Formerly of Sublime, Bay Area alt-reggae powerhouse Rome Ramirez has a unique ability to capture the attention of a room beyond the weight of his star power. With an electric charisma and an ability to take a calm and philosophical approach to navigating the world around him, he continues to inspire fans across the globe. Despite achieving more success than he ever expected when first starting his career at 19, he remains one of the most humble people one could ever expect to meet. Forever passionate about their work, he is eternally eager to make a crowd’s day better through his art.

Grateful Web got to sit down with Rome at this year’s Cali Roots festival to discuss his parting ways with Sublime to start a new chapter of his career, baseball culture in the Bay Area, and how he believes the ways we react to forks in our life’s road shape us as human beings.

Grateful Web: You’re in the middle of your biggest solo tour in a good while. How has it been stepping into this limelight all by yourself?

Rome Ramirez: Man, it’s been so much fun. It’s such a different trip. We went from Sublime with, like, three tour buses to maybe one bus. But I’m with my friends and my family, and we’re connecting with fans on a smaller level, and we’re just building it up with songs that I wrote. It’s just been so much fun to go from this concept of “I’m at home, I write the song, then I record it, then I show it to my team and we go ‘is this any good?’ Then we put it out, and then I go out and tour it and see the response, and then I do the same thing.” And I know that’s a really simple thing, but to most artists, that’s the way it goes, but I joined with one of the major rock bands, and it’s like jumping into a whole different thing. That was way more bureaucratic. It was a bigger machine. And in this instance, it’s fun to build it from the ground up again, so I’m enjoying it.

GW: After parting ways with Sublime after more than 15 years together, how do you feel you grew from that experience, and what did that chapter in your life mean to you?

RR: Ah man, talk about growing. It’s evolving. I joined the band when I was 19, and I’m 36 now. That cycle was so beautiful. Getting to tour the world so many times, and connect with all these people with a band that I seriously love, it was just the time of a lifetime. Getting to do all that and take some time to separate and write some music on my own, it just started to write itself. I hadn’t really taken that time for reflection ever until Covid, and that was kind of when I started to put this whole solo album together and reflect on the last 15 years with the band.

GW: As much as Sublime helped with your career and personal development, do you think there were any ways stepping into such a well-known band with a very specific identity held you back as an artist?

RR: Oh no, no way. Holding back is wild to say, just because of the sheer opportunity of getting to sing for such a legendary band like that. Also, it’s like, I took a job. It was a decision. My soon-to-be manager at the time told me there was a fork in the road. There was this road where we start touring, and you’ll do Rome and we’ll put an album out, or there’s this road where you join Sublime. They love you and they want to do this. Just standing there, I saw the future. I didn’t think it would last more than a year, to be honest. But I saw that and I was like “Dude, this sounds like so much fun. I’m going to do this all day, this is going to be awesome.” And so, because of that, it introduced me to all of this. All this experience, and all these stories, and my friends. I wouldn’t go back and change a minute of it. I’m very, very grateful for that time. It was awesome.

GW: Have any Sublime songs made their way into your setlist on your solo tour?

RR: One of my favorites, Bad Fish. I just love that song. To me, it’s just such a beautiful song, and something I think is so special about Sublime is how they can talk about some ugly stuff and make it sound so pretty. I love singing that song. And I’ve been having fun pulling from the Sublime with Rome catalogue that we never really got to play, or didn’t have the time to put in the setlist, and getting to rework and reimagine them now in my band, it’s just been a lot of fun.

GW: With your newest work, how do you think you’ve grown since the Dedication EP?

RR: Oh, dude, I definitely play a lot more guitar, that’s for sure. But honestly, I’m just so much better of a songwriter. You know? I don’t get drunk as often as I used to. When I was a kid I was drinking so much and was so distracted with chasing girls and stuff, and now I’m so locked in with what it is that I do and what I do great, so I try to water those plants as often as possible. And by doing that, I’m just getting better and better at what I do, and I love that. I’m kind of obsessed with knowing that the more songs I write, the better my songs get. And that wasn’t always the case when I was with Sublime, just because of the machine I was in, and how busy we were, and honestly, my attention just wasn’t there. Now, it’s a whole different energy.

GW: So you’re a Fremont boy, Bay Area born and bred.

RR: Yeah, man!

GW: Everyone can see your San Francisco Giants tattoo, and you’re always decked out in the gear. How do you feel about the Dodgers buying their roster and the way the Giants are keeping the division?

RR: Dude, it’s kind of crazy, man. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’m the biggest baseball guy in the world, I got into baseball when I started to coach my kids’ baseball, but honestly, seeing the legacy of the Giants in the Bay Area, and me coming from the Bay Area, it’s a beautiful thing to see that no matter what, you stick by a team, you stick by someone, and you ride it out through the good and through the bad. And, you know, we’ve got the World Series under our belts, and then you have the Dodgers with their big checkbooks, and they can make some things happen, but just like anything else in this world, you practice a lot. You play good baseball, you write good songs, whatever it is, it’s going to work out.

GW: In bringing up being a dad, I know you have some young kids at home, your youngest is right at the end of being a toddler, how do you manage your life on the road with your life at home, and how do you make sure those closest to you feel the love they deserve given your busy schedule?

RR: By saying “no” to a bunch of shit, that’s for sure. And I’ve never been a “no” guy, I’m always a “yes” guy. But once you give your time to other people out of respect, you gotta follow through with that decision. I wanted a family, I always knew that. And when a situation came up, I was like, ok, this is that fork in the road again where I could either go ham all the way or I could just make it work, and for me, it’s a constant, constant, not struggle, but it’s a constant effort to realign and retool. And the boring side of it is, I got a bunch of tech that I use, like calendars, and Gmail sync, and I have an assistant and a manager, and my wife is incredible, so I have a lot of help, so I’m able to do this on a proficient level, but it’s super intentional, and it’s super easy to get locked into my work because it’s my hobby, and that’s at the detriment of the people that I love. It’s just constantly paying attention to that and being mindful of where your time is going.

GW: Anything you’re excited about that you’re working on right now?

RR: Yeah, I got a new song with the Dirty Heads coming out in June, it drops the day that we play Red Rocks. It’s called “Slow and Easy,” and honestly, I think it’s a fucking summer banger. I think it’s a forever song, so I’m happy.

GW: What’s one question you’ve never gotten in an interview before?

RR: One question I’ve never gotten in an interview before is “What is my favorite compressor to use on acoustic guitars?” And my favorite compressor to use on acoustic guitars would probably be an LA-2A. Not very original. But, if you want a geekier answer, I’d say the Tree Audio Channel Strip. It’s what I use on the entire new album.