Today we’d like to introduce you to Bobby Felix.
Bobby, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Well, Rubber Soul kind of started in my head about 5 or 6 years ago. But, it didn’t really start taking formation until maybe 2016. You know, sometimes life begins dragging you down and you have to create something just to hold afloat, at least that has been my defense mechanism for as long as I can remember. I asked my life-long friend Chris Reyes to play drums on the project. I knew him and grew up with him throughout high school. We were both in marching band and whatnot. We even were in the same band in high school with mutual friends; this was maybe around 2014? The band dissolved pretty soon after it began. It’s pretty interesting that all of us involved in that project continued making music in one way or another. The other members were Damian Eckhardt, who went on to form Bleach, and Emmanuel Macias, who went on to play drums for Common Misconception. It’s odd to think that those moments were planting the seeds of where we are now as musicians, but as people as well.
I had a couple of demos whipped up and posted them on Band Camp and Sound Cloud but we did not see much success. We then decided to just make a band with more than one songwriter and singer and be as adaptable as we could be. If we were going to do the work, we might as well just give 100%. We enlisted a mutual friend, Ricardo Quintero, to play bass, as well as providing songwriting and vocals for our first album. Dia De Los Muertos, which was released in November 2018 on all streaming services after we worked on it for around six months. It was a bit of a hazy project, and we kind of just brought a bunch of tracks that we had all previously composed individually and recorded them. There wasn’t much writing as an ensemble. It was a lot of, “well, I’ve had this recorded for a while. It just needs the drum set, bass,” and all that kind of stuff. We just mixed and released. It was as DIY as it gets. We began playing shows for a couple of months. Since then, we’ve been working on our next album. This whole quarantine has been tough and stressful, but one silver lining has been time to record and really dive into the tracks. All the money that we make from our album sales will be going towards BLM organizations in San Diego! We are really excited for what is coming up in the future!
Has it been a smooth road?
I wouldn’t say smooth, but I wouldn’t say difficult, either? It’s mostly working around our work schedules, that is difficult. We all have conflicting availability and at times, it can definitely be a bit frustrating. But, I like to remember that there are not other set of people that I’d rather be making music with. It also helps when I think about all the people we’ve met and all the people that we’ve yet to meet. I’d say that’s the best part. Being able to just interact with people that have the same quirks as you. That deals with the world in the same way as you do. It’s breathtaking to see so many artists currently working and being successful doing it.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
Well, as you may have guessed by now, Rubber Soul is a band. We specialize in making music. I’d say what we are most proud about is our flexibility. We tend to fall all over the place when it comes to defining our musical genre or style. I guess, apart from the obvious Beatles reference, Rubber Soul also plays into the idea that we are extremely malleable as musicians and artists. Being inspired by so many movements and artists that shaped the way we see, hear, or view the world made us realize that we don’t have to put any barriers around our sound. All those inspirations can come in, in one way or another, and influence the finished project. People spend too much time defining things and too little enjoying them.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I would say we’re all of the ideas that things are constantly improving. There are so many artists, musicians, and performers all throughout San Diego. There is always a new name on the block. I’d say that it is a great place to be involved in anything. Anywhere you go, there is always something going on. When it comes to music specifically, though, almost everyone has been so welcoming and kind to us. For any beginners or people who are on the fence regarding starting out, just do it. Cannonball in and have fun. Throw everything into it and see where it takes you.
Pricing:
- Dia De Los Muertos (full album) {$5}
- Dog Daze (single) {$0.75}
Contact Info:
- Address: 1500 3rd Ave Spc 34 Chula Vista, CA 91911
- Website: https://rubbersoul-ca.bandcamp.com/
- Phone: 6196463348
- Email: rubbersoul.ca@gmail.com
- Instagram: @rubbersoul.sd
- Facebook: @rubbersoul.sd
- Twitter: @rubbersoul.sd
Image Credit:
Amaury Chagoya and Miguel Espinoza
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