Breaking Down Discographies: Ruben Gomez’s Inspirations, Methods, and Projects
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Indie music has made its way back into the mainstream over recent years, a trend which has brought about some amazing artists and given them a chance to be in the spotlight. Ruben Gomez is one of these musicians whose talents fall into this category. His personal discography currently consists of singles, each one a carefully crafted display of his skills and passion for music.
Paulina Rochelle: How and when did you first start writing music? How did you get into it?
Ruben Gomez: I got in kind of late with it. A lot of people start when they're 15 or 16, I think I wrote my first song when I was 18. It was terrible. It was the worst thing ever, but I kept with it and I would say the first good song that I wrote, I think I was 20 years old. What got me into it? I don't know. I saw an interview with Cage of the Elephant, the lead singer, Matt Shultz, was talking about how he got into songwriting. I was worried, like oh, it's a little too late for me or whatever. He said that he was 19 or something, 19 or 20 [when he started]. I was like, okay, there's hope, I can do that. That's pretty much how I got into it. I always wanted to do music. But I just didn't really have the skills, so I wanted a guitar when I was 16 and then that was the catalyst.
Throughout his years of writing, Gomez has released music through different avenues: his solo project as well as through the indie rock band Woah.
Image via Instagram
PR: Did you first start writing music by yourself or did you start with the band?
RG: I started by myself. Even in the band, I would still write music by myself. It was always a super personal thing, so it was always awkward to let somebody in to help me write something. I would say towards the middle-ish years of being in the band, I started letting people write a guitar part or a drum part or something like that. To this day, I still write pretty solo.
PR: What are the big differences that you've noticed between working by yourself and working with the band?
RG: I would say getting some reassurance that something is good is always kind of nice and you kind of get that a lot if you're writing with two or three other people. Somebody will say, oh that’s shit, or that's good. You’ll get that sort of affirmation or reassurance, or you'll get rejected. [There are] some negatives with it. If you really feel like something is good, but somebody else feels like it's not great or something like that, it can sort of cause tension.
For the past few years, Gomez has focused on expanding his personal catalogue, periodically releasing singles.
PR: Who are your major influences for your music? I hear Alex G/ Elliot Smith influences when I listen, but what would you say?
RG: You hit the nail on the head. Two years ago, I was really heavy into Alex G, [and] Elliot Smith. Cameron Winter has been a big one recently. Fog Lake has also been a really, really big influence. I try not to listen to too much music when I'm writing because it can seep in and you feel like you're ripping somebody or something off. So I try not to. My influences do change over time. Like right now, the type of music I'm writing is really inspired by The Radio Department—very inspired by that right now. I'm listening to a lot of Beach House, pretty standard influences.
PR: That's a big jump, though. The Radio Department, I feel, is more vocal and instrumental effect heavy versus Alex G and the others. To me they're very folky, very “natural”.
RG: Yeah, I tend to get really bored of sticking to a certain genre. Like just an acoustic guitar, or dry drums or something like that. I'm like, okay, I've done six songs with that sound, I need to change to something else. Then I get really interested in reverb guitar or a synth or something like that. Most of my music does sound kind of the same right now. It's very acoustic-y. I don't really want to stay in that box. I might branch out a little bit, to sounds of The Radio Department or Beach House, just more texture.
PR: Do you have any pieces of media besides music that have inspired you? Movies or books?
RG: For sure, yeah. There's this movie called Sound of Metal. It's actually about a drummer named Ruben. He does go deaf, but I don't know. I found it really inspiring. It just shows how somebody can go through a really depressing era in their life and sort of just overcome it. I do find a lot of inspiration in movies. I would say not a lot are coming to the top of my head right now except for the Sound of Metal but yeah, I do. I find if I watch a movie that moves me, I feel inspired for the next week or something. It just gets me going. I don't really read much, but I just read Slaughterhouse- Five and I don't know why that inspired me. It's a very dark war book. Something about reading, I guess, inspires me sometimes. I would say books and music for sure.
PR: What are your favorite lyrics you've written or a song you're the most proud of? One that you would say, “people should listen to this one”.
RG: I really like my latest song that I came out with, it's called “Like Soft Hands on a Mirror”. Some of the lyrics are just really personal. It feels like a lot of the songs that I write don't get that deep in my emotions, but I feel like this song, it was weird. I wrote down the lyrics without having a melody or anything. I just wrote down the words and then I started singing, like what could these words sound like in a melody, which was really cool and it worked out. I would say that song is probably my favorite that I've written so far. Yeah, the lyrics are a little depressing, but it’s definitely my favorite song I've written.
PR: Is it ever intimidating writing such personal lyrics and putting them out there? What does that feel like for you?
RG: I find it weird because it's your deepest, most intimate thoughts and you're putting that into a song and then 10s of 1000s of people are listening to it. You can't really think about how people are processing those lyrics or if you're being judged or anything like that. It can be kind of overwhelming, but there is a satisfaction in somebody messaging you and being like, oh, your song helped me out during this dark period, or something like that. That's always cool. There is a little voice in the back of my head [that says], these lyrics are cringe, what are you doing? Why are you releasing this? But I guess every songwriter goes through that at one point or another.
PR: If you had to pitch your music to a first time listener, what would you say? How would you describe it?
RG: That's a hard question, I don't like pitching myself. I would say melancholic. Sad, with a sprinkle of hope. Just a sprinkle of hope. Like, my biggest song is about a breakup... not very hopeful.
PR: Are they all typically about things you've lived through or do you come up with scenes and stuff to base your music on?
RG: Yeah, I mean, the song, “It's Not the Same Without You”, reading the lyrics back, it's about a breakup. But at the time of writing that song, I had never gone through a breakup. It was really weird. A lot of the songs that I used to write had underlying hints of somebody going through a breakup or somebody going through something, I don't know, and I had never gone through a breakup, but I guess it was believable.
PR: I’m surprised, because I’ve listened to them and I feel like you capture that emotion and that experience so well that I'm really shocked to hear that you hadn't been through it at the time.
RG: I’m posing.
PR: So then what did you use to come up with it? Just movies and stuff you've seen and the people around you, like their experiences? Or what did you use?
RG: I think there's a weird romance or a weird obsession with media that revolves around breakups and whatnot. Like Eternal Sunshine [of the Spotless Mind], as well. People tend to really resonate with things like that. It was weird because, again, I'd never had gone through a breakup, but writing those lyrics, it felt very familiar for some reason. I don't know. Maybe in a past life, I went through a crazy breakup or something.
PR: What’s next? When can we expect new stuff to come out?
RG: I would say in a month, at the end of September. Maybe an EP, like 4 songs.
Until Gomez releases his new music, his current songs are available across streaming platforms to listen to. I’m excited to see how he develops his sound and what else he comes up with, as it will no doubt be exceptional.