Sublime with Rome has always been re-identifying themselves: with different band members, new styles and songs. But now the ska punk band really seems to have found their sweet spot — and it shows. Sublime with Rome’s third full-length album, “Blessings,” is set to drop on May 31, and they are also touring around the country this summer with their incredibly catchy repertoire. If you thought that the band would never be quite what it was back in the ’90s, good. Because they aren’t. And quite frankly, they shouldn’t be. Rome Ramirez, the band’s guitarist and singer, sat down with Metro to talk about their new album, their tour and how the band has changed within the past decade.
Sublime with Rome are truly hitting their sweet spot
First off, I want to talk about your third full-length album. What was the inspiration behind “Blessings”?
It’s sort of like a summary of the last 10 years. It’s kind of taking a step out of the driver’s seat and looking at everything from an outward perspective and growing up in the process. There’s just so much narrative there that I really wanted to capture that in the songs.
Is there a particular track that is your favorite from the new album?
Yeah, we have a new song out right now called “Light On” and that’s my favorite song I’ve ever written, period. Then on the flip side of that, one of my other favorite songs from the record is a song called “Thank U.” It’s really simple, it’s just the drum and vocal. Again I think the honesty and what I was trying to say with that song, it portrays really well. I have a hard time even just listening to myself without being such a hard critic, and this is just in its natural form, so I just felt like I didn’t have to be uptight.
When you write, is there a certain writing process that you do, or is it different every time?
You know, it does change. When you get older, your process kind of changes and your time changes. So, obviously when your time starts to shift, how you spend it starts to shift. I think right now it’s a lot easier to create when you have something to say. I’m a songwriter and producer but when I’m not writing songs for my album, I’m writing songs and producing music for plenty of other artists. So, either I would have to be the most emotional man in the world to be able to do that or I would have to find a place to be able to constantly create narratives and stories with writing and producing music in that volume.
You mentioned things changing over time. Since it’s almost the 10-year anniversary of Sublime with Rome, how would you say the band has progressed over the past decade?
I think we finally are really just comfortable. Onstage and in practice, it can be really difficult to have a brotherhood and then be professional — it can turn into a business. You start families and then you only see each other when you are doing business. And then sometimes a lot of bands will go through sort of that detachment when it turns into a “job.” But I think we’ve just really mastered that sort of union. It’s just a lot of fun for us.
Overall, what would you tell someone to expect at one of your concerts?
I would definitely tell people that it’s an experience. That’s kind of how we want everything to be. Listening to the music, we want the visuals to match. Then you go to the live show and you want the experience to be better than just listening to the songs on the album. But we definitely put an emphasis on our sounds and our visuals. It’s bananas, we have this really extensive stage setup and a really radical package that updates us from the previous tour. We are continually trying to elevate and pull people in, because everybody tours and there are so many bands and artists out there trying to compete to get people to come see them live. For our fans to continually keep coming out and supporting us, we want to give them something to feel like they’re watching it grow and they are getting their money’s worth.
Blessings is available now, check out sublimewithrome.com to see if Sublime with Rome is coming to a city near you
