| Joe Romersa | |
| Years Active: | 1978–present |
| Label: | Shadow Box Studio |
Joe Romersa is an American musician, composer, voice actor, and music producer.
Romersa started his career as a drummer, but early on he branched out into sound engineering. As Romersa tells it, "After a tragic early tour I did at age 19 which left me homeless sleeping on a park bench in New Jersey, I had to find a way to make money and still be close to what I love; music."[1] Romersa later studied sound engineering. Combining his fledgling career as a professional musician with the more stable income of sound engineering allowed Romersa to hone his craft as both a drummer/percussionist and as a sound engineer.
Romersa started touring as the drummer for the Marc Tanner Band. On April 19, 1979, they would open for Firefall, at the Palace Theater in Cleveland Ohio.[2] The Marc Tanner Band also opened for Jefferson Starship. Romersa was a drummer, percussionist, and composer on Tanner's second album, Temptation, along with guitarist Ritchie Zito and bassist Ron Edwards.
While working in the studio, a chance meeting with keyboardist and songwriter Vincent Nicoletti would result in the band Soy Cowboy with its "Thai Western" sound. Romersa was brought in as a drummer and sound engineer, and eventually became lead vocalist. After their first recordings received airplay by Los Angeles radio personality Tom Schnabel of KCRW-FM (89.9), the band caught the attention of then-art student Tarsem Singh. In 1990, Singh would produce Soy Cowboy's only music video for their song "Lily Pads and Rock Cod".[3] Soy Cowboy's first album, First Time Again, was produced in 1991 but it was not released to the public. The album would later be released in 2009, by Shadow Box Studio. Their second album, 2012, was produced and released in 2012. As noted by Schnabel, "The band got moderate airplay on U.S. radio, but in England briefly jumped to the top of the charts."[4]
Romersa was both a drummer and engineer on John Prine's 1991 album The Missing Years. He would go on to work with Carlene Carter on her 1993 country music album Little Love Letters as the drummer, percussionist, engineer and backup vocalist, along with bassist Howie Epstein and keyboardist Benmont Tench. Little Love Letters would rise to No. 35 on the Top Country Albums chart and included the No. 3 hit "Every Little Thing" and two top 100 songs; "I Love You 'Cause I Want To" (#50) and "Unbreakable Heart" (#51). Romersa's daughter, Reyna, would make her video debut in "I Love You 'Cause I Want To".
In the late 1980s, Romersa began working with eden ahbez.[5] Romersa and ahbez worked together until the latter's death in 1995.[6]
In 1994, Romersa started engineering, voice acting and ADR directing on anime and video game projects, which led to his work on Silent Hill. Romersa would go on to work as music supervisor on Silent Hill 3, 4: The Room and Homecoming. He also wrote the lyrics and contributed vocals to "Hometown" and "Cradle of Forest".[7]
One of Romersa's projects as a producer was singer Alana Sweetwater's 2004 self-titled debut album. Her single from that album, "Song of Love", was featured on the original Showtime series The Real L Word. Romersa was also a musician on the album and sound engineer.
Romersa released his first album as a solo artist in 2017, Enough. Written and composed by Romersa, Enough includes tracks by fellow musicians including Laurence Juber ("Love, and You"), Prescott Niles ("Enough", "Humans Doing Angels' Work", "Soldier of Love") and Jeff Jourard ("Give Our Money Back").
Romersa's musical inspirations include The Beatles, Ludwig van Beethoven, John Cage, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Prima, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Move and David Bowie.
| Year | Title | Artist | Record Company | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 1000 Pt. Man | Thom Bishop | Virgin Records | Engineer | |
| 1978 | Living in the USA | Linda Ronstadt | Elektra Entertainment | Engineer | |
| 1978 | Thank You for Funkin' Up My Life | Donald Byrd | Elektra/Asylum | Engineer | |
| 1979 | Fate for Breakfast | Art Garfunkel | Legacy Records | Engineer | |
| 1980 | Temptation | The Marc Tanner Band | Elektra/Asylum | Musician, writer | |
| 1987 | In Full Swing | Full Swing | Cypress Records | Engineer | |
| 1987 | The Bitch Is Back | Bitch | Enigma/Metal Blade | Producer | |
| 1989 | Second Coming | The Dickies | Restless Records | Engineer | |
| 1990 | China Beach: Music and Memories | Various Artists | Warner Bros. Records | Engineer | |
| 1990 | The Sounds of Murphy Brown: Original Television Soundtrack Album | Various Artists | MCA Records | Engineer | |
| 1990 | Thirteen Blood Red Rosebuds | Steve Forbert | SquirrelMad | Sound Engineer, Drums | |
| 1991 | The Missing Years | John Prine | Oh Boy Records | Engineer, musician | |
| 1991 | The Ruby Sea | Thin White Rope | Frontier | Musician | |
| 1993 | Little Love Letters | Carlene Carter | Warner Bros. Records | Engineer, musician | |
| 1995 | Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings | John Prine | Oh Boy Records | Engineer, musician, Co-Writer (One Song) | |
| 1995 | Beauty and the Beast | Sven Väth | Warner Bros. Records | Engineer | |
| 2003 | Silent Hill 3 Original Soundtracks | Akira Yamaoka | Konami | Featured Singer, Music supervisor | |
| 2003 | Songs of Bob Dylan: May Your Song Always Be Sung | Various Artists | BMG | Engineer, musician, featured singer | |
| 2004 | Coercion Street | Ernie Payne | Black & Tan Holland | Musician | |
| 2004 | Silent Hill 4: The Room – Original Soundtracks | Akira Yamaoka | Konami | Featured Singer, Music supervisor, Lyrics writer | |
| 2008 | Silent Hill Zero Original Soundtrack | Akira Yamaoka | Konami | Lyrics writer | |
| 2008 | Silent Hill: Homecoming Soundtrack | Akira Yamaoka | Konami | Lyrics writer | |
| 2009 | Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Soundtrack | Akira Yamaoka | Konami | Lyrics writer |
| Title | Artist | Record Company | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alana Sweetwater | Alana Sweetwater | Shadow Box Studio | Producer, musician, writer | |
| Free Enterprise | Free Enterprise | Indie | Engineer, producer | |
| Julia Free | Julia Free | Indie | Producer, musician, writer | |
| Larry Whitman | Larry Whitman | Indie | Producer | |
| Meat Sandwich | Meat Sandwich | Shadow Box Studio | Engineer, producer, artist | |
| Nuclear Test Band | Nuclear Test Band | Indie | Musician, engineer | |
| Needles and Pins | Page Pazaro | Indie | Engineer, producer | |
| O The Band | O The Band | Indie | Producer, musician, writer | |
| First Time Again | Soy Cowboy | Shadow Box Studio | Producer, musician, writer | |
| 2012 | Soy Cowboy | Shadow Box Studio | Producer, musician, writer | |
| Yolie Lox and the Bears | Yolie Lox and the Bears | Indie | Engineer, producer, artist | |
| Audio Monkey | Joe Romersa | Shadow Box Studio | Artist, engineer, producer | |
| Enough | Joe Romersa | Shadow Box Studio | Artist, musician, producer | |
| Who We Are Today | Joe Romersa | Lucky 88 Music LLC | Artist, Writer, Musician |