By: JAEQWON SUAREZ/ DEPUTY ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Meet Rob Eberle, a local New York musician from Long Island who is currently attending the Roc-Nation school for the time being. With seven songs out right now on Spotify, Eberle is someone to have on your radar for new alternative pop music.
Coming from a musical family, he grew up with his dad playing music around the house. This was partly because his Father just so happened to be in a band as well.
“I remember carrying their merchandise in little plastic shopping bags trying to sell them whenever I went to their concerts. They also let me perform one time, so they’ve been a huge influence on my life since forever.” Eberle stated to Seawanhaka.
His grandparents also gifted him with a guitar at just the age of 8 years old. From there, he would begin songwriting at eleven and then continue to put out some of his early work at 12.
However, he briefly said how it wasn’t until he turned 16 that he’d take his music career seriously. His dad and the band never tried to push him into doing just one style of music.
“As soon as I got that guitar I just started learning and experimenting with different genres and different sounds until it felt right.” he opinionated.
Eberle’s love for music shows in the tracks he already has put out. There isn’t one genre that his songs fit into because they could be categorized as many different genres, but he closely related it to alternative pop.
“I would describe my style as alternative pop, but I don’t want to be genre-specific ever. I love playing around with different types of genres and mixing it all into one,” Eberle said.
He also talked about his songwriting process and what it’s like to start from nothing, and then come up with a verse and chorus. He told us how recently, he has started writing about other people’s situations who are close to him.
“So usually I’ll sit down at a keyboard, piano, or guitar and figure out a chord progression that I think would be right. Then I hum out the melody for different sections, so if I’m writing the verse first, which I usually do, I figure out the melody for that section,” he said.
Eberle then thinks about what he wants to write about and what is the message he wants to express.
As stated earlier, he started writing about other people’s situations or what they have gone through. Once in his head, he then has a rough template of the song planned out, with melodies, chords, and verses to formulate what we as listeners will soon hear.
Music can have a major impact on a person’s life, especially for musicians or songwriters who do that for a living. As the person grows, so does their style of music, and Seawanhaka was able to have an endearing moment with Eberle as he expressed how music helped him.
“I was bullied in high school. I didn’t want to be there. I still remember moments where I would call my parents and say hey, I’m in the nurse again can I leave because I just didn’t want to be there. It was just too bad. So I think that has changed me as a person.” Eberle expressed.
“I’m creating and releasing music because I know how horrible some people are and I know sometimes what people are going through isn’t easy because I know what I went through wasn’t easy. So I want to create some sort of safe haven or environment for people to relate and feel safe and comfortable listening to my music.” Eberle stated.
This was one of the many reasons he started making music, the other reason was his dad, who allowed him to pursue music and has been an influential figure in his life.
Seawanhaka continued the interview by diving into the first song he had ever written, which was called “Alone.”
“It was a song about a relationship that I did not go through. When I was younger, I used to write about little situations that never happened, and some of the lyrics didn’t make sense. That was one of the first ones and I brought that to this Producer on Long Island where I’m from, and we produced it and I released it before my voice even changed. I still have the track, but thank god it’s not out anymore.” Eberle reminisced.
He chuckled as he told the story about one of the very early tracks he’d ever written and released, saying how Alone was autotuned with some crazy vocals.
On the topic of songwriting, he also talked about one track that specifically got him emotional. The song is out right now and it is called “I Just Needed Somebody to Be Someone.”
“That song is about my parent’s divorce. That was very hard for me at the time of being 12. It felt like I had to be the parent of my two younger brothers and comfort them and make sure they were okay. So that was definitely one of the most emotional songs I’ve ever had to write and I actually wrote it in like 20 minutes. So it was definitely an emotional half hour of my life.” Eberle stated.
He then talked about his favorite song he has ever written, stating that it’s not even out yet.
“I have this song called “Wanting More” that I released then unreleased because I felt like it could use a second life and I can make it better. So I took it to my producers and we completely changed the entire song. We rewrote all the lyrics, made different melodies, changed the keys around and now it's called Half of You.” As of right now, it’s one of his favorite songs that he has written.
Seawanhaka was able to talk to Eberle about performing and what song he does to open up the show.
“I’ll usually open the show with a song called “Why Lose a Friend”. It’s a very pop-rock song and it’s just fun. It gets the crowd going and I just love singing it.” He claimed.
