Joe Romersa

Joe Romersa is an American musician, composer, voice actor, and music producer.

Joe Romersa
Born1956 (age 64–65)
California, U.S.
GenresAmbient, electronica, rock, trance
Occupation(s)Drummer, musician, record producer, singer-songwriter, sound engineer, voice actor
InstrumentsDrums, percussion, guitar, vocals
Years active1978–present
LabelsShadow Box Studio
Websitejoeromersa.com

Recognized in his teens for his talent with sound,[1] Romersa's illustrious career includes working with many notable music industry greats. Romersa's first love has always been drumming but early on he branched out into sound engineering. As Romersa tells it, "After a tragic early tour I did at age 19 which left me homeless sleeping on a park bench in New Jersey, I had to find a way to make money and still be close to what I love; music."[2] Upon his return to California, Romersa studied sound engineering. Combining his fledgling career as a professional musician with the more stable income of sound engineering allowed Romersa to perfect his craft as both a gifted drummer/percussionist and as a hard-working, and talented sound engineer.

Early career

Romersa started touring as the drummer for the Marc Tanner Band. On April 19, 1979, they would open for Firefall, at the Palace Theater in Cleveland Ohio.[3] The Marc Tanner Band also opened for Jefferson Starship. Romersa was a drummer, percussionist, and composer on Tanner's second album, Temptations, along with guitarist Ritchie Zito and bassist Ron Edwards.

Soy Cowboy

While working in the studio, a chance meeting with keyboardist and songwriter Vincent Nicoletti, would result in the band Soy Cowboy with its unique "Thai Western" sound. Romersa was brought in as a drummer and sound engineer, but his talent as a lead vocalist would soon be discovered as the band was pulled together. After their first recordings received airplay by renowned Los Angeles radio personality, Tom Schnabel of KCRW-FM (89.9), the band caught the attention of then art student Tarsem Singh. In 1990, Singh would produce the Soy Cowboy's only music video for their song Lily Pads and Rock Cod.[4] Soy Cowboy's first album First Time Again was produced in 1991 but it was not released to the public. The album would later be released in 2009, by Shadow Box Studio. Their second album 2012 was produced and released in 2012. As noted by Tom Schnabel "The band got moderate airplay on U.S. radio, but in England briefly jumped to the top of the charts."[5]

From Drummer to Sound Engineer

Romersa was both a drummer and engineer on John Prine's 1992 Grammy Award-winning album The Missing Years. He would go on to work with Carlene Carter on her 1993 country music album Little Love Letters as the drummer, percussionist, engineer and backup vocalist along with bassist Howie Epstein and keyboardist Benmont Tench. Little Love Letters would rise to No. 35 on the Top Country Albums chart and included the No. 3 hit Every Little Thing and two top 100 songs; I Love You 'Cause I Want To (#50) and Unbreakable Heart (#51). Romersa's beautiful young daughter, Reyna, would make her video "debut" in I Love You 'Cause I Want To.

In the late 1980s, a slight, older gentleman with a shock of long white hair would walk into the recording studio without an appointment. That man was Eden ahbez, known as ahbe to his friends.[6] That fateful day would mark the beginning of an 8-year relationship with the man that wrote Nature Boy. Romersa and ahbe worked together until ahbe's untimely death in 1995.[7]

Voice Acting

Joe's talent as a voice artist would soon find him working in the world of anime. In 1994, Joe started engineering, voice acting, and ADR directing on Anime and Game projects, which led to his work on Silent Hill.[2] In 2002, Yutaka Maseba and Haruyo Kanesaku at ZRO Limit Production introduced Joe to Akira Yamaoka . The two musicians got together and jammed at Joe's studio, Joe on his drums and Akira playing on Joe's borrowed Strat and Line 6 amp. Their only communication was through their music until the translator came and they would discuss the Silent Hill project. Joe would go on to work as music supervisor on Silent Hill 3, Silent Hill 4: The Room and Silent Hill: Homecoming. Joe is the talent behind the song lyrics in these games. He also sings on "Hometown" and "Cradle of Forest."[8]

Returning to His Musical Roots

One of Romersa's projects as a producer was the production of Alana Sweetwater's 2004 release of Alana Sweetwater. Her single from that album, Song of Love, was featured on the original Showtime series, Season 3, Episode 6, of The Real L World. Romersa was also a musician on the album and sound engineer.

Romersa released his first album as a solo artist in 2017 titled Enough. Written and composed by Romersa, Enough includes tracks by fellow musicians including Laurence Juber ("Love, and You"), Prescott Niles ("Enough," "Humans Doing Angels Work," "Soldier of Love"), and Jeff Jourard ("Give Our Money Back").

