Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob Giles.
Hi Rob, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was done with music. After releasing four studio albums of my own, a few more that were lost in record label shuffles, a handful with other bands (The Rescues, Andy Summers of the Police, etc.) and as a producer/co-writer on countless others (Lisa Loeb (GRAMMY WIN), Sara Ramirez (GREY’S ANATOMY, TONY AWARD WINNER)) I walked off stage at a sold-out show at the Troubadour in LA and just…. stopped.
I didn’t post about it on social media and didn’t tell my friends. I never mentioned to anyone that I thought my voice had been damaged beyond repair and didn’t see any doctors about the fact I couldn’t sing for more than a minute without pain and a significant loss of range. I just knew it was time to be done as a professional musician.
But I couldn’t stop as a writer. A few months after that Troubadour show, I sold my first television series to Warner Bros. Studios, my first of five shows I created and sold to studios over the next five years. But, this parallel industry started to wear on me, too, and I felt I was “losing my voice” in other ways.
I started to wonder what was next, my gut again telling me to take a leap. So, I started grad school to become a therapist, specializing in trauma and addiction (I is 18 years sober). And I also made a new record, coming out November 10th, 2023, my first in almost a decade.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Maintaining sobriety, having three children, one with special needs / Down syndrome, and a divorce from a public person, and changing careers twice in a decade were some of the struggles that come to mind.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Rob Giles was done with music. After releasing four studio albums of his own, a few more that were lost in record label shuffles, a handful with other bands (The Rescues, Andy Summers of the Police, etc.) and as a producer/co-writer on countless others (Lisa Loeb (GRAMMY WIN), Sara Ramirez (GREY’S ANATOMY, TONY AWARD WINNER)) he walked off stage at a sold-out show at the Troubadour in LA and just…. stopped.
He didn’t post about it on social media and didn’t tell his friends. He never mentioned to anyone that he thought his voice had been damaged beyond repair and didn’t see any doctors about the fact he couldn’t sing for more than a minute without pain and a significant loss of range. He just knew it was time to be done as a professional musician.
But he couldn’t stop as a writer. A few months after that Troubadour show, he had sold his first television series to Warner Bros. Studios, his first of five shows he created and sold to studios over the next five years. But, this parallel industry started to wear on him, too, and he felt he was “losing his voice” in other ways.
He started to wonder what was next, his gut again telling him to take a leap. So, he made a new record? No. He started grad school to become a therapist, specializing in trauma and addiction (Rob is 18 years sober).
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My high school had a statewide competition called the UIL One-Act play, where we, a bunch of kids, performed The Grapes of Wrath. In 40 minutes. Sounds terrible, I know, but it was an incredible opportunity with some really good people to rehearse or perform every day for almost four months. We “won” all the way to State, where we got to perform at the University of Texas’ huge Bass Hall, where I was able to perform a song I wrote (with Steinbeck’s lyrics) to a sold-out three-balconied theater. That was my first time really singing for a big crowd, and it felt good and right.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/rob.giles
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/rob-giles
Image Credits
Heather Leroy heatherleroyphotography.com https://www.instagram.com/iamheather_leroy/
