Lena Rome: The Mexican Country Artist Putting Mexico on the Country Map

Lena Rom The Mexican Country Artist Putting Mexico on the Country 

Let's first start out with country music person in Mexico. Yeah. I'm sure you get asked this a lot.

What was, who were you listening to, or what kind of made you listen, oh, I mean, I like country music. Was there an artist in particular that you listened to that you liked, or was it, tell me a little bit how that all got started. But like the artists of my biggest inspiration are the Cheeks and Carrie Underwood.

I am from Monterrey, Mexico. We are pretty near to the, to the edge of United States. So the culture in some ways are very similar, you know? So I listen, I grew up listening to country music since I was a girl, like on radio stations, occasionally.

And I don't know, something about the gender is, to me, is so special, like the storytelling, et cetera. But the most important thing to me is that the gender is, is like pretty, I don't know how, how you say, like, in pretty ways, like country rock, country ballad song, or country pop, or country music. There's different, yeah, different types of genre is the word, genre.

Yeah. That's the word. Yeah.

Exactly. But at the end, it's country music. Yes.

Now, if you like rock, there will be a country rock song that will feed you. If you are a pop guy, then there will be a country pop that will feed you very well. So I could found interesting of that.

So when I started to singing country music, I have to be honest, country music took me a lot of work, like technically, vocally, and all of that stuff. And to feel like, here in Mexico, in Mexico, we have like, I think, sometimes, there are some artists that trying to, too hard. And then vocally, it sounds like too nasal, or too forced.

I understand what you're saying. They're trying to sound nasally, like the country people. And yeah.

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.

But I can tell that there are many country artists right there and in the world that are doing its own thing. And that's the most valuable to me, you know, like your voice, what you have to say to the world. It doesn't matter how you sound, it's what you have to say to it.

So that's why I fell in love in country. Country music brings me my family, country music, um, gives me everything I have right now, actually. I mean, it seems... Yeah, go ahead.

I'm sorry. Go ahead. Sorry.

I mean, my husband through country music, and we have a son, and then he becomes my manager, and then Lena Rom born as Lena Rom. You know, like, country music has given me everything I have today. So I would say you were meant to be a country artist.

Oh, yeah. No, right now I can, I can tell that too. And you know, the thing about it is, and I was, I'm a rock blues guy.

Okay, so that's why I'm, you can see my guitars up there. I'm a lead guitar player. And people that knew me, know me, when I know the bands I played in, always said there's two types of music Rick doesn't like, country or Western.

You know, because I grew up, when I grew up, I heard the old Porter Wagner, the old guys, you know, saying you were talking about singling nasally, and then I, you know, I can't, no, no, no. But a few years ago, I was in a part of the country doing a festival, and it was in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. And I met a lot of country artists there, they were down there recording, I was doing some recording myself.

But anyway, all of a sudden, I started knowing more people in Nashville than in some of the other, you know, other genres. Because a blues guy, and from Texas, I wanted to play, you know, that kind of stuff. And what I learned was, and it's changed a lot, as you know, I bet you 20 years ago, you probably couldn't do what you're doing now, being kind of a country pop singer, that you can do now.

Because it's so big, it's as big, it's not as big as, you know, it's, it's still like big in Europe, people in Europe like country music. That's big in the United States. Yes.

So I think you're, you're on to something. Obviously, you've started this a while back. Now, usually, I'm gonna ask you questions about, so what, how did you get started? Now, you like country music? Were your parents, did they listen to it? Did they listen to country music? Not pretty much, really.

Okay. I mean, I listen to country music, through the radio stations, or, or television, etc. But not by my parents, my parents were more like, regional Mexican music.

Yeah. You know, Mariachi Regional Ranchero, yes, we're not here. But always like, getting into the way in a country song, you know, through something else.

Like life itself, I guess. Well, how did your, how did your friends take it? That you like this different? Because you're not playing, you don't have a little, you don't have your accordion out there, you're not playing the big bass thing, and doing all that stuff, and having the kind of that, you know, that kind of stuff. That's very traditional.

That's what I grew up on when I was down in south Texas. What'd your friends say? Well, throughout my career, I had like, many opinions about what I am doing and the way I am doing it. It's pretty much like, why are you doing country music if you're a Mexican girl? Because I love it.