Romersa's musical inspirations are eclectic, but it all started with watching The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. Other musical influences include Beethoven, John Cage, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Prima, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Emerson Lake and Palmer, The Move, and David Bowie.[2]

Discography

Mainstream albums
Year Title Artist Record Company Role
Unknown 1000 Pt. Man Thom Bishop Virgin Records Engineer
1978 Living in the USA Linda Ronstadt Elektra Entertainment Engineer
1978 Thank You for Funkin' Up My Life Donald Byrd Elektra/Asylum Engineer
1979 Fate for Breakfast Art Garfunkel Legacy Records Engineer
1980 Temptation The Marc Tanner Band Elektra/Asylum Musician, writer
1987 In Full Swing Full Swing Cypress Records Engineer
1989 Second Coming The Dickies Restless Records Engineer
1990 China Beach: Music and Memories Various Artists Warner Bros. Records Engineer
1990 The Sounds Of Murphy Brown: Original Television Soundtrack Album Various Artists MCA Records Engineer
1990 Thirteen Blood Red Rosebuds Steve Forbert SquirrelMad Sound Engineer, Drums
1991 The Missing Years John Prine Oh Boy Records Engineer, musician
1991 The Ruby Sea Thin White Rope Frontier Musician
1993 Little Love Letters Carlene Carter Warner Bros. Records Engineer, musician
1995 Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings John Prine Oh Boy Records Engineer, musician, Co-Writer (One Song)
1995 Beauty and the Beast Sven Vath Warner Bros. Records Engineer
1997 The Bitch is Back Bitch Enigma/Metal Blade Producer
2003 Silent Hill 3 Original Soundtracks Akira Yamaoka Konami Featured Singer, Music supervisor
2003 Songs of Bob Dylan: May Your Song Always Be Sung Various Artists BMG Engineer, musician, Featured Singer,
2004 Coercion Street Ernie Payne Black & Tan Holland Musician
2004 Silent Hill 4: The Room Original Soundtracks Akira Yamaoka Konami Featured Singer, Music supervisor, Lyrics writer
2008 Silent Hill Zero Original Soundtracks Akira Yamaoka Konami Lyrics writer
2008 Silent Hill Homecoming Soundtrack Akira Yamaoka Konami Lyrics writer
2009 Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Soundtrack Akira Yamaoka Konami Lyrics writer

Indie albums
Title Artist Record Company Role
Alana Sweetwater Alana Sweetwater Shadow Box Studio Producer, musician, writer
Free Enterprise Free Enterprise Indie Engineer, producer
Julia Free Julia Free Indie Producer, musician, writer
Larry Whitman Larry Whitman Indie Producer
Meat Sandwich Meat Sandwich Shadow Box Studio Engineer, producer, artist
Nuclear Test Band Nuclear Test Band Indie Musician, engineer
Needles and Pins Page Pazaro Indie Engineer, producer
O The Band O The Band Indie Producer, musician, writer
First Time Again Soy Cowboy Shadow Box Studio Producer, musician, writer
2012 Soy Cowboy Shadow Box Studio Produer, musician, writer
Yolie Lox and the Bears Yolie Lox and the Bears Indie Engineer, producer, artist
Audio Monkey Joe Romersa Shadow Box Studio Artist, engineer, producer
Enough Joe Romersa Shadow Box Studio Artist, musician, producer

Acting

Anime voice-over

Video game roles

Non-anime voice-over
  • Big Rig Buddies as Smokey the Fire Truck (formerly)

Staff work

References
  1. "Immaculate Heart Tv Interview W/joe Romersa • Joe Romersa • No Ads YouTube". no-ads-youtube.com. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  2. "Interview with Joe Romersa, the man behind the voice | 世楽　SEGAKU". segaku.com. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  3. "FIREFALL | TOUR ARCHIVE". Firefall. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  4. JONES, JANICE L. (June 5, 1993). "Soy Cowboy: Thais to the West : Pop music: What started as a one-time project led this country rock band—with bilingual backup singers—to a niche in world beat". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  5. "Soy Cowboy: Back Again". Rhythm Planet. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  6. "Eden Ahbez, the First Hippie |". www.thenativeangeleno.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  7. Chidester, Brian (February 1, 2014). "Eden Ahbez: The Hippie Forefather's Final Statement to the World". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  8. "Joe Romersa Interview: Writing Songs for Silent Hill (March 2008)". www.game-ost.com. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  9. "Behind the Voice Actors – Joe Romersa". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
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