Alternative artist Ron Pope is set to perform at The Basement April 23.
Credit: Courtesy of Shervin Lainez
Alternative artist Ron Pope said it is thrilling have his music featured in other mediums, such as on television and movies. Pope’s music has been heard on shows such as “The Vampire Diaries” and “90210.”
“It’s really enjoyable to see other people that are creating different kinds of art, whether it’s people who are dancers, or people who are making television shows or movies or whatever and they’re including the music. When I’m making music, I’m going to record the songs, people are going to listen to it in their house and maybe they’ll get to see me on tour and maybe I can play the songs for them. So, it’s exciting to see the songs repurposed. It’s flattering. Other people that are creating art want to include my music in what they are doing,” Pope said.
Pope is set to bring his television-famous music to The Basement Wednesday with doors opening at 7 p.m.
Pope said he’s able to play many instruments, but focuses primarily on the guitar. As an artist, he enjoys touring nationally and internationally.
“It’s incredible. I use to go on the road and play for almost no one and now we go out and people show up every night. They’re very excited. They line up. That’s really the kind of credible change I guess that’s happened for me in the last couple of years. It’s wild. I use to be able to get seven of my friends to come and sit watch me play in a café in New York City and now if I go to Stockholm, thousands of people could come,” Pope said.
He added that it is amazing to see fans that show up to his concerts on a Tuesday, no matter what the weather.
“That’s pretty incredible. We show up in Cleveland on a Tuesday in a snowstorm and people show up. And, that’s neat. It’s something that’s unexpected and exciting. You hope for it starting a career but you don’t ever know that it will ever really happen where a couple of shows are going to fill out and people are going to be excited. That’s something that’s really special that I’ve been really blessed about over the past few years,” Pope said.
Pope also described the process of how he writes his songs, often beginning with a small idea.
“I write my own songs. Sometimes, it (the song) starts with a riff, a melodic idea. I would be walking on the street and hum something or sitting at my piano or my guitar fiddling around, coming up with something. Sometimes it’s words that come first, sometimes it happens all at once,” Pope said.
He even wrote a song in the shower once.
“I once wrote an entire song called ‘In My Bones.’ It’s from the ‘Atlanta’ album. I wrote the entire song in the shower,” Pope said. “While I was in (the shower), I started humming, I kind of heard the chords in my head and the words. So, when I finished the shower, I got out, wrapped myself in a towel, sat down at the keyboard and played the whole song all the way through. That was pretty incredible. The moral of that (story) is that songs come from a lot of different places. It depends on the songs. It could be (from) any number of directions.”
He also focuses the themes of his songs on what it means to be a human being, Pope said.
“In terms of the themes of my songs, I try to just pay attention, and that kind of holds through for everything. I kind of want to focus on the fundamental elements of what it means to be a human being, things that everybody gets. And so regardless of what the story is within the song, there’s some kind of specific central theme that everyone can understand. So, whether you’re a 5-year-old boy or a 90-year-old woman, whether you’re a 45-year-old guy who works for Wall Street and has three kids, or a stay at home mom, or a girl at college, or whatever, like anybody understands love, hope, faith and desire. I want to figure out an emotion that people understand and then tell a story that relates to that. So, hopefully everyone can get it. So, it’s not just the people who have been there,” Pope said.
Lauren Szymczak, a first-year in psychology, said she would go see the concert.
“I like his voice. He has a good style to his music. I like the lyrics,” Szymczak said.
One student particularly enjoys Pope’s song “A Drop in the Ocean.”
“I was looking through music on Spotify and I came across it. It definitely stood out. His voice is kind of rough. But it’s soft at some points,” said Sharon Lu, a first-year in engineering.
Laine Amendolara, a second-year in health sciences, said Pope’s music is approachable.
“Yeah, I like that kind of music. It’s easy to listen to while you’re studying or while you’re hanging out,” Amendolara said.
Tickets for Wednesday’s show are $15. The Basement is located at 391 Neil Ave.
