Ed Roman - Music Interview

An "Emerging Artist" in Billboard Magazine, 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 and more than 600 stations, worldwide.

Ed is a 2014 Artists Music Guild Award Nominee, a 2014 and 2018 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 won a 2017 Radio Music Award for Best Americana Artist.

His animated music video for the Top 20 iTunes charting song, “Red Omen” has been shown at numerous film festivals around the globe, earning accolades and raising funds for Whole Dyslexic Foundation, a cause near and dear to Ed’s heart. Ed is also a gentleman farmer, gardener and paranormal enthusiast. Ed’s brand new single, “Stronger” will be released in January 2020 on MTS Records.

What got you into music?

Thank you so kindly for having me today. It’s a pleasure to be able to speak with you.

Your question is timeless and I am forever looking at a way to describe my own personal situation. One of the biggest reasons I ended up playing music was because of dyslexia. If people are unaware of what dyslexia is I encourage them to do some research, but what I will say is it is not a learning disability but a perceptional, spatial and pectoral comprehension gift. I struggled immensely with dyslexia academically in grade school and high school and music was a vehicle for me to be able to express myself intellectually, physically and spiritually. At a very young age my mother gave me a guitar as she knew it would assist me in a great deal of self-esteem issues that I had developed. It was also my mother who spent a great deal of time with me working at reading, writing and getting through my daily academics. It was a pestilent problem turned positive. I embraced music wholeheartedly and found an immense family and group of friends who have worked diligently towards our dreams. It is life alive.. and in the moment.

What is your favorite part about being an artist? Is it songwriting, performing, recording, something else?) Tell us why.

One of the most amazing things about what I do is connecting with people all over the world. I have been very lucky.. and have forged a great deal of luck as a result of the steadfast group of people helping me on my mission. I am so proud of the achievements that we as a group have accomplished. Michael Stover my manager in Pittsburgh, has been extremely instrumental in helping me as an independent artist create an international presence. There has been a great deal of hard work and detail gone into making these songs live breathe and be received by so many people all around the world. I’ve met some pretty amazing people along my journey and expect even more as time goes on. It is of course that.. which is most exciting about what I do. The journey is the gold and the reward.

Can you tell us what being in the recording studio is like for you?

It’s fun, big and spiffy. This is the creative melting pot of ideas as they culminate into the stew of their musical existence. Writing happens everywhere and all the time, but as time goes on you start to forge a framework and the studio is where that tapestry takes hold. I love seeing things coming together from their fragmented ways. It’s also is a great place to figure out what is right and wrong about the arrangement and how it all needs to unfold. Another wonderful part about the studio are the guest musicians that come in and contribute their wonderful energy and musical abilities on the tracks. I love that.. The interaction.. I am proud of the work that friends and musicians have done on previous albums including this newest one. Oh yeah don’t forget the coffee sandwiches and M&Ms.

As a songwriter or musician, are there any obstacles you have had to overcome or obstacles that you are facing right now in your career?

Patience is a virtue..

As artist we are always very excited about creating and sharing the work that has manifested. For many reasons there seems to be an urgency to our efforts. Philosophically I believe it’s because much of the art that is created is alive and in the living moment and needs to be absorbed whilst it exists. A musical career can be fraught with a lot of heartache and time waiting.. almost like trying to whittle down a giant sequoia tree into a toothpick while you wait for a canyon to be carved by a drips of water. This is where frustration, anxiety and loss of motivation can set in. What I have learned over the last number of years is it’s important to just keep creating, moving forward and let others sift through what you have created. It allows you to relinquish your ego in the moment and not succumb to a form of emotional avoidance when it comes to your artwork. The important thing is that you keep creating every day for whatever reason it may be ... even if it’s just to placate yourself in the moment. This way you will always be able to look back at an extensive body of work and feel proud that you had created it and diligently moved forward.

Who do you admire most in the music scene today and why?

Anybody out there that is expressing themselves and reacting to the living moment. There is so much going on in the world both positive and negative. We as artists tend to reflect those things. Absorb them, chew on them, digest them and in some cases need to spit them out. We are cruel to ourselves and at the same time gentle and compassionate in our expressions outwards. We re-amplify and biomechanically recalibrate to send back into the ether as a positive electric charge. Those are my kind of peeps and they’re everywhere.

To date, what do you think your best song is? Can you describe the song for us?

Your question is monster huge and extremely difficult for me to answer. Everything that I have written is an expression of my living moment. The good and the bad, the exquisite and the difficult, the ugly and the beautiful. This is of course the duality of existence. Zen like in terms of a Ying and Yang like postulation. We all forge through it on a regular basis. Kind of like having a paper cut on your lip while you eat your favourite hot spicy barbeque sauce. The taste and the pain are exquisite. My favourite song that I have written would be “all of them”. If I had never taken the time to write any of this down or to find its placement inside of a musical framework, I would be at amiss as a human. It would be one of my worst fears confirmed. To never act upon an artistic, spiritual or intellectual way of thinking and share it with those that are around me. A cosmic travesty of justice if you will.. I’m glad they’re all here and there’s more to come.

Are you working on any new material right now or what’s in the works for the upcoming year?

Absolutely!! My most recent project to date is entitled “A Recipe For Perpetual Spring” More recently we have just released a single entitled “Stronger” It precedes an alarming amount of new material for the next year. Currently the public at large can check out the lyric video on my YouTube channel as well as all my social media platforms. I’m very excited and happy about bringing a whole whack of new material to people.

Tell us where fans can access your music.

Thanks again for having me and it’s always a pleasure to talk to you good people as you are vanguards and rubicon’s to music all over the world.

As I was mentioning more recently we have released a new single “Stronger” which the good people of the planet earth can check out on my YouTube channel.

I would also encourage the good people of the planet earth to go over to iTunes and pick up the latest single, "Stronger."

Connect with Ed on Facebook or Twitter

Visit Ed's website.

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This music interview was brought to you by BWH Music Group.

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