BIOGRAPHY

Deborah Giles hit the Austin, Texas, music scene in 1982 with her first band, Private Lives. The five-piece new-wave pop band garnered critical acclaim in Billboard Magazine, earning “Best Album of the Week” and “Best New Band of the Week.” Giles commanded her stage and songs with a powerful voice and no-nonsense countenance. Her regional hit, “When the World Comes Crashing Through,” received airplay in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. The Top 40 Austin radio station, K-98, kept it in heavy rotation, charting for the station at No. 6 for the year, despite competing against songs by national and international music groups. The Austin Chronicle named it “Best Song of 1982,” while the No. 1 Austin rock radio station, KLBJ also kept several of her band’s songs in rotation. 

Throughout her career, Giles’ bands (Private Lives, Cautious Dreams, and The Deborah Giles Band) landed a number of opening slots for national and international groups, including Huey Lewis and the News, A Flock of Seagulls, Thomas Dolby, The Fixx, Berlin, Marianne Faithful, and Greg Kihn. Giles and Private Lives made Austin history as the first local unsigned  band to play  the Frank Erwin Center (R.I.P.), the largest indoor arena for college basketball and national music acts, opening for Kenny Loggins. 

Island Records, Blue Mountain Music Publishing, and EMI Records showed keen interest in Private Lives, flying from Los Angeles and London to see the band showcase. Island Records later financed demos produced by Huw Gower, producer and guitarist, and Giles and her band showcased for various record companies in Los Angeles.

In 1987, as part of Mikhail Gorbachev's political reform movement known as “Perestroika,” Giles was one of 20 Austin musical artists asked to tour the U.S.S.R. Dubbed “The Texas – U.S.S.R. Musicians Exchange,” each artist represented a specific musical category, with Giles handling the pop rock dimension. While in Moscow, she met Stas Namin, the internationally acclaimed Russian rock musician, composer, actor, record producer, and director. In the dead of night, Giles, Namin, and a host of musicians jammed in an underground bunker in Gorky Park and together sang the Beatles “Back in the U.S.S.R.”

In Leningrad, Giles met the new wave experimental band, Strannye Igry (Strange Games) while riding on a public bus. After the Russians  rehearsal and an impromptu jam by the Americans and Russians, Giles and other American musicians shared dinner at the home of Strange Games’ band member, Viktor Solugub and his wife.  Solugub, is now a Soviet musician, artist, and producer, who has recorded 10 albums and musical scores for 30 films.

Giles and her husband, Ron Rogers (Ron Rogers and the Wailing Wind), the mastermind of the songs Giles sang in the 1980s, moved to Los Angeles in 1989. There she sang on studio recordings and provided lead and back-up vocals for television, film and live bands. She also shared a stage with Jefferson Airplane's bass player, Jack Casady, while playing in a local band.

After 15 years in Los Angeles, Giles and Rogers relocated to Portland, Oregon, and joined the city's thriving music scene. Giles was a featured singer in the band, Ron Rogers and the Wailing Wind, and performed regularly in Portland clubs. Giles now lives with her husband in Porto, Portugal. Watch for more singles from her extensive catalog of past, unreleased recordings. Her new album, including songs she wrote, is scheduled for singles releases in early 2026.

Fervor Records Signs Pop Rock Artist, Deborah Giles

Press Release

Texas-born, pop-rock artist, Deborah Giles, has signed a sync licensing agreement with American independent record company, Fervor Records, which is based in Phoenix, Arizona.  The record deal covers 7 songs Giles recorded in Austin, Texas in 1985, but never released to the public.  

Jacob Nathan, Senior Director, Artist and Repertoire: “Fervor Records is thrilled to work with Deborah Giles.  All of us at Fervor look forward to perpetuating Deborah's legacy and presenting her music to new audiences worldwide.”

Giles hit the Austin, Texas, music scene in 1982 with her first band, Private Lives (Ron Rogers, Ronnie Johnson, Russell Young, Michael Ramos, Chuck Turk). The new-wave pop band garnered critical acclaim in Billboard Magazine, earning “Best Album of the Week” and “Best New Band of the Week.” Giles commanded her stage and songs with a powerful voice and no-nonsense countenance. Her regional hit, “When the World Comes Crashing Through,” received airplay in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, and college radio. The Top 40 Austin radio station, K-98, kept it in heavy rotation, charting for the station at No. 6 for the year, despite competing against songs by national and international music groups. The Austin Chronicle named it “Best Song,” while the No. 1 Austin rock radio station, KLBJ, kept several of her band’s songs in rotation. 

Giles, singer and songwriter: “I'm honored to be added to the roster of Fervor Records acts. These 7 songs are very special to me, and I look forward to sharing them with friends, fans, and the world. I have more songs to share and I'm in the process of writing and recording new tunes."

The sync licensing company is “home to a roster of emerging indie bands, heritage artists, and an array of cult hits, deep cuts and rarities.” The record company is known for obtaining sync licenses for song placements in television and film including Apple TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Hulu, Disney+, and all the prime-time networks. Listen to Giles' Fervor Records releases on this website, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, and more.

Fervor Records Releases

For information and sync licensing opportunities, contact https://fervor-records/.com.

Free Tracks

Enjoy the music. The second song, “When the World Comes Crashing Through,” was a radio hit for Giles' band, Private Lives.  Periodically, the songs will change, so be sure to check back occasionally. You'll be able to buy these songs on https://bandcamp.com/.  To listen to the songs in the Free Tracks section, please supply us with your email address.

Don't worry - you won't be bombarded with emails.  You'll receive announcements about the latest release, upcoming shows, and more.

Watch this page for songs, singles, and albums from my catalog.

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