Rob Mayes

SSW: Let’s start with your background. So, you started in music very early and you come from a musical family?

Rob Mayes: Yeah, my dad plays drums, my uncle plays accordion, my other uncle plays sax, my grandfather played Les Paul and banjo! My whole family have amazing voices!

That’s amazing! When did you start learning how to play instruments?

When I was 5, and then I started playing guitar when I was like 10 or 13. My parents bought me a piano, so I started taking lessons. My piano teacher was an amazing woman, I owe a lot to her. She was very disciplined, I guess like piano teachers should be, but she wanted me to play what was on the page, a lot of classical, very structured and I would take a song that had a chord progression and try to improve on the melody, make jazzy chords and come up with my own progressions and melodies. Then I just started writing my own music.

What was the first song you have ever written?

Oh man! That’s a good question…

Can you remember? Did you have any teenage heartbreak songs?

The first song I ever wrote has definitely been something without a vocal, it would have been an instrumental, piano based…Wait… I think I actually do remember what I wrote, but I don’t know If I ever titled it. I’ll play it for you now [laughs and pretends to play piano].

This is hilarious! Can you imagine us running downstairs now and asking if they have a piano here? I gotta hear this song! When was the first time you ever performed in front of people?

Growing up I used to play at home, I’d jump up my parents’ brick fireplace and use it as a stage to just play some stupid stuff. But then when I got to grade school, like 2nd or 3rd grade, I’d come to music class and my teacher (I also owe a hell of a lot to her!) would have me play my latest songs at the start of every class in front of everyone, she’d be like “Rob, anything new this week? Let’s hear it!”. It made me feel supported in being creative. Because as a kid you don’t know anything, and if someone says “Don’t do this” it can really affect you and you will never write again. So that’s a really delicate, sensitive thing. You should practice so you get fundamentals, get the basics, get the scales, get all that stuff that’s going to serve you and be ready to branch out on your own. At that age it’s so easy for someone to shut down your creativity, your artistry without meaning to do so.

That’s so very true! So, your bio is pretty crazy, you are from Cleveland and you lived in bunch of places like London and New York and even went to the Naval Academy…

Yeah! When I was 18, I moved from Cleveland to London where I went to Dulwich College and that was amazing! The school was founded by Edward Alleyn who was an actor and Shakespeare’s best friend.

What did you study there?

Biology, Theater, Business, Anatomy… I studied whatever the hell I wanted to!

I was just about to say, that’s a really random list!

Yeah! I studied religion too! I knew I wasn’t going to get credit for the classes I was taking, because it didn’t fit in to the US school system structure. So, I figured if I was not going to get credit I might as well study what interests me for a change, not what’s gonna look good on my application. I did a year there and then I went to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis when I came back. I was going to be a Navy Seal. That was a track I was on. After a year and a half, I left and came back to Cleveland, got back into theater and moved to New York. I got an agent immediately and within two weeks I got an episode of Law and Order SVU. Signed with a manager, and the first script they gave me was Jessy Terrero’s follow up to Soul Plane. I got a lead in the movie within a month of moving to New York City. And the MTV’s “American Mall” brought me to Utah to shoot with Nina Dobrev, we started dating and we moved together to LA right after we finished shooting. And I’ve been here ever since.

So now you go back and forth between LA and Nashville. Out of all the cities you have called home, which one shaped you most as a person?

Every place I’ve lived in has shaped me. All those places stamped me, on my vocal passport, my essence, my being. Cleveland, obviously because that’s where I am from and I am proud to be from there. Living in New York was amazing, and I miss that city every day, it’s such an honest place, people don’t have time or the energy to deal with pretense.

Let’s talk about music! do you have a songwriting process or is it different and new every time? I’ve recently read that you had your phone stolen with a bunch of voice memos of song ideas. Is that how you usually write? Recording your ideas and then revisiting?

It depends what I am going for, a lot of times I’ll just write and see what comes of it. You know? You just record a rough idea that that may be you flush out or maybe it comes to fruition in that session.

Yeah! When Taylor Swift released her voice memo song drafts, that was so dope to hear how she is coming up with ideas and sending these recordings to different people and she is like “Omg hope you like it” and you think “Whoa! That’s that song that is a huge hit now”.

Yeah, it’s pretty cool! I used to write more from a place of pain and trying to achieve catharsis. And then at one point in time, I was like I don’t want my whole artistry to be predicated on that fundamental. I still want there to be truth in my music and maybe there is some pain, maybe there is some suffering, that’s inherent and what is true. but truth is also encompassing what’s good and what’s happy. Being present and truthful in a moment! It redefined my approach. And when sat down to write “Closer”, it was my second day ever in Nashville. I just met my producer for the first time the day before, and I just met my writing partner Ryan Rossebo that day! We were sitting there over coffee, chatting. I remember Ryan looking at me like “Who are you? Why are you here?”, like really skeptically. Ryan Rossebo, shoutout, whats up dude! Thanks for that. [laughs]. But you know here is a community that’s really welcoming and has been super welcoming to me, which I am very very appreciative of-

You are talking about Nashville community?