I mean, and other opinions are like, why are you doing country music in English, if you're a Mexican girl? Because I want to everyone get to know my story. I know that Spanish is a complicated language. I know that.

And maybe that way, many people won't, won't get to hear my story, you know, through my music, or through my lyrics, sorry. And I just get a lot of opinions throughout my career. Well, you always will.

You're in the music industry, you're always going to get opinions, and not all of them are going to like you. And I was listening to you, because when did you start learning English? Were you young? Did you teach at school? Or did you learn it on your own? Kind of on my own. I mean, in school, I have some lessons, but I started to perfect my English through seeing movies, listening to music, and searching what it means.

What word is this? What word is that? Through dictionaries, and something like that. And so, to me, I mean, I love the language, to be honest. I love the language.

I think it's easy to me. I know, I know for many people, it's not easy. It's okay.

And like many people, it's easy in Spanish or not. Everyone is different to that. But I think I learned by myself.

So, when you perform, and I saw some of your videos, do people care if you sing in English? Or they care what you sing? Or they say, oh, don't sing in Spanish. You know, what's the deal? They like what you're doing, right? Yeah, like the public itself. Yeah, yeah, they like what I'm doing.

And I get to, it's more like the energy that is going on through the show, through my show, that I get to contagious people, and people contagion me. It's a full circle energy, you know, through all my shows. So, now they don't care if I am singing in Spanish, or singing in English.

I mean, I have two songs in my first album that are covers. My first album is full of covers. I have a little piece of the song translated in Spanish.

But it's not like the literal translation. No, it doesn't. No, no.

Yeah, yeah. It's like my version of it. Like, the chapter of my life, when I get related to that song, I had something to say about that chapter.

So I put it in into the song, you know. And so the people even here, here in Mexico is where the most of my shows are through. So I don't, I can see that people don't care about it.

You know, like, it's not what I am saying is how I'm singing it. What makes them feel something or not. So, actually, many times that happened to me that I ended a show, and then, oh, hi, hello.

Oh, no, no, no. I'm from here. Like, they talk to me in English.

You know, like, the engineers, or the managers, or whatever, they come and talk to me in English, you know. No, soy mexicana, hola. Wait, what? No.

No, no, no. No. Where are you from? Actually, this year, I go through Country Music Awards in Wisconsin.

Oh, really? And I was talking to people, and oh, where are you from? I'm from Mexico. Oh, New Mexico. No, Mexico.

No. Okay. How long you've been living here? No, no, no.

I live in Mexico. How? They don't get it. They don't get, yeah, the idea of a Mexican girl.

The New Mexico, that's hilarious. Yeah, yeah. The idea of Mexican girl.

Well, you know, I think that, of course, if you wanted to, you could go into the very deep Hispanic accent if you wanted to, you know. Oh, yeah. Obviously, I know, because I've been around people like yourself.

Yeah. If I met you on the street, I'd go, she's not, she's from Mexico, or I could probably tell. The hardest thing for me when I was in business was learning the difference between, because I was in business with a guy that he was Hispanic, but he was from California.

I think his family originally was from Mexico. Okay. Is having the difference between Cubanos and Mexicans and Argentinian, you know, all these people.

And I had a guy working for me one time. I said, are you family from Mexico? No, no, no. I'm from Spain.

I am from the Basque region. I got, oh, excuse me, you know. Okay.

Origination and original. And that was the hardest thing I think I figured out. So then I go like, you can't go dance to something that they might do in Mexico and then do it in the Dominican Republic.

They're like, no, it's not the same. But as you know, music is in it. Oh yeah.

I'm sure it's like here in America where you got Southern and all that good stuff. But I don't think it matters when you're out there on stage. And it looked like to me from the little that I've seen, there's some of it, you put on, you have a lot of energy when you walk on stage.

Yeah. Yeah. It's a totally different person.

I always say like, my main name is Elena, but Lena Rom is the performer. Right. The show girl.

You know, Elena is the one who is talking to you right now, who is the creator of the songs, who do everything backstage happen to Lena comes out. You know, Lena is my alter ego and Elena get the stage and took it and makes his own thing right there. You know, I know, I know my shows are full of energy and full like highs and lows.

And then I get high and then I get low and I want to make you cry and I want to make you scream and I want to make you laugh. And, you know, like, yeah. And all in just one hour, everything in one hour.

