Interview with Ed Roman

Ed Roman is an Award-winning singer/songwriter, performer and multi-instrumentalist from Shelburne, Ontario, Canada. Blurring the lines between pop, rock, folk, and country music genres, Ed’s uniquely crafted songs have received regular rotation on more than 100 terrestrial radio stations across North America and more than 600 stations, worldwide. Ed is a 2014 Artists Music Guild Award Nominee, a 2014 International Music and Entertainment Association Award Winner, a two-time 2015 IMEA Award nominee, a 2015 and 2016 Josie Show Awards winner, an Akademia Awards Winner, and a two-time Indie Music Channel Award winner. Ed’s latest release is the critically acclaimed album, Red Omen.

 

ArtistRack catches up with Award-Winning Singer / Songwriter Ed Roman for this exclusive interview:

 

Where are you from?

I’m from the great White North EH.. 

 

How long have you been making music?

I believe my mom said I was yelling and screaming when I came out so… I fell in love with music at such a young age that it’s hard to really put a date on it. But I’ve been playing professionally since I was about 16 years of age.

 

How many songs /albums have you released to date?

I’ve played on over 46 different records of other artists over the last 30 years but with my previous project Special Ed And The Musically Challenged we released to full albums. After that I release three of my own under my name. One of which was a double album. I would say I’ve written over 250 songs some of which I’ve never even seen the light of day.

 

Can you tell us about your latest release and the background and inspirations behind it?

Red Omen. I’m at dyslexic. As a result of struggling with this problem all of my life it is opened up new doorways. It forces you to look at things in a completely different way. Sort of an outside of the box kind of mentality which is more driven by instinct and memory. They’re very interesting things going on in our language and it’s changing as we move forward through our present into the future. Much of our language has now become text driven and emoticon-based. It was only 25 years ago that we spoke to one another more frequently using language in robust and a textural way. To me this is a big part of the learning process in terms of memory as I had mentioned. So often we can all recollect on a character of someone we knew or no and their description of the story that is heightened by their personality and delivering of the story. Somehow the information tends to stick in the cobwebs a little harder. This is where the subconscious gets to have a heyday with the information. It is of course the realm of fantasy and possibilities that can break outside of those frameworks that we are all conditioned to behave inside of. The album Red Omen exemplifies these kinds of yesteryear approaches to language and offers a robust source of imagery and mantra like structures that are designed to empower you over the course of your day. It is of course the year of the fire rooster in the Chinese astrological calendar. To tell you the truth I had no idea. I guess you could say serendipity. I used as the metaphor because red symbolizes a sense of duality in our lives and nature. It is the colour we use as a mechanism of warning and at the same time a symbol for love. Colours are in fact frequencies and are highly motivational and or depressive depending how they are used. An Omen is also a duality. One may say I see that as a good omen and to others from another culture may see it as a warning. These kinds of things are happening around us all of the time and I think the title as well as the subject matter exemplifies where we are in the 21st-century or at least how I’m feeling it.


How have you ended up in the music industry?

Stupidity, tenacity, forthrightness, stubborn headed, passion driven absolutely no choice in the matter but had to. Even if I’m not making money from what I’m do I’m going to keep making art until they put me behind the sun.

 

What do you think of the music industry in 2017?

There are so many pockets of amazing music culture happening everywhere all over the world but unfortunately the mainstream music industry refuses to participate or pay attention to any of it. They would rather have pretty looking kids and young people making simple music. I say simple but for two reasons. Simple can be majestic and beautiful and come from the most sincere places when dispensed correctly. However sometimes simplicity is dictated to a simple mind. So often I see these mainstream superstars doing nothing more than selling clothing cosmetics jewelry cars and just about everything from the corporate agenda. To me that’s not the music scene. It’s in those places in your own hometown’s and funny little clubs that people frequent less and less. It’s down that alley in the garage were that young band is electrifying their lives and creating something new. It is the cross pollination of cultural music happening everywhere all over the world. There powerful new innovations in music and beauty is occurring everywhere so I suggest that we pay closer attention to the undercurrent. 

 

How do you think you differ from other artists?

I am Ed Roman and there’s only one of me that plays the bass and writes songs on his guitar and sings the way that I do. I can only be better then myself tomorrow as I will move forward in what I want to do. We are all defined by our influences and at the same time they create in some cases are limitations. One of the easiest things that you can do is be yourself but at the same time it can be most difficult to release yourself from what you already know. What I never try to do is worry about what I did yesterday. I don’t want to repeat myself and at the same time I’m not afraid of saying the same thing. I really have no method to my method and what I have learned over many years of writing is that the experience of creating music should pull you through it as opposed to trying to force your way through. Don’t get me wrong sometimes they’re extremely difficult things that you need to accomplish and it takes a lot of work. You are pushing toward something but in the spirit of creation one must keep an open mind to new possibilities as they present themselves. This is where I find new healthy things come to light. I guess I differ in the fact that I’m not trying to be anything that I’m not. What I am concerned with is making honest art that is coming from every part of my experience in life. The rest will follow..

 

Dead or alive, who would be your dream collaboration?

Tom Waits.. need I say more

 

If you had to sell your music collection tomorrow, what album would you leave in your draw?

Burning. Bob Marley And The Wailers. 

 

Do you have any tattoos or piercings?

Yes I have a tattoo on my left arm. I thought about it long and hard.. years in fact. It is Pangea the supercontinent before it broke apart into the continents that we see  today. Around it encompasses a bass clef. It is of course as I am a bass player the musical clef marking on music that is written for an instrument like the string bass tuba baritone etc.

With music you can bring the world back together. 

 

Thank you for taking out your time and keep on making great music!

I’d like to thank you so kindly for having me today it’s been a pleasure to be able to speak with you. Please check out my latest videos on YouTube and head to the website at www.edroman.net. There you can hit all my social networking buttons as well as links to where you can buy the latest album, shows that I am doing, articles and blogs that I have written like this lovely article and many other crazy things from the world of Ed Roman. Become an Ed Head TODAY 😉

 

FOLLOW ON: TWITTER | FACEBOOK | WEBSITE