Meet Juan Ruano of Riversona in Riverside / Santa Ana

Today we’d like to introduce you to Juan Ruano.

Juan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
One of my first memories is sitting in my parent’s truck while they were driving around and listening to their cassettes. I remember hearing certain songs and the melodies and tones of the instruments were incredibly striking to me. For reasons, I could never fully explain. After all, I wanna say I was about four years old. This curiosity and attraction only became stronger as I grew older and started to find my own tastes in music. I used to play Sonic the Hedgehog games regularly throughout my childhood. Specifically, Sonic Adventure 2 for the Nintendo Gamecube. The soundtrack for this game was extremely guitar-based and propelled my mind to ask the question that would change my life forever. “How do they make their guitars sound like that?” I expressed my desire to learn and play the guitar to my parents.

A few weeks later, they drove me down to a local guitar shop to find one of those guitar + amp packages. Ever since then, I never put it down. Literally. I still play that guitar today. While learning, I continued to explore music as a fan. I had just as much of a fixation on listening to as many records as I could and absorbing all of the emotion they had to offer. As a result, I knew one day I would like to write a record of my own. Throughout high school, I met up with friends that had basses and drum kits and started to experiment with more instruments. As soon as I was able to work, I saved up all the money I could to bring more instruments into my bedroom and study more aspects of songwriting. After some time, I realized my understanding of music had come to a point where I felt I finally had something that I wanted and needed to say. I look back at all of these small yet significant, moments and I know that it was truly all meant to be. After releasing my first full-length album, I felt like my life had come full circle. Today, I’m ready for everything that is to come.

Has it been a smooth road?
Everything in life seems to come with its own set of challenges. I would say the largest struggle that I had to overcome was my own mental health. I’ve struggled with depression and low self-esteem for most of my life. This might have played a part in becoming so closely attached to music, so I’m grateful for that. However, when it comes to creating on your own and recognizing your own worth as an artist, it can be absolutely paralyzing. I was never able to fully see my songs as something worth listening to. Or even myself as a person. Eventually, I realized that these thoughts were only getting in the way of something beautiful. Music was always a healing experience for me and I always give spiritual thanks to all of the artists that have helped me through my difficult stages in life. However, if I truly wanted to pay it forward, I had to let all of these dark thoughts go so I could keep this wonderful tradition of songwriting going. I do have my low moments here and there, but I’ve come to realize my own personal power. I’m excited to see what comes of this in my current/future works.

Please tell us about Riversona.
Riversona is a place that I can go to in my mind and turn my life and experiences into sound. With no concern for genre or instruments used, I always make my best efforts to offer full transparency in hopes that someone out there is looking to be understood. Catharsis in music has played a prominent role in my growth as a person, so I would like to give someone else that chance and experience. At the same time, I do know that just dancing and jumping around at shows is equally cathartic, so I try to make fun songs for the people. Riversona is a band, technically. It would seem that way, at least. However, I see Riversona as an extension of myself. Sometimes I make music, sometimes I paint, sometimes I take photos. It’s all just a singular avenue of expression to connect with others. Music just happens to be my most favorite form of expression.

Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years?  Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc?
Within the next five years or so, I’d like to have a few albums in my discography and definitely have a live band to tour with, etc. I would like to be paying rent in a small home on a grassy hillside somewhere in the world and write records in between tours. I would like to experience the world and the people that make it what it is. Sounds simple, but we have work to do.

Contact Info:

• Website: sptfy.com/riversona
• Email: riversonamusic@yahoo.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/riversona
• Other: riversona.bandcamp.com

Image Credit:
Alex Casillas

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