Recently this past summer, Eberle got the chance to perform across the country at many different venues and music festivals such as South by Southwest (SXSW).
With all the performances and shows he has done, Seawanhaka got to hear talk about what’s next for him.
He expressed how grateful he was for being able to perform at SXSW, stating it was an “incredible experience”. Eberle also let us know that he will be on tour with one of his friends next year in 2024.
At most of his shows, Eberle will do swift transitions that are fun, playful, and dynamic that engage the audience.
“So I knew I was going to do that beforehand and I knew I was going to do switches because I like to add dynamic. Again, none of my songs are genre-specific, and some of my songs are similar but not the same, like comparing Why Lose a Friend to Act Like That, which isn’t even out but you’ve heard it. It’s more indie pop, whereas Why Lose a Friend is pop rock, so I placed the songs in the set very strategically, to add throw people off a little bit and add dynamic. It’s one of my favorite things to do.” He exclaimed.
Going to one of his shows will have you dancing your heart out to songs that still need to be out for the public to listen to. It’s a surprise for all the people who do attend, as it can go from ballads to pop-rock within a span of 10 minutes.
That kind of smooth transition with huge dynamics is something that elevates Eberle’s live performances, and it’s incredible to hear the roar of the audience when he does it.
Circling back to his summer shows, he opened up on what it was like to perform in many states.
“I met so many incredible people, even in LA. In June, I had the opportunity to go out there and play two shows, met a ton of creatives, and now found new friends. New fans as well, which was awesome. I love connecting with them, but other than that it was an incredible experience,” he said.
Now that Eberle has widened his audience, the next question was about his fans and did any of them opened up to him, and what that was like for him in that moment.
“When I played Montauk music festival in May, I had a group of people that came from Long Island that I’ve met once before, but they didn’t tell me they were coming. They showed up and surprised me, so I was just like wow you guys actually came all the way out here to see me.” Eberle stated.
Not only was he grateful for that, but he also gave props to Alexa Valentino who is one of his good friends, for opening more doors and allowing her fanbase to connect with Eberle. That has caused him to gain more fans and more people he can connect with.
“I’ve connected with a lot of them personally, speaking to them on a daily basis sometimes or weekly level just to check-in. Every time I post or tease something they’ll be like what is this? You need to tell us right now. It’s really cool and a surreal moment for me to even have that happen.” Eberle expressed to Seawanhaka.
Although his EP is currently not out at the moment, he did briefly discuss that feeling when he first published it for his fans to listen to. The only reason why he took it down was because he had been going through a period of change within himself. He stated that it just didn’t feel like him anymore.
“I’ll say this, when I first released my EP, it was a very cool experience. I got to work with a ton of producers and different songwriters. To finally have it out and get feedback from people was really crazy.” He expressed.
With all the songs that he has released and performed, Eberle has shown that he is an excellent writer when it comes to his lyrics. He describes that it’s a mixture of both a muse and his innate talent.
“I think it can be a mix of both. I’ve gone through so many periods of writer’s block, but like I definitely know if I sit down at a piano I can create something, even if it’s crap. To go back to the things I said about high school and my home life, although it has been bad, it inspired good music.”
Going through some of the songs he currently has out, Seawanhaka focused on one called “Novocaine” and the story behind it.
He started off by saying how it’s about a relationship that’s in the stage of confusion.
“It’s like almost over and you want to hate the person,” he further detailed. “It’s an angsty song, and I use the metaphor Your love is like Novocaine because you numbed my pain. Like all the things I’ve gone through was so hard, I came to because you were my comfort person, now you’re treating me like this, but I don’t want to let you go because you make me feel good.” Eberle described to Seawanhaka.
He didn’t go through a situation like that, however, he relates it back to how he’ll sometimes take elements from other people’s situations. He wrote it back when he was just 15 years old and noticed that his friend was going through something similar to what goes on in Novocaine.
He finally ended the interview with a phrase that helped him get through his tough times and will hopefully help out his fans in the future.
“I’m a very spiritual person. When I was 14 or 15, I found the number 222 as my angel number. I used to see it everywhere, and I knew if I saw it it was going to be a good day or something good would happen if I thought it. If I was negative or had negative energy about it, then yeah it would’ve been a horrible day. I have tattooed on me because that’s how much I believe.” Eberle told Seawanhaka.
“I’m very confident seeing this [222] has gotten me to the place where I am today, for sure.”