Esta fue la primera entrevista del Roomtone. La hicimos en una pizzeria en Austin Texas porque queriamos que fuera mas una charla entre amigos que una entrevista en forma. Ricky nos dió una gran charla y siempre que la escucho me motiva y hace que regrese al camino del porque hacemos The Roomtone.
Earlier, we were talking about how you arrived to Austin and what led you to make that decision. What were your thoughts behind coming here?
Ricky: It’s hard to approach the answer, but I’ll just try, all right? I think proximity matters. Most of our favorite bands -David Bowie, Talking Heads, Metallica- grew up in small towns, but they built their careers in big cities like LA, New York or Mexico City, places where music is actually happening.
For me, growing up in Eagle Pass and San Antonio, the closest city where I could be near my family and still be in a strong music scene was Austin, the live music capital of the world. When I moved here, I was 36. I didn’t know how to play guitar, I didn’t know how to sing, but I knew I could write. So, I started writing songs. But my writing is one thing -performing is a completely different art. When Chacho Saldaña invited me to open for his band, I realized I sucked at performing. I knew I had to work on it.
I’ve always read business and psychology books, and one basic truth is:if you want to be great at something, you have to practice -a lot. In smaller cities like San Antonio or Eagle Pass, maybe I could have performed once a month, meaning 12 times a year. But in Austin, with so many venues and open mics, I could practice every single night. And that’s what I did -four to five months straight.
I also recorded my self with a GoPro to analyze everything -my performance, my guitar, my voice- tweaking every little detail. I’m a nerd like that. But at the core of it, music is about connection. Even though I write songs for my self, if I can share an experience that resonates with someone else, that’s ehat really matters. That’s what’s cool about music.
How did you realize that it was working?
Ricky: I don’t think that that moment has arrived at all. (laughing) I don’t think that the moment where I say, “Oh, it’s working,” or, “I think I’m really good,” or I don’t think, and I hope it never arrives, to be honest, because it’s fun. It’s just fun. And it’s fun to make stuff and it’s fun to play. And it’s usually something as you go. Like when I begin a show, I don’t know how it’s gonna turn out. Sometimes it turns out really badass. Sometimes it’s a shitty performance. Or when we start recording an album, we have no idea how it’s going to turn out. But we just hope for the best. And at the beginning, I used to tell everyone that I was a fake musician, because I didn’t know much about music. And I’m talking about probably the first seven years that I started music. I just learned the absolute basics, which was, I don’t know, 12 chords. That’s it. And that’s 12 chords. I know A, B, C, G, and F and all those. And that’s it. And that is it. I didn’t know any scales. I didn’t know anything. I knew one scale, the minor pentatonic scale. But that’s it. That’s all I knew about music. So I just faked, or not faked, but just got away with the bare minimum to make a song and to make songs. And that’s it. Now I think I know a little bit more, so I think I could call myself a musician.(laughs)
What was your drive to do all of this and practice every day?
Ricky: Okay, so what motivated me to practice every single day is…So what motivated me to practice every single day is really two books. One called Talent is Overrated. I forget the author’s name, but maybe you can put it in the description or something. And the second is Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. The point of those two books, the main point is that, yes, talent does exist.(…) Like, you see a person, oh my God, he’s so talented. But what really is the driving force, the engine of that talented person is not the talent, it’s the skill. And what I mean by that is that the only way that you can get really good at anything is by practicing the shit out of it. But focused practicing, not just like, oh, you know, doing, no, no, no, really measuring yourself and taking steps toward bettering your skill. Every single day, that’s where I, you know, that’s focused, really focused practicing. You know, what I was doing with the GoPro, filming myself and really looking at it and analyzing it. I wasn’t just filming it to just put shit on YouTube. I was looking at it, analyzing, tweaking my performance. Oh, okay, how can I get better? How can I do this? How can I do that? And I think that’s a really, I mean, that was the best information that I had on how to get better and how to really get focused and tweak and just get better. And so really, that’s how I approach most things in life. If I wanna learn filmmaking skills or anything that I want, I really focus on it and I really try just to practice and get better. But it really helps to love what you’re doing because I don’t give a shit. Like if you put me in a kitchen to practice being a chef, I don’t love that. And I don’t care how many hours you put me there. I mean, I may learn if you put a gun to my head, but you have to really love it and be completely in love with it. To really do it. And so you’re asking me about what motivated me, the love that I have to be a musician and for music in general, and really just having that information and that knowledge and actually doing it, doing it and doing it. I had nothing else going on, so it was all good.
What did you see in those videos?
