Lawrence Dermer

Early Years:

From an early age I dreamt of making music. As a boy, I would listen
to the radio and imagine that one day I would hear myself on it and
have the ability to touch millions of souls with my sound. As I grew it
became apparent to me that I was given a gift and a special purpose
to touch people all over the world and elevate them through music.
At age six I began taking piano lesions and learning the classics.
Although the experience was a great foundation, I was drawn to
contemporary music and found myself able to play what I heard on
the radio or records by ear. By the time I was 12 I was playing in a
band with other kids in the neighborhood. My parents would allow us
to rehearse in the living room and we played private parties and High
School dances.

Several years later I joined a band called the Kidz who were from a
nearby area, Hollywood, FL, and I was from Miami. This was exciting,
we were playing original material and appearing at local rock clubs,
and this was definitely a step up. As we grew apart Johnny Depp, who
was also a member of the band, moved to Los Angeles to pursue his
acting career, and I got an audition for a Miami based Latino funk
band caused Foxy. This was really exciting and I considered the
opportunity to be a major break for me as Foxy had hit records and
had been touring with the Jackson 5.

I had some great experiences with Foxy, making records and touring
for the first time of my life at only 17 years old. After a couple of
years Foxy disbanded and the members went their separate ways.
When this happened I went to work making records as a session
keyboard player and I learned the ropes at our old label, TK records
in Hialeah, FL. TK records was the home of the original Miami sound,
and it was there that I learned the business from great artists like
KC and the sunshine band, Bobby Caldwell, Jimmy Bo Horne,
Betty Wright, and Clarence Reid. The exposure that I got to R&B,
funk, and dance music was incredible and I had great experiences
that I will never forget.


Miami Sound Machine:

Beginning with the dance success of Dr. Beat and leading to the
eventual pop success of Conga, Bad Boy and Falling in Love, my
cross cultural experiment put Miami Sound Machine on the map with
a slew of multi platinum records. This success spawned a new era of
Miami sound and once again put Miami on the record industry radar
screen. From the success of Sound Machine I was able to create more
and more music for many other popular artists such as Madonna,
Jennifer Lopez, Jon Secada, Cher, Lenny Kravitz, Will Smith,
and more. I also received many Grammy nominations. My life so far
has been exciting and rewarding. I know that the success of Gloria
and the sound machine has opened the door for a whole new
generation of young Latin artists like Jennifer Lopez, and Thalia.

After a short while I became the most sought after session player in
Miami, working at TK, Criteria, and several other Miami area studios.
In my travels I met a young Cuban American couple by the name of
Gloria and Emilio Estefan. They were working around town in a band
called The Miami Sound Machine, playing parties and Cuban sweet
sixteen’s. They had put out several records in Spanish, but knew that
real success couldonly be achieved by recording in English.
Emilio came to me and asked me to help him creates a sound that
would combine his Latino Roots with my American pop sound.
Well the rest is history and my cross-cultural experiment put us all
on the map with a slew of multi-platinum successes.

I feel that I played a significant role not only in creating music that
would touch people on a global basis, but also help in transforming
a culture rich in tradition and Afro-Cuban roots, and give it a new life
by translating it into the 20 and 21st century. I am very proud of this
but now I have a new goal. A new purpose, one that I have had all
along, just not realized.

Third House Rising is the culmination of a lifetime of experiences,
thoughts and feelings in combination with the melodies and rhythms
of my soul and Robin’s divinely inspired melodies and lyrics. I hope to
touch people everywhere and evoke in them a strong sense of
contemporary spirituality, awareness and pride.

Family:

I met my wife, Robin when we were both kids. I just turned 18 and
she was 16. From the moment we met I think we both knew that we
were destined to be together. It turned out that when Robin was 12
and her family moved to Florida my grandfather sold them the house
they were building. When my Grandfather met Robin he playfully told
her, “Boy, do I have a Grandson for you.” 

It’s no coincidence that Robin and I met three years later.
My Grandfather was shocked to see Robin again. We actually met at
her house. I was friends with her brother and came by to visit him.
She answered the door and that was it. Love at first sight. After High
School, Robin and I moved to New York together and lived in a
basement in Queens. She worked as a legal secretary during the
day and went to school at night. I was a struggling musician, trying to
break into the New York scene as a studio session player. I fell into
gig acting on the soap opera Another World. Morgan Freeman was
on the soap and I remember thinking he was an incredibly
inspirational and driven guy.

Robin and I moved back to Florida with the initial success of
Miami Sound Machine. Robin became a lawyer and I continued making
records. About 18 years ago, Robin and I stumbled across some of
her diary’s from her teenage years and I told her that I thought that
in those pages was a wealth of material that could be adapted to
pop songs. Robin had always written poetry, stories and kept journals
but never tried to write a song. With a little bit of direction from me
as to song format we began collaborating. The rest is history.

Robin and I have three wonderful kids, Jaxson, Harrison and
Alliya ages 19, 17 and 8. My family is truly my greatest joy.

Third House Rising:

I played a significant role not only in creating music that would touch
people on a global basis, but also helped in transforming a
culture rich in tradition and Afro-Cuban roots, giving it a new life by
translating it into the 20 and 21st century. I am very proud of my
ccomplishments. They have led me to the incredible place in my life
where I am now.

Third House Rising is the culmination of a lifetime of experiences,
thoughts and feelings in combination with the melodies and rhythms
of my soul. When meshed with Robin’s divinely inspired lyrics and
melodies the music ignites, like the flame of a candle reaching up to
the heavens. We hope to touch people everywhere through our songs
and evoke in them a strong sense of contemporary spiritual
awareness and pride. We hope to rekindle the hidden sparks of
holiness, which are present in each one of us and through music
return them to their source.

I pray that with a willing heart and eager spirit, I will continue to
always be inspired and create uplifting, thought provoking and
entertaining music.

©2008 Third House Rising.