When you know just about everything there is to know about the guitar, you can do pretty much anything musically. “I can’t remember not having a guitar in my hands,” said singer-songwriter and master guitarist Robert Gomez. “The awkward stages were so early.”
But Gomez knew early on what he did not want to do with the instrument. Several years ago, a teacher, who just happened to be New York Metropolitan Opera’s Frederic Hand, asked Gomez, “Do you really want to be a classical concert player?” Gomez’ immediate response? No. Mainly because with classical, you’re stuck playing someone else’s music — and Gomez wanted to write his own.
He has been ever since. His latest album, the brand-new Pine Sticks and Phosphorous, is his third official release. Like the previous two albums, the new one isn’t heavily guitar-based. Think: artrock. “I never wanted to make a loud rock band,” Gomez said. “I wanted to be more subtle.”
Gomez, a native of Corpus Christi, moved from his Denton hometown to New York City in 2000, with big dreams of playing with Wynton Marsalis. The young upstart, though, quickly soured on the distinctly American artform. “Jazz can be a selfish approach,” Gomez said. “It can be a competitive, almost athletic approach.”
Gomez and his wife — they got married before his Big Apple debut — returned to Denton, where he had previously studied jazz and classical guitar at the University of North Texas, and he quickly began working on his debut, 2004’s Etherville. Supported only by violin and accordion, Gomez approached his melodies from underneath, making dreamy use of his low-toned voice and not stretching too much. “When I started singing, I was bad,” he said. “Some people have a naturally amazing voice. Some work at it like I’ve had to. … I practice by singing every day. When you do something every day, you get good at it.”
As Gomez’ vocals strengthened, the venerable indie label Bella Union picked him up and released his 2007 follow-up, Brand New Towns. His audiences expanded, thanks to a good review on Pitchfork Media and a featured spot on SXSW’s official day stage. A self-proclaimed work fanatic, Gomez didn’t slow down, instead diving right back into songwriting.
Gomez’ mother, who sings and plays guitar, placed him in guitar lessons while he was in kindergarten. Her style relied on Mexican folk songs, which are almost all about love. While envisioning Pine Sticks and Phosphorous, Gomez tried to stay away from songs about the L-word. “I’ve written more than my fair share,” he said.
When writing, Gomez always starts with what he knows best: the guitar. Parts for other instruments flow from the intricate patterns that are a key part of his composing. “The musical part is easy,” he said. “My music is pretty abstract. It’s an overall feeling or sense instead of conveying an explicit message.”
The songs are pastel-like, soft and calmly moody. On each track on the new album, some element — usually the acoustic guitar — moves at a quick clip while the other notes and rhythms soar and bend. “There are lots of pictures,” he said. “It’s more about descriptions.”
Chords evoke certain feelings, and Gomez has attuned himself to this aspect of music, placing just the right image at just the right time. The hardest part was choosing what to sing where. “The meter of the words is important,” he said. “You need some limitation or it can get wordy.”
North Texas is the perfect place for him, he said. In NYC, he was playing jazz gigs, ushering at the Met, and working at cafés. Since returning to Texas, he has been able to support himself entirely by playing music. Two tracks from Brand New Towns made appearances in the short-lived broadcast television show Dirt, starring Courtney Cox. He also writes for commercial interests and video games when he’s not busy contributing to other Denton artists like Sarah Jaffe
or approximating Cuban in Mi Son, Mi Son, a quartet that holds court every Sunday night at the Scat Jazz Lounge in Sundance Square.
After recording the new album in December, Gomez was “in limbo.” To fill his time, he made a marimba out of plywood and started a record label with Midlake’s Eric Pulido. Incidentally, the new label, Nova Posta Vinyl, is putting out Pine Sticks and Phosphorous. Last year he helped out John Grant from The Czars on a solo effort and met singer Anna-Lynne Williams of Lotte Kestner and Trespassers William. The songstress took him up on his invitation to collaborate on a project they’ve since entitled Ormonde. “We wrote songs all day, every day” throughout February, he said. The upcoming album contains nine originals and “Lemon Incest,” a Serge Gainsbourg cover.
Don’t expect Gomez to leap into a band, however. To him, his recordings are “snapshots” of who and what he was at the time they were made. He feels right at home as a solo artist. “The lifestyle is satisfying,” he said. “You get to tap into a soulful place on a daily basis. … Being an artist is the best life you can have.” l
