It was in 2012, when then-student Roman Stark popped on a Soundcloud beat his friend had posted to Facebook, and for the first time, reached for a note-book and a pen. An immigrant from Ukraine, Stark channels the stories of his country, and his new home of NYC, on the brand new single Visible Side. It has been a few years since Stark arrived to JFK Airport with $300 in his pocket, and everyday has been a reminder that the American Dream is earned with sweat and determination.
He says about Visible Side:
On the streets of NYC we pass by thousands of people, and each one has a unique story to share. Some stories are told proudly, others with regret or shame. I’m blessed to have a gift to do it in a poetic way.”
Following a string of underground singles, Roman Stark’s Visible Side arrives to the surging Soundcloud and social media interest around the rapper. In less than a year, Stark’s creative excellence has garnered tens of thousands of Twitter and Instagram followers, and plays on Soundcloud. Roman does not dwell on tired rap cliches, and instead chooses to spit bars about family, personal struggle, and his new home on the American soil. With ambition that is only matched by his work ethic, watch out for Stark as one of the main hustlers out of NYC in the coming years.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Roman Stark about the latest project, motivations, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I was born and raised in Ukraine. My father is a small business owner, my mother is a housewife. 2008 financial crisis greatly affected my family business and in 2010, at the age of 20 I dropped out of the collage and immigrated to New York, USA with $300.00 in my pocket. Within the first 6 month I changed around 15 jobs looking for better opportunity and better pay. I worked as a restaurant dishwasher, construction worker, Dish Network installer, truck driver and most recently logistics specialist in JFK airport.
Back when I was a truck driver, I spent around 12-14 hours a day in the driver’s seat. When you listen to the radio this long every day, you slowly begin to hate each song on the chart, so I started making my own music.
I am a huge hip hop fan since a young age and now I’m making my own hip hop.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
I always took my time when I was writing music. I filtered the content to make sure each song has its message, but honestly, I was never took it seriously. It was just a hobby of mine which made me feel better. At the same time I had a day job, I was planning a career for myself and I was working twice more than any of my coworkers.
Moment of clarity came to me at Summer 2016. I looked back into my life and realized that I reached almost every goal I set to myself. I came to this country from nothing and by this time I was doing the job that required collage degree without one and was making more money than average American citizen does.
In each career I chose, there was the time when I had to make a decision. Either to stick with it and do it till the rest of my days, or switch up and move forward. That’s when I usually changed professions.
On one hand, I’m really good at what I do now. On the other hand, I don’t enjoy it and I will definitely regret about keeping it as it is later. The only thing I did enjoy was my music.
Since that time, I started treating mu music as my priority, I started treating it like a business. It was a business I needed to learn from the scratch. And so I do.
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific on Visible Side?
I think each release of mine is different from the previous one. It would be extremely boring to listen to an artist who is performing the same song over and over again. Same style, same content but different music.
I don’t want to limit myself to a specific theme or mood of music. My mood changes, so does my music. For me, the most important part of each song is the message I’m bringing with it.
I think every person can relate to what I’m talking about in my new single “Visible Side”. Everyone felt this way at same point of their life. Some people go thru it very often.
I start the song by describing myself from the side everyone knows me. Hard working, positive, always smiling person with ambitions and big dreams, but when I’m all alone, another side of myself no one ever observed shows up. I think about my failures and regrets. I think about my fading dreams and disappointments, about expectations and reality.
In the long run it doesn’t matter how hard life hits me, I’m always able to put myself back together. All I do is take a shower to wash off the day to start from the blank page tomorrow.
The song is very emotional.
Do you face challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? How has technology helped you (assuming it helps)?
I think even major labels face challenges in a digital age, not talking about indies who are like plankton to them. However, we have all the resources of the world at our fingertips. You don’t need to go to a library to make a research anymore which is cool. God Bless Google.
Where can we connect with you online and discover more music?
Everywhere! You can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Soundcloud. Digital age, remember 😊 You can catch me in Brooklyn and shake my hand (preferred contact method).
Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you for having me today.
