Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruben Romano.
Hi Ruben, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My Name is Ruben Romano; I was born in the south bay city of Gardena and then raised in Southern Orange County. I was about 8 or 9 years old when my folks went out of town for the weekend and so I stayed at my cousins’ house. He was about 4 years older than I, and I thought he was the coolest. The next morning, we rode bicycles across town to his friend’s house so he could record some records to cassette. The family of this friend had this huge record collection; being that young, I believed him when he said they owned every single record ever made. I remember late morning television comedy shows such as “Gilligan’s Island” and “Get Smart” playing on a television with no sound on as they began to record. The music became the soundtrack to the broadcast. I was introduced to so much music that day. I was so intrigued looking at all the record covers and flipping through some music magazines from that era, like “Creem,” that were placed as coffee table books. I was getting schooled and being told that I was listening to who was pictured on the page. There were so many neat musical things in this house that wisped me on a path I had to wander with the soundtrack playing. So, I started wandering and came across a bedroom that had a drum set in it. Wow! Just like in the magazine! I immediately approached them. I fully investigated them and then touched them. A pair of drumsticks were right there as well, so I eventually tapped on them lightly, just enough to realize the different sounds each piece made. It made sense as I referenced these sounds with what I was just listening to in the other room. I was a shy kid, but everything was kind of coming into focus, so I didn’t hesitate. I surprised myself by returning to where the older kids were to flat-out ask if it was ok if I could play the drums. The friend said yes but told me to close all the doors from here to there. I sat down and just started to figure it out; really, it seemed natural. I was playing a beat rather quickly, enough so that the older kid who owned the drum kit entered the room and was nodding his head with a smile. Never have I had so much fun, I was hooked from that day on. When my parents picked me up the next day, I could not wait to tell my father what I discovered. I was drumming on the back of his driver seat the entire hour drive back home. I guess I got pretty good at drumming along to the radio in the car. I was matching drum fills and snare rolls on the back of his driver seat enough that he enrolled me into private drum lessons at around 11 years old. I guess the instructor gave me high marks and encouraged my father to buy me a little red sparkle Ludwig drum kit. It was on ever since he surprised me with it. It became all I would do once I would get home from school. With headphones and now a growing record collection of my own, I played along to all of them. During my sophomore year in High School, I was approached by some teachers and asked to audition for a Teacher/Student band called “The Grease Rats,” who were to perform at the quickly approaching Homecoming Pep Rally. I got the gig. We did 50s rockabilly and doo-wop tunes, as well as some early Beach Boys songs. We were good, so good that we were asked to play a School Board District dinner party, that was my first paying gig. It wasn’t just the “Getting Paid” part but the entire experience that left such a great taste. I have, from that point on, never not been involved in playing music.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The challenges of being a national touring musician, that is part of a group, is a plenty but the most, I think is, the shelf life of people’s compatibility with each other. It’s sad to say, but logistically speaking, there is a lot of travel time, which means a lot of downtime and usually in the tight quarters of a vehicle. Factor in exhaustion, hunger, and painful tailbones due to lots of uncomfortable seating. Tensions can get high, and fuses can get short. I’ve been through a lot of interesting situations while traveling in the van, both great and not-so-great, but still, there is a desire that supersedes everything. It’s that 1-hour set of making music with these friends who you just endured the depths of hell with for the previous 23 hours… it’s what makes things all ok again.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, a composer, a lyricist, and a recording artist, but I am primarily known first as a Drummer or a member of the Rhythm Section. I am also a founding member and the original drummer for the legendary Stoner Rock band Fu Manchu as well as Nebula, and now I lead and direct my own musical creation called The Freeks. I take pride in knowing that I have been at the beginning of something that achieved the success it still has before I moved on, not only once but twice. Then, to see myself begin again, fresh upon my own designs, and to continue watching it grow as well. I feel I have my own style of drumming that sets me apart from others within the genre of rock music I find myself in. I have a swing to my rhythm; I love the feel of landing on a good backbeat and hitting a snare perfectly inside the pocket of a song. I prefer excitement and feel over technicality. I’ve been playing drums since a very young age, so there a natural thing to my playing, it’s the longest thing I have consistently done most of my life, it’s embedded. What I feel proud of now is not really my drumming but everything else I got from it. The drums are the foundation to music, it’s what holds up the other instruments as a whole. Wanting to understand that more is what led me on a path to learn the other instruments I carried. In doing so, it did bring a better understanding to my way of thinking and put me on my approach, that led to composing songs and writing lyrics. What followed was then needing to learn how to capture my ideas, so I became a recording engineer. I paid attention during all of my experiences, and that’s how I would then teach myself. I would watch what the people I was working with were doing and probably annoyed them with many questions. I’m so glad that I did. There is still so much more to learn; however, with what I know now, I have become self-reliant. Sufficient enough to enter a wide-open field to my own creativity. It made me branch out into multiple genres and to experiment with sounds. At the moment, I am most proud that my experimentations have finally came to bear fruit as I composed and completed a solo instrumental pseudo-soundtrack score titled, “The imaginary soundtrack to the imaginary western; Twenty Graves Per Mile” all on my own. I produced it, engineered and mixed all the recordings as well as performed every instrument on it. I’ve always relied on other musicians and always played together as a group, I still love that, but doing something on my own is something I have never done before, or even considered sharing publicly. I had to put my guts on the table, and I did just that. The result, I have secured a license deal with an independent record label out of Albuquerque N.M. I’m really looking forward to more detailed announcements soon.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The life lessons that slap you in the face seem to never end. They seem to arrive every single day still, and I’m not so sure how good my grades are. Trying to stay creative does get more difficult as life accumulates. Trying to learn that balance is a lifetime course. The toughest thing to learn is self-confidence, self-worth, personal value, and to not let discouragement win. Realizing that NO is just an other answer, and to move on to the next question. Those are the introspective lessons that we all get tested on every day. I try to remember that it doesn’t matter if I don’t keep a straight line as long as I keep moving forward. The road has not ended, and there’s an opportunity around the bend. I just got to get there to see what it may be. Paying attention, being aware of my surroundings, and to have faith in myself. So, the biggest lesson to learn… patience.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thefreeks.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_freeks
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheFreeks
- Twitter: www.youtube.com/channel/UCq5rozPxmdFeoIYWkedasdg
- Youtube: www.thefreeks.bandcamp.com
- Yelp: https://rubenaromano.bandcamp.com
Image Credits
La Maquina De Huesos
Clemens Mitscher