Yeah, Nashville and country music! It’s very welcoming but it’s also very insular and for someone just to come to Nashville and say, “Let’s write songs”, everyone is like “What?”. But I started messing around with the progression and next thing you know we had a melody and a title, and then we had a song!

Did you know right away that it was gonna be your first single?

No, I wasn’t sure. But once we finished the song and laid down a demo, I went back a month later to lay the vocal. I was like this is coming together, we might have something here!

It’s a perfect driving song by the way! You can totally judge some music by how great it feels when you drive and listen to it.

Thank you! And totally!

That’s how I actually got into listening to country music. It was a pretty foreign genre to me, but it was an absolutely perfect soundtrack for being on the road. So I started listening to more and more artists and now I am a fan. By the way, you know which artist had the best show I’ve ever been to? It was Blake Shelton, playing in his home state of Oklahoma!

Oh my god! Blake Shelton is one of my favorite artists ever! I’ve been listening to that guy from day one! And his latest single “God’s country” is amazing. They just added me to this new playlist, and I put it up on my Instagram story, right after my song is Blake Shelton’s “God’s Country”! I’m like: “YES! I am in a good company”. Actually, my buddy Joey Green was on the Voice on Team Blake, so I was like: “Man! That’s one degree of separation! We are getting closer. I can’t wait to work with Blake”.

Did you always know you wanted to play country music?

I have always loved it!

I think country music is very honest!

It is honest and it’s hopeful! I feel like what country is doing is always being true to the truth and also the hope! Even if it’s a sad song, there is still hope!

That’s exactly why I love listening to women in country like Kelsea Ballerini or Maren Morris, and it gives me a feeling that yeah, they go through all kinds of stuff, but at the end they are strong women!

Yes, it’s about not being a victim! When was the last time you heard a country song [starts singing] “I am a victim”? No! it’s more like “I ain’t got no money and I am drunk as hell, but guess what? That’s ok!” [laughs] And that to me, is quintessentially the purpose of art. I got into this discussion with my friend about how we are on polar opposite views of this. I was saying I think that when you enter to experience a piece of art, whether it’s a song or a painting or a play or a movie, and this artistic experience can take you on whatever journey it wants to take you on, but it needs to have a moral fiber that we can relate to, even if the moral fiber is different from what we know. There needs to be some of that there. As a control like in a chemistry experiment. There is something to base off for comparison’s sake. But whatever journey it takes, you know the highest high, the lowest lows, at the end of it, it should always leave you a little bit higher than where you entered. And that’s not always the case with art.

Yes! And now you can see that people actually need that. If we take an example of a tv show like ‘This is Us”, it’s insanely popular.  I think  one of the reasons why is that the show takes you on this crazy emotional journey, but still gives you hope.

Right! There is hope! And that’s the thing, I think if we don’t do that, artistically speaking, as a society, that impacts our subconscious on such a profound level, so I appreciate it when art takes you on a journey and elevates you upon the exit.

You know I started following you because I randomly saw one of your acoustic videos that you have been putting out for a while. And then I realized that you are actually pretty well known for your acting work and super talented in that as well. So, you’ve been writing and recording, and shooting movies and TV shows, the question is how the hell do you have time?!

[laughs] I put a video up on my story where I was walking through my living room out into the backyard, and my buddy noticed my unfinished jigsaw puzzle on my dining room table, and he goes: “When the hell do you have time to do a puzzle?!” I thought it was so funny.

That’s too funny! People always say “you know Beyonce has 24 hours in her day too” and she manages to achieve insane things! And all the highly productive people!

Yeah and Oprah! When you hear about those people that are super overachievers, who are the gods of our time, people who shape the world, and you hear that they only get like 5 hours of sleep at night and read a book a day, and it’s like “Wait a minute!”

Exactly! And I see that you are doing exactly that, and you get time for workouts too!

Yeah, I am doing sit ups right now! [laughs].

Oh my! I wish we were shooting a video of this interview!

Yep, it will be like “yeah Rob is doing squats while we are talking”! On a serious note, I’m still trying to figure this out, there is only so much time in a day.

Since you have done lots of shows and films, the list is pretty impressive. What would be the project you have done that you think was the most challenging and that you are most proud of?

I am super proud of John Dies, Burning Blue. Shooting Deep Blue Sea 2 in Cape Town during winter in an outdoor water pool, it was freezing cold. We did Eden in Malaysia. The tides in a South China sea are so crazy that we would finish shooting at night, and you could look out and you couldn’t see any water! There would be no water! That’s how drastic the tides are! It looks like Mars, all you can see is some of the rocks and coral.

Is your plan to balance acting and music?

Yes! I love being busy! And I am doing what I love. And it happens to be these two things.

So, you have acting projects that are coming out very soon?

