By Noe Gutierrez
ROWLAND R. GOMEZ aka DIALECT – The Sandz of Time Volumes I & II
Rowland R. Gomez, also known as Dialect, is a music producer, lyricist, songwriter, DJ, audio engineer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and performer. Born and raised in Indio, CA on February 23, 1988, the same year Rolling Stone magazine declared it the ‘Best Year in Hip-Hop’ thus it was predetermined that Dialect was destined for greatness.
Music encompassed Dialect’s environment as a child, introduced to a professional studio by his uncle at the age of 3, and the sounds of his grandfather’s Flamenco guitar filled the family home. In his pre-teens, he began lyrical experimentation through free-styling at the local laundromat and inherited his mother’s record collection, purchasing his first turntables and PA system. He was dubbed the ‘go to’ high school party DJ by his classmates. Dialect began experimenting with ‘turntablism’ and music programming.
At the age of 18 Dialect attended Los Angeles Recording School (LARS) in Hollywood, CA. There, the developing artist perfected his music techniques and not only obtained his audio engineer degree but completed his first album “Naturally”. Dialect produced, mixed, mastered, wrote, performed and recorded the project entirely alone. Once he graduated from LARS he returned to the Coachella Valley to apply his newly developed skills in his hometown.
Upon arriving, he began performing his new album at local Hip-Hop shows opening for the likes of B-Real, Murs, The Grouch and Eligh to name a few. He soon landed a weekly DJ gig at the Blue Bar inside Spotlight 29 Casino, at the same time began working at the Indio Teen Center’s first music studio. Dialect gave the studio a facelift with new equipment and operated that studio for some time until he began designing his own studio in Indio. He was then recruited by the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of the Coachella Valley to design and operate a new youth recording facility. Now managing two different studios in Indio, and having the four elements of Hip-Hop present, ‘DJing, MCing, Breakdancing and Graffiti’, Dialect was also very active with producing local music and live music events. In 2011 he decided to head back to Los Angeles where he attended Los Angeles Film School for his Bachelors of Science in Entertainment Business. Since then Dialect has opened as a DJ for Exile, Jeremy Sole, DJ Brodzilla and Zikomo of Soulection to name a few, he has worked as assistant engineer for Grammy Award winners Bongo ByTheWay and Keith Harris, and LA native DJ Quik, working with then mentor Georg Van Handel, descendant of Fredrick Handel the composer. He’s recorded acts such as Brandy Carlyle, Yuna, Dirty Heads, Shinedown, Bill Zucker and Vicci Martinez. He has worked as production manager and lead technician for Kevin Hart’s LOL launch party, produced the Boom Bap Summit with DJ Brodzilla and King-T for the Likwit Radio launch party, produced and hosted the Coachella Valley Music Industry Summit in Palm Springs, and the Street Music and Arts Festival for Westfield Palm Desert. Dialect’s most recent music project consists of a two-part instrumental album, The Sandz of Time Volumes I and II, available now at dialectmusic.com, and is scheduled to release his 2nd studio album “Wen The Dust Settles” on July 4, 2020.
The Sandz of Time Volume I and Volume II are an orchestral array of Hip-Hop beats under a collection of unnumbered styles and genres of music. The steady, unstoppable advancement of time and music within this project are ‘like sands through the hourglass’.
ALL SOULS – SONGS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD
Before COVID-19 Rock band All Souls was prepped to take 2020 by storm with their new album “Songs For The End Of The World”. In no way could the band have predicted the ironic correlation between their album title and the struggle we currently face. It might sometimes seem like the ‘end of the world’ but this album will be a part of what saves us. Produced by Toshi Kasai (TOOL, The Melvins, Foo Fighters) at Sound of Sirens Studio in Los Angeles, the first single, “You Just Can’t Win” is available on Spotify and a video for the song is on their YouTube channel. The video was directed by Marcos Sánchez with animation by Sánchez and Simón Jarpa and footage was provided by the Prelinger Archives. The video for their next single “Winds” will be released very soon. A teaser for the video, directed by Josh Graham (Soundgarden), is also on YouTube. The official release date for the new album has yet to be shared, but rest assured you will be able to purchase CDs and vinyl along with digital download.