Yeah. Yeah. I think that, you know, it's not unusual that people are different on stage than they are in real life.

We can't be on. You can't be on on all the time because, you know. So let's talk about what you're doing right now.

And I did see that back during covid. Was it Apple approached you about doing a show? Yes. Yes.

It was a Hello Sunshine producer house. I think I can remember her name is an artist, an actress. Reese Witherspoon.

Oh, yeah. It's a Reese Witherspoon producing thing, Hello Sunshine. And they were searching for country artists around the world to make a reality show about it, like how you in Mexico live the country music, how you in Philippines live the country music, how you in Africa live the country music.

And because of pandemic thing, it didn't go on. So but that's when actually Lena Rom borned. Because of that, I was in a band in a country music band.

I was a solo artist. And then that opportunity came to me through Instagram. Like we are.

Hello, we are this and we are doing that. And I thought it was a fake thing. Oh, sure.

Yeah, because how Apple Music is getting through me, my Instagram, that's impossible. So I tell my husband, like, see this. And I tell them, like the Hello Sunshine house.

Oh, yeah, of course, I will give you my my manager contact so you can contact him. Like my husband wasn't. Yeah.

Have my people talk to your people. That's my people. Yes.

Wasn't my manager. So I share the contact of his contact and. Then they write to him like right away, and he talked to me through phone and he tell me this is real.

Yeah. What do you mean is real? No. Yeah.

They are looking for you, but you as a solo artist, not the band. They want you. And in that time, I talked to my band where I was working and and they told me, of course, do that.

That's how some take the opportunity. Go through. Do that.

So I took it. And that's how later on born. So let's talk about what you're doing right now.

Excuse me after after you were born. Yeah. Six years ago.

Six years ago. You look so young. You look kind of big for a six year old.

Right. Say Sanyo's a little. Anyway.

So what did what did you decide to do then? You said, OK, I've got this. I have this situation, but now I can't do this. Did you say I want to start writing my own music or you may have already been writing your own music or what? What was the next steps and say, OK, I need to go this level.

I mean, I'm all in. Yeah. Like my first steps was.

Well, my husband, as my manager, has been helping me through all this time, through all my career. And we think that our first steps should be playing live, giving shows, being in this festival, being in that festival, like. Being present to people, to public, you know, get to people, hear me, get people know me through my show, then we we were looking for for someone to produce some songs that we had.

The first idea was I like my first album. I had many songs that mark my country artist career. And those songs, I wanted to make it my own, you know.

Were they were your originals or they were the covers or were they both? The covers. OK, the covers. And because I don't know, I'm going to give you an example.

Cowboy Take Me Away by the Chicks. I mean, the Chicks are my biggest inspiration in country music and Cowboy Take Me Away, my song chapter of my life. When my dad passed away, you know, and that song is like my song in country music, you know, for me as a country artist and it get through my soul.

So I choose that song to make it in my own way. Right. In Spanglish.

That's one of the songs that are in Spanglish. And well, we were looking for a producer that helped me to get that album. So we found one, Jair Alcala.

He's a Grammy winner and he's a singer and accordionist. And he's a great mind. He's a mastermind of music here.

He has a label, a music label here in Monterrey. His label is called Independent Music. So we get him and he told, well, we told him, we want you to produce our songs.

Tell us how much it will cost. Tell us how much time it will get. And he tells us, no, no, no, no.

I want you to sign my label. OK, so that's when my path took a chance, took a quick change and we signed with him. And well, my first album is out.

The Deluxe album was out on March. On March. Yes.

And right now I am. We are recording the second album. This second album is all originals.

OK. And all the songs are where are, I don't know, writing and. Yeah, I write the songs.

I wrote the songs. I wrote all the songs, all the album. So we are producing that album right now.

I hope in a few months it will be out. So I'm excited. Right now we are in the creative moment.

So have you finished that album? Are you still working on it? You finished it? Are you working on the newest album? I finished the album, but we are right now we are producing it. We are like, oh, these musical arrangements or these. Yeah, you're Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're getting that. Yeah, we all do the recording process of it. Tell me your relationship.

Have you thought about and you may have already done this. Have you gone up to Nashville and recorded? Are you going to go to Nashville? Or I think that's one of your goals to get to Nashville and do some recording. I think I think that.