I just had a movie called “Maybe I’m Fine” at the Golden State Film Festival and we won Best Family Picture! I play a musician in that movie with my young daughter. I have a movie coming out this year with Val Kilmer and Jake Busey, this western called “Soldier’s Heart”. Super stoked about it. I also just finished a thriller “Into Thin Air” with Samira Armstrong, and I have t an episode of “Proven Innocent” on Fox coming out.

Congrats, That’s amazing! Coming back to music, I tried to find your very first album, but it was not available anywhere anymore! Where did it all go? Did you remove it on purpose to have a clean slate?
It’s gone! I wrote a lot of those songs when I was still in The Naval Academy in Annapolis. I put out this EP/Album of 7 tracks back in 2007, so 12 years ago. I took it all down. I rebranded my sound so much I figured I wanna start fresh with what I’m really proud of! I mean, I was proud of what I did before because I have done so much of it myself, it was self-produced, I did that album in Ante Up Audio in Cleveland with Mike Seifert, where Bone Thugs-N-Harmony did their stuff, it’s a historic studio. I had so much control and did it on a shoestring budget. I was proud of getting the sound out there, but I did it for myself and I don’t think the quality was there, so I figured why have that to compare to?

True! Always great have a fresh start. You have been playing at a bunch of LA venues like Hotel Cafe, and did some performance in Nashville as well, what does it feel like to get out there and share your music?

Yes! Been playing both in LA and Nashville. When I first went to Nashville in December of 2017, I went to The Listening Room and that was my first time being there. You know in Nashville you gotta go to The Listening Room, The Bluebird Café, those are the spots where songwriters who wrote some of the greatest songs of all times play. And they tell you the stories behind these songs and then sing them. And it’s so unbelievably awesome. They are telling stories and they are doing it with heart because they love what they do, and you can pick up on that, it’s so infectious! So, fast forward a couple of months later Jamie O’Neal and I start talking on Instagram. Growing up I listened to “Somebodys Hero”, “There is no Arizona”. So that was amazing! And next thing you know I’m in Nashville a year later with Wood Newton, legendary songwriter and good friend of mine now, and a mentor, and Jamie O’Neal had me up on stage to play. It was unbelievable! Jamie O’Neal made this introduction and I jumped up on stage, next to her was Stephony Smith who’s written these huge Tim McGraw songs like “It’s Your Love”, and she steps out to give me her mic and her stool to play my songs. So here I am, the first time on The Listening Room café stage, and I played one of my new songs “Road with No Lines” and after that Jamie is like “Would you wanna play the new single to? I played two songs!

How was the audience’s response?

I don’t even remember! It was so out of body! I saw Jamie after because we had a writing session together and thanked her. I told her that I didn’t even remember how it went.

I’ve heard “Road with No Lines” on your video from The Hotel Cafe show, and it’s different from “Closer” lyrically with a completely different vibe. How many songs will your EP have, and which song is more of a reflection of what is to come?

EP is 7 songs. When we sat down to write “Closer”, I wanted to write something you would hear on the radio, that’s what we set out to do and hopefully we accomplished that. But the songs on the EP are very different. With “Road with No Lines”, I wanted to work with J Michael Harter, who’s got an amazing voice. Incredible songwriter. I wanted to write something that’s a little more throwback, a little more classic country. I love that stuff! I grew up listening to Michael Peterson, his “By the Book” [starts singing] “If I had loved her by the book..”, that song was pretty much what sold me on country when I was a kid. And “It’s Getting Better All the Time” song by Brooks & Dunn. All the classic stuff really got me started.

Do you have any music on your phone? Apple music or Spotify? Show me who you are listening to?

Yeah, I got Tidal and Spotify. [Opens the app on his phone]. Nick Wayne, Lewis Capaldi, Picture This. Morgan Wallen, every song on his album is great! Kacey Musgraves “Golden Hour”.

Really? To be honest I still don’t quite get “Golden Hour”…

Oh my god! That’s one of the best albums I’ve ever heard! It’s perfect. The songwriting unrivaled, her voice, the way she delivers it all – you couldn’t imagine anyone else singing these songs! The production is so smart! It takes you on such emotional journey.

I need to give it another listen! So, let’s talk about more of your personal journey. Thinking of yourself as a soul on earth, what do you believe your purpose is? Why are you here?

That’s a question I think about all the time. I mean why are we here? On a strictly biological level, we are just here to procreate. But there has got to be more meaning than just that. So I think the things that we enjoy, the talents that we have, if we can embrace those two things and if it’s not hurting people and if it’s enriching our society, our culture and ourselves, then that’s what we should be sharing with the world. I think my purpose is to do the things that speak to me and make me feel alive. That allow me to be as present as I can possibly be and share whatever talents I have. And I think that goes for any one of us.

Could you share a story behind getting your “Truth” tattoo? What does truth mean to you?

I got it like a decade ago. When I left The Naval Academy, I thought about going into academia and studying philosophy and becoming a professor. I love belief systems, I’m fascinated by how people think, why they think that way, whether or not we agree with them. Then I decided to approach this quest for truth not from a philosophical or academic approach, but from an artistic one and see if I can find what I am searching for in art. Truth is my life’s quest.