An Interview with Ramon Pablo
Dami: What was your first introduction to music?
Ramon Pablo: My first memory of music was through my parents. My father was a big fan of the Beatles and Journey, which is something that stuck with me throughout my youth. However I started to develop my own catalogue of music once I started growing up through grade school. My parents gifted me an iPhone, where I would eventually find platforms like YouTube and Soundcloud. I was into a various mix of different songs, ranging from electronic dance music, to R&B, and modern rap. But my genuine love for music did not come until I was in high school. A friend of mine I met through mutuals introduced me to music making. His name is Miles, also known as Billrr. At the time I was obsessed with filmmaking, so I would help him out with some music videos. He was making his own type of trap mixed with catchy cadences. It felt like him and I couldn't really explain it. Eventually, another friend introduced me to FL Studio and it became my past time hobby. I would try to imitate Miles' crazy trap beats and try to show him progression so I could catch up to him at the time, until I found my own personal love for Lo-Fi and slower, emotional frequencies. I then started putting out instrumentals on Soundcloud under a name called Roshe. This was the beginning.
Dami: When making music, where do you grab inspiration from?
Ramon Pablo: Music, from personal experience, comes from heart and soul. I take inspiration from my personal life, experiences, and even imaginative thoughts. I try not to make music based off fundamentals or technical aspects like proper chords, music theory, or even genres. It somehow just comes to me, like I'm channeling this creative energy through me to the music. It's inspired by my passions. On the outside I can be very logical and relaxed, but I am very emotional inside, and music feels like the best outlet for me. I look up to who I deem are emotional artists such as Dijon or Mk.gee. They have a way of words and sounds that makes me like the music knows me. So although I make music for myself and from my core, my intention is to find people who are looking for me. Someone out there has felt what I've felt in the same way. And making music has helped me understand myself. I'm hoping that it will also help someone understand themselves too. To answer your question shortly, my answer of inspiration is community. I want people to know they aren't alone in their situations. It's more than just music.
Dami: Who are your biggest inspirations?
Ramon Pablo: As I've mentioned, 100% it would be Mk.gee and Dijon. Something about their music, new and old, makes me feel like I'm living through the decades. Like they have my whole life written for me and I'm just living through it with their music. Them being here feels like reassurance that there's still hope for heartfelt, personal music
Dami: How would you describe your sound?
Ramon Pablo: I don't think I've truly found my "sound" yet. Or maybe I have but currently as of what I've been putting out, I can say my music feels like a passionate fusion of spacey Alternative mixed with a rougher homemade R&B. That probably is a horrible explanation so maybe experimental would be better but I am of Filipino descent, so you can throw in a dash of my culture into that mix.
Dami: Without a true definition of your sound, what 3 words can you then use to describe it and your music?
Ramon Pablo: Passionate, personal, and momentary.
Dami: How much impact would you say your Filipino descent has on your music?
Ramon Pablo: I would say it takes up half my music. It's more so the fact that I grew up in Los Angeles, California, but was still sheltered by my roots at home. I would say my music is a 50/50 mix of that. My parents always had me doing karaoke as a child, which is a very big thing in Filipino culture. Singing and celebration comes with the culture too. My dad bought me my first guitar because back home where he's from, him and his brother's had guitars and sang. That undoubtedly influenced the guitar sounds I use today for my music. Music celebration was always around me at family parties and even Filipino television on TFC (The Filipino Channel). So even though it impacts me 50%, that half is major on its amplitude. Oh, and my parents also raised me to learn Tagalog, our native language. And I have a few ideas in terms of using that knowledge at some point with my music.
Dami: You just dropped a new single titled “Jansport”. Can you tell us more about it?
Ramon Pablo: JanSport is about frustration and insecurity. I wrote the song a while ago, a few months after a breakup. At the time I was thinking about our arguments, and how it felt like they wouldn't go anywhere, and imagined how I wish they would've resolved. JanSport takes place in my mind during one of those arguments and stresses the need for us to step back and simply take a breath. However the songs evolves into an emotional rollercoaster, simply because the argument goes on. My frustration turns into impatience and anger, were in the hook I begin to plead for help, to a point where I even say hurtful things to my partner to express my emotion. It's an energetic song packed with different feelings and a thorough timeline. I talk about how she's moved on and how I apologetically would take her back and go through this rollercoaster over and over again. It's genuinely a mess and I even used an arrangement of reversed guitars to show that mess. There's a lot going on in my head, so there's a lot going on with the song. But in the end, the song closes, with final reversal of the guitar and a calming tone. This symbolizes the acceptance and resolve that what we had is over and I am now okay, no longer fighting it.
Dami: What was the creative process for the song like?
Ramon Pablo: It was long. I had the demo sitting in the vault for a while, which consisted really only of the guitar, drums, and an awful take of the vocals. I never thought much of the song as something special until my friends pointed it out. So eventually, I did some more work. I took the original guitar strum pattern and reversed it and started building a world around these sounds. I actually had a show once and I needed the backing track for JanSport, but while I was on the file I experimented with some synths near the enda, which is what you actually hear in the intro. I initially only kept it for the live version, but close to the release date I realized it was meant for the song. Around this time I added more guitar sounds, reversed them, which feels like my signature taste. And with enough patience, I was able to create an emotion through JanSport.
Dami: Would the breakup still have some sort of impact or connection to future releases?
Ramon Pablo: Yes. I wrote a collection of songs and ideas revolving around the experiences I had in the relationship, very vague feelings. And I plan to release a few of those quite soon. JanSport and Panes are both part of that collection. But I’m also quite past that stage in my life now. Once I release the collection of songs, it’ll be as if I’ve fully let go and moved on. I have plans for all sorts of new music and different themes that aren’t built off tragedy or heartbreak. But I think I need to close this chapter off the way I’m meant to. I’m holding onto a past version of myself.
Dami: What’s next after “Jansport”?
Ramon Pablo: Jansport & Panes are part of a demo tape as I like to call. So I’ll be releasing that. I don’t want to say too much cause nothing’s every really certain. But a lot more music. Especially with 2024 coming around.
Dami: What do you hope to achieve in 2024?
Ramon Pablo: Alongside releasing more music, I mainly hope to reach a wider, growing audience. I’m going to push all fronts, through the Internet and locally in my city. I’m planning on hosting my first solo show as well as opening for others. I plan on reaching into the community and connecting the bridge between small and big artists.
Check out Ramon Pablo’s latest single here
