- MuzicNotez: First off, it’s an honor to be doing this interview with you, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us.
What motivated you to start creating music? What age did you begin?- Ed Roman: It’s a pleasure to be here and thanks for having me.
This question is very difficult to answer because there are multitudes of things that have led me to the path that I’m on today.
Let me frame this in body mind and soul.
As far as my body is concerned.. I was told I was a dyslexic at a very young age and struggled greatly academically and emotionally. I had a devout family who stood behind me through my struggles and at a very young age was given a guitar. This allowed me to break out of my proverbial shell.. My mom knew I always loved music so this was one of the antithesis of change and personal growth for me..
Mind and things… A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing and if that’s the case a library of knowledge can be tantamount to a nuclear arsenal of belief and spiritual freedom. At a very young age I fell in love with the idea that music was socially conscious and could change and enhance the existence of our experience here. Information is gold and I’ve spent a great deal of my life delving into our aspects of social conditioning, the health and well-being of our state of affairs and of course a great deal of introspective realizations of my own. It’s an ongoing process that is part of the mechanism of growth.
Soul train… Do you ever get that feeling like you’ve been somewhere many times before but have never been there?
What I’m doing seems to be the antithesis of some kind of cosmic cycle for me. Yeah I know it might sound hokey but in the back of my mind for as long as I have had cognitive thought this has been the mission. I don’t want to leave waste… just my fingerprints and the feelings and thoughts of an emotional sentient human being living in the 20th and 21st-century.
- Ed Roman: It’s a pleasure to be here and thanks for having me.
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MuzicNotez: Who were your musical influences, idols, or bands growing up that have helped mold you into the musician you are today? Or helped mold the music that you create?
- Ed Roman: This question is immense.
There was so many different kinds of music that I was exposed to a young age that it’s really hard to define. When I was about seven or eight I was listening to Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, The Beatles, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, and Rush. A lot of early rock ‘n’ roll and progressive rock seem to tickle my fancy up and to my teens.
It was then that I was introduced to the world of jazz through Jaco Pastorius. A far more progressive electric form of jazz or fusion lead me into listening to Artist such as Weather Report, Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Level 42, Charles Mingus, Eddie Gomez, Jeff Berlin, Windham Hill artists like William Ackerman, Michael Hedges, Michael Manring, Leo Kotka, and many others like Pat Matheny from the progressive music world that seem to dominate the 70s and 80s.. Around that same time I fell in love with the funk. Parliament, James Brown, The Tower Of Power, Hank Ballard, Maceo Parker, Sly And The Family Stone, just about anything that had Hammond organ in it so stuff like Jimmy Smith.
I also love storytelling and folk music. With that said I also love a lot of songwriters from the American songbook standards like Cole Porter and Jerome Kern or Duke Ellington but as far as modern storytellers people like Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, John Prine, Neil Peart from Rush and Bob Dylan have all been a big influence on me.
I really could keep going for pages and pages..
- Ed Roman: This question is immense.
- MuzicNotez: What’s the ultimate goal you want your music to achieve, or for you to achieve in your career as a musician? Any particular message you wish to send?
- Ed Roman: I see music as being very philanthropic. Whether it be motivated to create monetary facilitation or some sort of connectedness or binding moment to the living community .. this has been my ultimate goal since I’ve started if you really want the bottom line. It is intimately attached to reflective moments in my existence here for this very brief moment in time. I see music and this art form a kin to discoveries made in archeological finds. It’s a representative time marker of who we are here as a culture no different than so many of the beautiful endeavors, words, paintings, sculptures, sentiments and just about everything the human condition can yelp from its experience. We look into our past to learn about our future in some cosmic dialect. We do it continually but don’t realize it. I do it every day. I just hope it helps.
- MuzicNotez: You’re a singer/songwriter, whom plays a diverse array of instruments and genres. What’s your songwriting style like?
- Ed Roman: My method is no method at all … other than following the message as it pulls me through the moment. I became tired of arguing with myself years ago about what was right and what was wrong. I’ve learned to allow every experience to pull me through it without judgement or condemnation…. questioning the very cosmetic of what is going on it’s only for mechanical reasons and constructive purposes so the arrangement flows with the patterns that have been created. The process is ongoing for me…
- MuzicNotez: With all the genres you’ve made music in, is there a genre you haven’t yet but would like to attempt?
- Ed Roman: Without sounding coy I think genres are continually changing and that is a healthy thing. When we look back into musical history there are so many amalgams of cultures and ideas which has usually promoted a wonderful cross pollination of music. Usually the thing that perks my ear is something out of the ordinary these days. Where I’m like …what is that?? I may not completely understand it at first but that’s usually a good indicator to me then I’m learning something. Again without sounding like a rascal this has been my mission in terms of writing without really forcing it… cross-referencing many of my influences into a new form of music which I call “Kitchen Sink” ..
- MuzicNotez: You have won an array of awards for your music, how does it feel to be shown that appreciation for your craft?
- Ed Roman: Now you’re putting me on the spot.
Yes this is true I have received an array of accolades and I am proud of all my achievements. I have however received a great deal of help from my management and friend Michael Stover.. Without his help the music wouldn’t be out in the world the way it is today getting noticed. My biggest achievement of course is the ability to keep doing this. I’m lucky to have the friends I have and to be able to make music witch has been a passion for me since I was a child..
- Ed Roman: Now you’re putting me on the spot.
- MuzicNotez: Your latest album ‘Red Omen’ has been very well received, what inspired that album?
- Ed Roman: Red Omen of course is an anagram of my own name. One of the things I love about the criticism I’ve received is the language that I use in my lyrics. Having to explain to some people what words mean emphasizes my passion for language. As I mentioned before I was labelled a dyslexic so for me to break the boundaries of self-esteem and academic difficulty by becoming an acclaimed song writer, poet, lyricist, wordsmith or however you want to frame, it is the reason I do the voodoo that I do. Red Omen was inspired by my thoughts and actions over the last four or five years of my life. I never know when a culmination of songs is going to fit but the songs on this record all seem to point to something similar. Stop, Feel, Tell, Love, Lament.
- MuzicNotez: What else are you working on? What can we expect to see and hear from you in the future?
- Ed Roman: I have a grouping of new songs recorded and ready for release come the fall. It’s from a new project entitled “A Recipe For Perpetual Spring”. I’m very excited to bring new music to people as I know there are some very powerful tunes that have arisen through the process of life.
- MuzicNotez: Anything else you wish to say about yourself or your music? Any message for your fans?
- Ed Roman: I’d like to thank you for having me today. You folks ask some wonderful questions that are exquisitely difficult to answer. Thank you for being Rubicon‘s of independent music and supporting artists all over the world.
Much Love … Ed…
- Ed Roman: I’d like to thank you for having me today. You folks ask some wonderful questions that are exquisitely difficult to answer. Thank you for being Rubicon‘s of independent music and supporting artists all over the world.