Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Rodriguez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born June 8th, 1999 in the city of Los Angeles California, and lived in the Santa Monica area. When I was young my family moved out to Utah and Springville became my home. We never really had much growing up and I usually spent most of my time in the living room of our small apartment. I had outgrown my bed and slept on the couch for around 7 or 8 years but I spent most of my time out with friends or with family. I was happy.
Growing up, I spent most of my childhood listening to a wide variety of artists, but my favorites were The Beatles, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, ABBA, Whitney Houston, and many, many more. My favorite modern artist is Kanye West. Growing up I had always found great comfort in my idols as artists both in their professional lives and in as much as their personal lives. I always felt rhythms and melodies fill my head even at a young age but never truly had any way of expressing myself due to our financial situation.
Buying instruments or lessons just wasn’t possible for me or for my family growing up. Nonetheless, I never let that become an obstacle so I would volunteer to sing in local churches because it was free and allowed me to express myself to some degree. My Dad always encouraged me to seek out these opportunities because he knew in time It would allow me to progress. Sadly, before I was able to release any of my music professionally, he would pass away when I was 15. I wish he could have seen how far I have come.
When I turned 16, I began to have a serious interest in music. I remember a family friend came by the summer my father had passed away and gifted me a stolen Taylor guitar. At the time, I was unaware that it was stolen and was unaware of its quality and make. Nonetheless, I accepted the gift with much enthusiasm. I remember a few weeks prior hanging out at my friend Jacob’s home. We were all hanging around and I remember seeing a guitar his dad owned.
I tried playing it and made out a small little melody picking away and I remember one of my best friends named Steven watched me and said “Hey that doesn’t sound so bad! We should start a band!” We all joked about it because Steven played drums but I knew it wouldn’t be possible because I didn’t own a guitar. Luckily enough, fate was on my side and I received the beautiful gift a few weeks later. That same Summer I called up my friend Steven and told him that we should start a band. So, we did. I remember we would practice in his garage just me and him and occasionally his younger brother Ammon. In our first session, we wrote a song together titled “The Beginning”. Maybe I’ll release it one day.
A year later, Steven had kept going strong in our writing and playing. We decided to challenge ourselves by creating only originals and to have them be workshopped by our creative efforts as time moved forward. By that time, we had around 20-30 original tunes, many now lost to old home demos and takes. But naturally, we decided to record an EP at a local studio down in Springville. It was nothing fancy, junk really, and a very minimal design.
It did not go as well as we had hoped mainly because we felt that because we were so young other people thought that we had no intended sound in mind for our music. Needless to say, the first masters we received back from our efforts sounded overproduced and excruciatingly glossy. A production decision, done in our absence, we both found laughable. In the end, we decided to go back and record a live collection of our best songs and compile it for an Anthology release. So, we did and hung up the project due to lack of funds. We released the EP but held onto the live recordings for the Anthology. Maybe one day I’ll release that too.
Many years later, I felt something was off in my life. I felt that the great importance of my youthful nature was not being preserved within the statutes and limitations of my ambition. I found that school and work provided nothing more than a conditional and non-reinforcing purpose and motive. I found that the secular institutions built to preserve us are abused and reinforced to keep us docile and complacent to the statutes and limitations of lifeless institutions in exchange for lifeless achievements. I felt this strongly in the work I was doing, and the school work that was placed upon me.
So, at 21, I decided to leave it all behind and seek out the strong melodies and the strong feelings that kept me awake at night. In doing so, I found myself writing again more than ever and I found myself inspired to finish the promise I had made to myself back when I was young. I decided then to make an Album. I got to work writing, scrapping, and creating new pieces. I pushed myself to make the best Album I could ever make. I wanted to make Something organic and something full of meaning. Something that wouldn’t be a collection of “fillers” but rather a conceptual story about myself and about where I am, something that preserved parallels of meaning and provided introspection and critical thought. Something New and Bold.
I began recording my Album at June Audio in the spring of 2022 and released the final version on December 15th of that same year. I titled the project “Eclipse of The Mind” and it was, and is, my greatest musical achievement as of currently. I intended to release the project as a whole without promoting any singles beforehand. I was thrilled to have had such a positive reaction despite my risk to the album’s release. I hope that everyone who has the chance to hear it finds meaning behind the project in their way. Currently, I find myself writing more inspired by the world around me.
I have started recording my Second Studio Album set for a 2024 release date. In short, I find this second album to be conceptually a sequel to the first. This second album is set to be an expression of the exterior nature of the world we find ourselves in. I hope to provide something even greater than the previous work and hope to inspire those around me to be a part of something bigger because being part of a generation that chooses to be bold and expressive is a blessing and a curse to those who chose never to be a part of it. This is our time, and this is my time and nobody can ever steal that from me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest struggle musically, has always been to capture the right sound for me. Learning is a part of life and sometimes we aren’t humble enough to ever see past what our vision is. So naturally, the road is never smooth but that doesn’t mean that it’s time to give up or to stop pursuing greatness and excellence.
Aside from my obstacles, life is always the greatest teacher and always serves as the greatest inspiration. I am a happy and optimistic person and find these to be great strengths in my endeavors. While the path is not always easy, the deception of never getting on the path is the greater sin. I do my best to find the exposure I can having come from nothing, but I do my best work in providing excellence in my artistic craft. I love music and I love what I do, despite the obstacles that may arise.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Musical Artist, and I find my specialty to be in writing and composing music of my desire. I have my favorite genres, but ultimately, I love all types of music and find that my strengths arise from that. My first album was heavily influenced by Blues and Rock and Roll under my interpretation, so it was without a doubt a great endeavor. I find most of these questions best answered by those close to me, but given the circumstances and nature of this interview, I would say I am best known for being creative, unexpected, explosive, and wildly inventive. These are a few of my favorite compliments from my friends, family, and peers who have seen what I do firsthand.
My proudest achievement was releasing my first Studio Album, “Eclipse of The Mind”. But among the proudest moments of my, still, early musical career to name a few has been releasing my first single “Wonderland” in September of this year, starting a documentary about my first album and the upcoming sequel, creating my first music video, and having started recording a good amount of my second studio album. It has been pretty great lately.
The biggest thing that sets me apart from normal artists is my transitional craft and composition. I find that so many people find “their sound” and then stick with that for the majority of their musical careers and endeavors. Most records I stream to hear on a whim usually have this boring foundational sound that never seems to change whether intentionally done or simply because this “sound” has become the foundation for the entire work.
I am actively always changing and love to express this within my musical directions. I think this has become a great strength for me because I always want something new to sound exactly like that. Something new. I am excited to release this upcoming album because it is going to showcase exactly what I am talking about, and I hope that people enjoy the work even greater than its predecessor.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
The greatest quality I believe to possess is my intuition. I am always trusting how a project “feels” rather than its reliable structure. I am quick to dismiss poor sounds or intentions rather than “try to make them fit”. Because I feel like this opens up my creative process.
I am best in the moment on the spot because I trust in myself in what needs to be on a record, rather than what is traditionally “best”. This has always been my greatest gift, and having a good ear and somewhat good playing skills are just other tools that help me shape what a project is going to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://music.apple.com/us/album/eclipse-of-the-mind/1657091821
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamrodr99/?img_index=1
Image Credits
Skylar Beese, Assael Rodriguez, and Kevin Gonzalez
