When I Grow Up I Wanna Be Like Rob Armus
This interview was made with Rob while he was busking somewhere in the United States
Troy: Hello Rob. How are you? I think it's fascinating what you are doing, traveling the world playing music! Amazing! You're like Johnny Apple Seed. They call this busking?
Rob: Hey Troy, I'm good thanks, I'm glad to do this interview with you, I have much respect for you as an artist and a human, I think we are kindred spirits.
Busking is a word many people never hear, it means to perform in public places for tips, I've been doing it on and off for 30+ years, been making a full time living from it for almost 10 years.
Troy: Wow 10 years! Long time. So where do you come from?
Rob: I was born in England and grew up in Canada.
Troy: Were you like Paul Gauguin and just walked off the job to create?
Rob: Sort of, when I was in my very early twenties after doing all the bad labor jobs imaginable around Vancouver I did walk of the job from a plastic factory, I was coughing up bright coloured phlegm from the die we were breathing in. I vowed never to work again and devote my life to music.
Troy: Good choice! How did you get into music? What age? Teachers?
Rob: I always loved music more than anything, my earliest memories are musical, unfortunately we didn't have musical instruments when I was growing up except a cheesy k-mart mini organ that my brothers and I quickly wore out. We were little kids and had a song book with tunes like Windy and other early 70's hits, we learned every song in that book. I finally got to play tenor sax in the school band in grade 8, I guess that would have been around 1979, I was 13 or 14, they wanted to start me out on clarinet but I insisted on sax, I got to take the school saxophone home and practiced it like a maniac all the time, my Mum encouraged me.
Troy: Who are your influences?
Rob: I love all kinds of music, when I was a kid I was often late for school because I couldn't pull myself away from the radio, 70's am radio ! My mum was an Elvis fanatic so I heard a lot of Elvis and still love that music. With the sax I got seriously into jazz and became obsessed with John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and all the great jazz music from the 30's to the 70's.
Troy: Do you hop trains like Woody Guthrie?
Rob: Haha not quite but we did hop trains when we were kids just for fun.
Troy: Your a one man band: drums , sax , guitar and vocal. You must practice a lot? How many hours a day do you play?
Rob: I play for hours everyday busking but I need to practice more, I want to progress, especially with the guitar. I pretty well play all the time.
Troy: I think it must be exciting to wake up and hit the road singing from town to town , doing it on your own while most people complain: i have no money, no band, no record deal etc . I am sure there are some hard times too?
Rob: Yes it is a great feeling to wake up and hit the road, there is a lot of freedom in it, you are truly your own boss, starring in and directing your own movie and most importantly writing your own script.
It's true many musicians complain but complaining gets you nowhere, I try to keep a positive mental outlook and remember that there's no up without down, no left without right and no right without wrong, so when hard times come I try to remember that it's just the other side of the coin.
Troy: In how many countries have you played?
Rob: Um let's see... Canada, US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina, England, Holland, Germany, Poland, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Senegal, Israel.... I guess that's about it, I'd like to go to the Far East someday.
Troy: I know you are in the United States right now, how does it feel?
Rob: It's a great feeling traveling in the US, it's such a vast country, friendly people, good music everywhere, after living in Europe for 20+ years the US is refreshing, I love it, I feel free here.
Troy: Is it hard to busk? Do you need a permit?
Rob: The hardest part of busking is schlepping the gear around, playing is the fun part. Some places require a permit, I avoid those places.
Troy: I know you sing many great old songs but you also write your own. How is that going? Any new cd's? I have 2. And who wrote the Dead Presidents?
Rob: Thanks for asking, Yes I have a new cd of original music out, it's called Back to Belleville, it was recorded in Paris with a group of good friends and excellent musicians. It can be listened to and purchased at www.realrob.bandcamp.com
Dead Presidents was written by Willie Dixon made famous by Little Walter.
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