Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: Music has been a compulsion from a young age. I use music as a therapeutic device, there was little choice on whether or not I pursed writing music in my life. The choice was more to pursue the career aspects of music. I took a leap of faith in 2021, as the COVID pandemic subsided. My long time partner left me and I was left alone and destitute. I took what few possessions I had and loaded them in a van and moved to a strange place called Vancouver Island. There I was almost instantly greeted with an incredible outpouring of support and demand for my music. That’s what lead me to recording This Old Train, my debut streaming single. It’s all in the song, if you listen to the lyrics. It’s the perfect first release because it authentically tells my story in a simple digestible way. It’s honest and authentic and that’s what you get with me and my music.
Q: And what other artists have you found yourself listening to lately?
A: Drew Holcomb’s wholesome folk-country vibe has truly been inspiring. There is so much darkness and pandering to ideological nightmares in contemporary music. I find Holcomb’s songs and overall vibe to be very refreshing.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
A: Tom Waits taught me to write songs as they are given by divine muse and not try to appease people with songs. I write for myself as a way to cope with the frustration and confusion of the human condition. Country writers like Townes Van Zandt and Willie Nelson taught me the nuts and bolts of a good song. Great singers like Nina Simone, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and Jeff Buckley taught me to put passion, love and deep emotional vibrations behind a lovely voice. Danny Michel (Canadian Indie Songwriter) continues to be an inspiration to me with the authenticity, independence and love that he puts out in every song. Danny also conveys a lot of authentic stage presence and I try to be true to myself in a similar way. I like artists that are real, not some idealized brand for a target audience.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘This Old Train’. Is there a story behind it?
A: The story is simply and authentically about my last couple years. The woman I thought I was going to marry left me, I lost everything to the pandemic, and I turned it all around with a leap of faith. I found friends, I found a new path and a great music career trajectory and I found sobriety for the first time since childhood. The song, This Old Train, is about not counting someone out. We all have our speed bumps and roadblocks along the way, but with hard work and faith that you deserve love and a better life, you can achieve a much happier existence on this strange blue marble in the far reaches of the universe. There is so much beauty in life and so much to be grateful for. The world could be heaven on earth if we all just sobered up and put in the effort.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: I have a single or two lined up to keep people satiated while I work on my first EP. I will be working very hard in 2023/2024 to get as much recorded material out as possible. People are screaming for my music to listen to at home. In the meanwhile, my live concerts are well attended and the bootleg recordings are seeping out to the delight of my growing fan base. Rob Fillo Music is a recondite community with a lot of love and I am so very grateful.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: Authenticity is key. I write from my heart and my experience. There is also a strong element of intimacy. I contribute to my songs in a way that really gives the listeners a sense of joy, love, and even catharsis. When people relate to my songs they really hit hard in a positive way.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: It is an unimaginable amount of work, being a fully independent artist, but so many people are joining my team along the way because they believe in me and my music. That is an incredible feeling, to really feel appreciated and to have people want to be a part of your adventure. It’s a very wonderful honour and a pleasure to see my music bring so many amazing people together. The hugs, the tears of joy, the inspiration, all the elements that I see at my live shows makes the effort all worthwhile. What an amazing adventure.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: I usually get hit hard by lyrics that carry a heavy emotional element, then something awakens in me. I called it a connection with the aether or the divine. Soon after a song is born. It usually happens fast initially, then there is a breaking in period of refinement. Alternatively, I can be sitting at a piano or picking at my guitar and a riff or chord progression will ignite that lonely spark of creation. The spark must be nurtured and allowed to ignite the inspiration to follow through to a song. Either way, this is not a prefrontal cortex process, it all happens in the deeper recesses of the mind and then comes to the surface to be calculated and written out.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: I struggled a lot in life. I lost many years of my life believing I was broken by experiences I endured, only to find that I had created my own prison. Mental health challenges, substance issues, physical challenges… I’ve seen a lot of pain and turmoil, more than most. But I saw through the darkness to the light and fought for my very soul. I don’t speak much on the darkness I have endured, but I do speak about the light I have found. I am not a religious person, but I am deeply spiritual. I have faith and I have experienced the deep darkness and the found the healing light. I have great empathy for the human condition and all of us contending with it. Through my experience I have found an endless well of hope and peace… I lose it sometimes, but I always find my way back. Music has alway been there with me as my stalwart companion and my life has made for a fantastic experiential journal to pull from for creative inspiration. We can all overcome our demon, it takes faith and all the strength we can muster. Luckily, we are all a lot stronger than we think and that is the great lesson difficult challenges teach us.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: I am so proud to be where I am today. I don’t need to look deep into the past to know I have made a huge difference in my life and the lives of many others. My music matters to so many people and it comes directly from my heart. If I never make it any further in my career I have already accomplished what I set out to do, help one person see the light through the darkness. Everything else is just a bonus from here on out and I will do as much good with my music as I can until the very end of the journey. Purpose, music, has given me a way to live my life with happiness, a little bit of wisdom, and a grace I never thought I would find. I am so honoured to be granted the purpose of making music and so grateful to be making it.