Life will get me there, you know, eventually. Right now, what we are doing in this second album, the thing I mean, one of the recording engineer told me, how would you like to sound? You would like to sound like Nashville? And I was like, no, I want to sound like my own. We are not in Nashville right now.

When I when I'll be in Nashville, I want to sound like Nashville. Right now we are in Nashville. I and I think I truly think like with my heart that that's the most remarkable thing of this project right now that we are not in Nashville and we are doing country music with a different sound, not not not Nashville sound, you know? I understand.

Yeah. I mean, and I and I think I have like like like I got of it. I think that that will get me eventually to record Nashville, to live in Nashville, to live in the United States, to touring there.

Well, you'll be here's the thing I can see what's going to happen to you is you're going to. It's actually better probably if you're not you have a lot of patience, obviously, with your career. Yeah.

And but what will happen is you'll do a couple of gigs and people go, who's that? Who's that lean our own thing? I need to get her up here. We need to talk to her. Tell me a little bit about your writing process.

Do you play you play you play an instrument or play a couple of things? What do you play? What kind of instrument do you play? I play guitar. OK, like basic thing. I'm more.

Then again, I'm more a performer, so I don't love to be like playing the guitar and singing. I mean, I want to take the mic and run it over there and over there, you know? Well, my writing process. It's been interesting because.

My writing thing started when I when Magnus came when I became a mom. So that cathartic moment of my life, like motherhood. And I know that motherhood is a lot for many women, you know, for me, for me, it was a lot.

And and I found writing. Like. A safe place.

You know, this second album, everything the concept of this album is tradway. I know here in my home, Elena is a tradway. I get to cook, I get to clean, I get to attend my two boys, I mean, my husband and my boy.

Yeah. And I love to take care of my home, you know, but also I love going out to make my dreams come true. So that duality of life made me write about all of my experience as a mom, as an artist, as a mom being an artist.

Everything. So that process is the first time I write something to is to me was it was like a challenge when I finished my first albums. I said to me, my producer told me, OK, this is one writer.

She's really good. This is another writer. He's really good.

And he introduced me many writers that are really talented and I admire them, admire them a lot. But to me, it was a challenge like, no, I want to write my own music. I want to.

I know I have something to say to the world. I have to find the way to communicate what is going on in my in my mind, in my in my nights while I was feeding my baby or something. I mean, I know there are many women like in this duality, like, yes, I'm a travel, but not like this geopolitical movement travel that that I get to go out and follow in my dreams.

But I love to come my house and cooking some dinner for them. And, you know, so I was I said to me, I said to myself, I need to. I need to scream this.

How I'm going to do it through music, through country music, and that's about country music is storytelling. What I'm interested about you is the fact that you are, like I said earlier, you're different, but you're just like everybody else. You're still chasing a dream, which is hard to do.

And not everybody makes it. I know, you know, you know, people you've met or heard people that are very talented and you're like, why aren't they? I've interviewed some gals out of Nashville about a month ago. Exceptionally good singers.

And before we got started, I said to them before I record, I said, why aren't you famous yet? And he looked at me like we're asking that same question. Yeah. And you can't just I really still believe it's and you probably already know this.

I still think it all takes hard work, just driven to succeed in what you do. I think you'd be fun to watch in concert. I saw the pictures of you coming out there with your shorts on and where you had.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I see this on my clothes. Oh, you do.

Oh, really? Yeah. Do you have ways? Are you going to start your goals? Have you started to do more events in America? Oh, yeah. To get into more.

OK. Yeah, definitely. I would love to tour there.

Make a tour just in America, because. Music, generally music, people lives music different there. They are more open to new artists or new concepts or new music.

More than than here in Mexico, that's the truth, even though I have a pretty beautiful fan base here, you know, that, as you said, we make that connection like, oh, I get to tell your mom like me, you know, or you're a person. Yeah, we are persons like it doesn't matter what talent you have. You have another talent than me.

That's amazing. But I would definitely love to tour there to bring my music there and see what happens. Have you ever talked to PR people in America? Yes.

Let me rephrase it. Have you had any success talking to PR people in America? OK, not yet because of traveling document thing, you know. For me to get to work there, I have to get a visa, right? Yes.

Yes. And so we are working right now on that. And but.

I will love eventually when we have that ready. I know that the opportunity will come out, you know, like now I have a visa because there are many people who reach us like, oh, my God, I would love you to be here.

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