Ricky: I guess the question is, so what did I see in those videos to form my style? I guess. And I think that’s a really age-old question. What that means is that that is a question that every single artist tries to answer because to an artist, they always tell you, find your voice, find your voice, find your voice. And as an artist, starting out, you’re like, well, what the fuck is that? What the fuck is that? I don’t know, how do I do it? And you tell your teachers and they’ll tell you some answer that isn’t like practical. To me? (laughs) And this is how I see music in general. To me, the way that I found my voice is through copying other artists and then slowly finding my voice and saying, whoa. So if I were a painter, I would probably copy, I don’t know, Van Gogh, Banksy, Keith Haring or something, Monet. And eventually, I would find my own voice. In this case, I was hearing Bad Religion, I was hearing Against Me, I was hearing Frank Turner, Rancid, Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal. I was listening to all of these artists and I was copying their songs. But what’s funny is that once you copy a song, you do a cover song, you can’t help. But do it in your own way. It just comes out that way because you’re a human being, you’re a different human being than that person who made that song. I mean, it’s still the same song, but it’s filtered through your brain and through your body. And so how I think of it, people have asked me, do you listen to your own songs? And I say, fuck yes, of course I listen to my own songs. And the reason that I listen to my own songs is because these are the songs that I wish my favorite artists would have done if they had my experiences. So what does that mean? That means that if, and there’s no reality that can exist where bad religion or against me can have my experiences, that cannot happen. But it’s super cool that they get to influence me, like really profoundly influence me. And I can make songs that sound kind of like them, but with my own words and experiences and chords that I choose. And I think that that’s just beautiful because I think that if you really break down all of the artists in the world, from right now to the 80s, to the 50s, through the 20s, we’ve all been doing that over and over and over again. And that’s beautiful. I love that because again, what’s the point? The point is to connect with another human being. And it’s super cool that we can’t help, but be connected. No man is an island and that’s super cool. Like it’s super cool to have that connection.
A producer in Mexico once told me that the reason there’s no other Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton is precisely because they were unique due to the experiences they had gone through, the lives they had led, and that’s what they conveyed in what they did, in their music.
Ricky: Yes. And that’s also a really cool thing about, for example, like I’m a huge fan of a filmmaker called Robert Rodriguez. He made El Mariachi, Spy Kids, Once upon a time in Mexico, Sin City. And he’s the ultimate DIY-er. The ultimate, he’s the best. And when I read his book for the first time, I’m from a small town from Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negra, Coahuila. It’s right on the border. And one of the most profound things that I read from this book was, hey, you’re a filmmaker and you have access to a town. Use it. Use it for whatever your art may bring. In this case, it was filmmaking. And that, to me, was like, whoa. His premise was like, you don’t have to live in New York City or Los Angeles or whatever. Use what you have. What you have is very different from everybody else. Everybody films in Los Angeles, New York City, whatever. But to have that as a place that nobody has really seen, but exists and isn’t the most popular or whatever, but that’s what makes it cool, because you haven’t seen that. And so in my music, I talk a lot about my experiences and I am Mexicano. And so that’s also another aspect that maybe, I don’t know, I don’t know. It’s not like, oh my God, I’m offering something different and original. No, fuck that. I think that the main point is that I am just expressing myself as a human being. And if you like the type of music that references artists that I am influenced by, I think that you and me would have a really strong connection and bond and would really connect, either with the music, with conversation, or whatever that may be. And that’s it. I don’t know if that was super clear, but.
Do what you can with what you have.
Ricky: I actually have a song, literally, called We Work With What We Have.
Exactly, it’s about starting with what you have. I think sometimes we try to skip steps, and that’s where frustration comes in. You can’t wait to have everything perfect to start doing something. What if I have all the equipment I need for my project and access to everything I need, but I can’t edit, or I don’t have a unique voice.
Ricky: Yes. You know, I think that the most dangerous person in the world that can do a lot of damage with whatever art they be, whether it be an art person, a business person, or whatever the fuck. I think that the secret ingredient to anything that you wanna do is hunger. Hunger makes you do a lot of fucking shit. And I don’t give a fuck if you have the most expensive, like the most expensive cameras, the most expensive guitar, keyboard, or whatever, most expensive producers, I don’t give a fuck. They will always be beaten by somebody that is hungrier with a shitload of passion and is driven and has a fucking iPhone. And they did everything with an iPhone. Everything. They recorded their music, a film, painting, and they did everything. Hunger, I think, is way more dangerous, in a very good way, of course. And I, like, I just, if I wished something for myself and for my friends and for my family, especially for myself, is to never lose that hunger, that drive, because that is everything.
Certainly, we are in an era where we have access to a lot of things. When I was in school, having access to a camera or buying one was super difficult; not all computers could be used for editing.
Ricky: Right now, there’s no excuse. Yesterday, or like 10 years ago, maybe there was an excuse. And now, the counter argument is, oh, okay. So now, all the tools are available and anybody can create anything. It’s, there’s a lot of competition. Maybe I shouldn’t do music. Maybe I shouldn’t do film, or maybe I shouldn’t do this, that, fuck that shit, man. Because not everyone is putting shit out there. People are making, they may be afraid, or whatever the fuck, and they’re not delivering. They’re not putting shit out there. Just put shit out there. Trust me, not many people do it. And if they do, it probably sucks. Just put it out there, and just put the best shit that you can. We’re all fucking human. We don’t, we’re all just winging it. I mean, I don’t know, I’m not an expert musician, but I love this shit. I’m just putting shit out there. People like it and connect, badass. If not, millions of songs they can hear. I don’t give a shit, I’m happy, so. (laughing)
How did you start in music? What motivated you to write and compose?
