIR at the time. That led to a face-to-face meeting with his hero at a Ka-Spel solo concert at the Bluebird Theater later that year. Frasier's long-running Denver band Orbit Service opened for Ka-Spel that night, and a friendship was born.

At the time, Orbit Service was a full band that played often in Denver. But over the years, its membership has dwindled to one: Frazier himself. Now largely a recording project, Orbit Service has continued to release dark, dreamy psychedelic music at a prolific rate. After he quit doing publicity for a living, Frazier threw himself into sound engineering and talent buying at various venues around Denver, including the Mercury Cafe, the Walnut Room, Ophelia's Electric Soapbox and Levitt Pavilion. He has recently returned to his role running sound and booking at the newly reopened Ophelia's.

"I built the sound system at Ophelia's with my own hands," he says. "And while I was booking shows at the Mercury Cafe, I brought in local acts like Nathaniel Rateliff and Gregory Alan Isakov way before they got huge."

While booking bands at Levitt, he brought in everyone from Violent Femmes to Kurt Vile and Slowdive, greatly expanding the outdoor venue's scope beyond basic crowd-pleasers. He also cemented his connection to the Pink Dots, which invited Frazier to open for the group as Orbit Service on its U.S. and international tours in 2013. The synergy makes sense: Orbit Service's music is greatly influenced by the Pink Dots' ethereal, experimental psychedelia, which has evolved radically from the group's goth roots in early-’80s England.

"I think it's a mutual appreciation, you know?" Frazier says. "I love those guys. They're like family to me now. It's crazy how things work out sometimes."

The Pink Dots' new album, Chemical Playschool Volumes 23 & 24, was released in early October, and it's the band's first project featuring Frazier as a member. But he isn't the only Colorado musical luminary who appears on the record. Tom Hagerman of DeVotchKa also contributed to the album, which was created long-distance at three home studios: Frazier's in Bailey, Ka-Spel's in London and Pink Dots guitarist Erik Drost's studio in the Netherlands. As if he doesn't have enough on his plate, Frazier has also been DeVotchKa's live sound engineer since 2021, when he brought that band in to headline Levitt Pavilion.

"Tom played violin and viola on the new Pink Dots album, and he also did the string arrangements," Frazier says. "So it's kind of like my worlds are jelling together." That's even more true now that Drost has become the second member of Orbit Service — effectively erasing the barrier between the two bands.

The overlapping lineup of the Legendary Pink Dots and Orbit Service won't be playing in Denver until next Halloween, when they're already booked at Ophelia's for what will surely be one of the most sumptuously spooky shows of the season. Between now and then, they'll be touring Europe, and Orbit Service is working on its next album, Leave for Good, which is due early next year.

"Everything I've ever done with Orbit Service, as a musician and a producer, I kind of took from listening to the Pink Dots," Frazier says. "I think I've brought a new energy to the group, a fresh energy, and I'm proud of that. And I'm super proud to be a part of this amazing band that has put out so much great music for so long."

Like most cult bands, the Legendary Pink Dots aren't exactly a household name, even after 44 years of prolific and influential music. But the fans who have followed the group across the decades have formed a community of the devoted. Frazier, being one of the faithful himself, feels his unique position all too well.

"A lot of Pink Dots fans around the world already knew me before I joined," he says. "They knew who I was because I'd been on so many Pink Dots tours as a tour manager or an opening act. So I don't think it was really a surprise to them. It was probably more of a surprise to me."

Legendary Pink Dots and Orbit Service can be found on Bandcamp.