“You Just Can’t Win” (Official Video) – https://youtu.be/zCRNGhQfU0A
“Winds” (Official Video Teaser) – https://youtu.be/6kmCZ3KipuI
NIGEL ROMAN
Nigel Roman is a Joshua Tree, California native, a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music combines the ingredients of Traditional Jazz, acoustic-driven Folk, and 80’s era power ballad vocals. He captures and releases emotions in ways similar to artists like Phil Collins, Ray Lamontagne and Jeff Buckley. Stories of tragedy and loss transcend into a metamorphic state of serenity. His music offers us a look into our own turmoil and inspires forgiveness. As we know this virus thing has knocked everyone off their horse. In lieu of all of this Roman decided to release the record anyway. On June 10, 2020, Roman released his self-titled “Nigel Roman” album and it is now available in all major platforms.
Roman did not get discouraged with the current climate and kept going. He shared, “Right now, this seems right. This is my best accomplishment so far, a whole lot of feeling and emotion went into this”. When you listen, you will understand.
The album was produced and recorded by Charlie Stavish and Christian Camargo at The Clock Tower Recorder in Flamingo Heights, California. There, Roman was able to group together a list of tremendous musicians and close friends to help portray his appreciation and understanding of life, love, and the pursuit of authentic happiness.
Roman passionately disclosed, “Sometimes, we feel as if we must endure our pain and struggles alone. We feel we must wield the weight on our shoulders without help.” Roman’s candor reveals the similarities among us. Adrift in his melodic soundscape, we see that as human beings, we deserve care and compassion, a belief that is often overlooked. In his music and performance exists a window to who we are, where we have been, and more importantly, where to go from here. Roman provides 50 minutes of pure emotional support that every human can benefit from.
Roman puts vulnerability to shame with this album. He explains in-depth, “This record is a bit of a journal, a reflection on the ‘relationship’. I won’t sit here and say that my life was horrible but it definitely wasn’t short of trauma, abuse, neglect, etc. My life was less than desirable for many years, for many reasons and at different times. My mother, who is on the cover of the album was a drug addict and didn’t do much in the way of traditional childhood raising. So that relationship was questionable. School, as many kids can attest, lacked direction and respect from every angle. Let’s just say I wasn’t one of the cool kids, or at least I didn’t think I was. Romantic relationships in and of themselves played a huge role in my understanding of people as well as myself. So basically the entire record is almost a chronologically ordered account of my life, my experiences in life and how I was thinking about these experiences over time. It’s rare that a stranger opens up to you with their vulnerability. And it’s rare that you open up to them. But I have found that if your delivery is beautiful from the get-go, people are more inclined to receive it and embrace their own vulnerability. We may never even meet. But all that matters really is that the connection was made.” Roman exudes his sense of belonging on this album while providing encouragement and motivation to its listeners.
Roman is another holistic musician from a long line of “complete” artists from Joshua Tree that includes Ted Quinn, Gram Parsons, Chris Unck, Gene Evaro, Jr. and Mikey Reyes. “I spent this morning listening and crying. It’s impossible to really convey what this album means to me. I know ‘everybody is making music’ and I know that every market is saturated. But this isn’t really a product to me. This is my journal. My life was hard in many ways and this was how I was going to tell people about it. I can’t stress enough how much I wish these songs can help you in your hard times. Cause honestly I made them so that you can reflect on your own life. These songs are about me, yes. But they are also about you.” Go to your chosen platform and purchase/download ‘Nigel Roman’ to learn more about yourself.
Roman has one last message to everyone:
“To those who have hurt me in my life. I honestly forgive you. I completely forgive you! To those who have yet to forgive… give it a try.”
Quotes by others:
“I’ve been working in the music business for decades and it’s a rare occasion that I come across a talent as I have with local Joshua Tree singer/songwriter Nigel Roman. Great tunes coming from the heart! You’ll definitely be hearing about him” – Dennis Moody (recording engineer)
“So proud of you giving yourself to all of us. Healing to all. Perfect timing.” – Christian Comargo (actor/producer)
“I have never had tears of happiness and joy come to eyes.” – Katie Davis (fan/friend)
“Constantly surprising melody lines and arrangement. Very clean production and so much heart. You really SANG baby!” – Hugo Fowler (musician)
Find “Nigel Roman” on all major music platforms including Spotify and Apple Music.