Ricky: I started my life as a filmmaker first and I was late 20s already when I started. And so I spent my… No, no, I think it was like mid 20s or something like that, but I spent like 10 years doing film and then the money disappeared and I went through a divorce and I was already 35 or 36 years old, probably 36 and I was broke, I had no money at all. No money. No money coming in and money coming out. And so, I don’t know. I guess there’s always that itch, that thing in the back of your head. To create stuff. I just can’t help it. I just cannot help it. I have to be creating something. Unfortunately, I had picked a hobby that was really expensive like filmmaking and I couldn’t do my filmmaking thing. But I always found it really magical when my friends like Basi, ChaCho Zaldaña, they sang and played the guitar at the same time. I thought that was absolutely magical. I was like, I wanna do that. Just as a hobby. I mean, it’s still a hobby (laughs) And so I started doing cover songs, songs by Against Me, Bad Religion, Frank Turner. And I was like, dude. This is like, this, at the same time that was cool, I could do them. I learned how to play and sing at the same time. But at the same time, I discovered that this is not a secret. These songs were so fucking simple that anybody could fucking do them. And I was a little bit angry. Because really, four chords, all you have to know is G, C, and D, maybe E minor, and that’s your song? Really? I was like, come on, anybody could do this shit. And so I started doing it. And then I started making my own songs with that. And I was like, this is easy. This is so easy. This is so easy. And that’s when it started developing, of course. At the beginning, everything looks really easy. (laughs) And then you’re like, whoa. Like, I remember filming, well, not recording my first album. I was like, how hard could that be? Just a fucking guitar and a voice, right? And I started with actually one of, very similar to, actually, it was a Zoom H4, it was.Started doing it. I listened to it, oh my God, it sucked really bad. I was like, fuck. I had to go on YouTube. I forget if there was even YouTube 10 years ago. Probably yes, but not a bunch of tutorials, but how to record in your house. And I found it and I figured it out. And it probably doesn’t sound as badass right now, but fuck it, you do shit. And it gave me, what it gave me was a lot of happiness that I gifted myself. I felt fulfilled. I felt like I had given me one of the greatest gifts and one of the greatest gifts that anybody can have as a human being is love. And I just loved doing that shit. And it felt really good to give me that self-love especially when I was doing really bad at that time. And it feels just really, really good. And when I decided to share what I was writing and what I was putting out, it felt really good that other people were connecting with it. So win-win.
How does someone find their own voice? Is it through practice or having something to say?
Ricky: Well, it wasn’t practicing performing that I found my voice. It was really doing all those covers. Learning and doing all those covers.And what is really cool about doing covers when you start out is that you really get to learn the mechanics of how a song works. It’s kind of like when Neo figures out the matrix at the end and they’re like, “Oh, okay, this is it.” Easy, yes. You figure out how shit works. And it was really disappointing, but really thrilling at the same time. Disappointing because, let’s say an against song, an Against Me song. I don’t know, he uses G, C, and D. That’s it, three chords for the whole song. And then I go and try to play a Beatles song, same chords. And then I have another song, same chords. And then another song, same chords. And then another song, same chords. So you find out that literally thousands of songs share the same chord structure, the same way of making that song. Now that’s just the infrastructure, the bones of the song. Of course, the way you strum it, the way that melodies, of course, are different, but it’s the same infrastructure, the same bones. It’s like, you and me, we share the same infrastructure, but everything is different. Our experiences or whatever, the spice is very, very different. But when you find out that just everything is made with the same infrastructure, you’re like, whoa. I mean, now that I think of it, really, it’s like finding out that all Mexican food is made with beans, corn, tomato, and salsa.(laughs) And salsa. And they just remix it, and they call it something else. Like, oh, you want enchiladas? And they’re like, yeah, sure, I’ll take enchiladas. Oh, you want nachos? But they’re all the same, tacos, everything. They just remixes of the same thing.
What do you think makes the difference between one song and another with the same chord progression and even the same rhythm?
Ricky: I heard a great quote one day, that as a guitar player, this song, this part, this arm, if you’re a right-handed person, if you play the guitar in a right-handed motion, this arm provides the technique, and this arm provides the heart. So, this is the G, for example, and this part is really the extension of you the artist or you the performer, the song-maker, and you’re the one giving it life with this hand.
The stroke, the speed, the pace…
Ricky: Yes, it can even be finger-picking, it just depends on what you like, and then what you like. I like punk rock, so I just added punk rock. I put the ingredient punk rock, and put my experiences and my life. You know, that together makes up my songs, and that’s it. Easy peasy. (laughs)
Never thought about this.
Ricky: I love that.
Can have any chord, and depending on how you attack it, the sound varies.
Ricky: Yeah. Yeah, it’s the heart, the feeling, the expression of your humanness. This just makes the chord happen. I love that quote. I don’t even know where I saw that thing. I’m glad you asked me, but I hadn’t even forgotten about that.
Thanks, Ricky!
Ricky: There you go. Hey, thanks to The Roomtone (laughs)
