January Artist of the Month: Being Roman Warmke
By Dave Riesbeck 1-5-2000
On a chilly evening in the early spring of 1997, a not-quite-17-year-old kid, who had once played the guitar daily with an almost religious dedication, entered the beautiful, wooden-floored Casa Cantina with the intention of seeing some live local music. That night, the band that the kid saw revived his beaten, broken, and dead interest in music and lit the fire of his desire to play it once again. The band smoothly blended jazz, funk, and pop into something fun, danceable, and altogether enjoyable, but with real musical quality behind it. Though the singer's words were mostly impossible to understand due to the sheer volume of the music, the vocal melodies were catchy and inspiring. The drummer held his jazzy beats steadily, and the lead guitarist swiftly alternated between clean, tasteful melodic lines and ripping, blusey solos. The bassist slapped his instrument all night in a groove that grabbed the kid by his ass and made him move. The bass player especially grabbed the young one's attention as being amazingly comfortable on his instrument, and having his own unique musical voice.
The band was Flying Mantra, the kid was me, and the bassist was Roman Warmke.
Roman Warmke's journey into the world of music began when he was 16 years old, the same age as yours truly the first time I saw Roman up on stage grooving away with Flying Mantra. His brother was a drummer playing in country rock cover bands, and Roman would hang out at his brother's house and listen to the band jam. Seeing his brother and his bandmate's as "the crown princes of cool", Roman was inspired to play music himself. Instead of following in his brother's footsteps and playing the drums, however, he picked up the bass guitar.
"My brother was a little insulted," Warmke says, "but I took a shine to the bass. The way it didn't really create a note, but a more fluid sound, a groove."
From then on, Roman Warmke was a bassist. Sitting in his room, he would play albums by bands like Led Zeppelin, Rush, Black Sabbath, and the Police, and learn them "front to back". Aside from giving him a good ear, learning to play these songs no doubt influenced Roman's bass playing. It wasn't until 1991, when he first discovered The Red Hot Chili Peppers, though, that he got the desire to play slap bass
"Flea and the Peps put out Blood Sugar Sex Magick, the White Album of my 90's, and everything I knew about the bass changed direction. I wanted to pop that thing, and I learned it pretty fast."
Fans of Roman's style of playing are most likely very thankful that he found the Chili Peppers when he did, as the funky slapping has become an integral part of his style. After discovering Flea's take on funk, Roman did some of his own investigating and came out of it with music from the likes of Stanley Clarke, Bootsie Collins, Victor Wooten, and Les Claypool, who he says, "took a year of my life".
Roman has shaped his style playing in a variety of bands, most of which have made their mark -- and continue to do so today -- not just in Athens, but all over Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina.
Beginning over a decade ago with the band Strawberry Jam, Roman Warmke has fueled the groove of many bands, including not just the aforementioned Flying Mantra, but also the legendary Voodoo Birds, who still play in Athens every once in a while. His current band, The Royales, was formed sometime around 1994, and is made up of many former members of the Voodoo Birds and some of Roman's other long-time musical partners. Inbetween it all, Roman found the time to play with Dan Dreifort and Flying Mantra, as well as front his own band, Left Coast Beverage, which was made up of "a skeleton crew of the Voodoo/Royales".
In the past decade or so, Roman Warmke has traveled all over the region with his various bands, making a mark everywhere with his pleasently grooving bass style. An entirely separate article could be written detailing his experiences touring with The Voodoo Birds and the complex relationships that have been shaped the various members of bands like Left Coast Beverage and the Royales. Suffice to say that he's been there, he's done his thing, and hopefully he'll continue to do his thing.
Currently, you can catch Roman playing with The Royales at Casa Cantina and other various nightspots around town. If you're adventerous, you can tune in to the Athens Musician's Network's very own mp3 radio station, and catch Roman playing with Left Coast Beverage and Flying Mantra.
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In addition to playing music with bands, Roman teaches others how to play the bass at Blue Eagle Music, is an occasional guest clinician at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch, and will serve you tasty beverages at the Casa Cantina in Athens. Roman is truly one of Athens's "legendary figures", right up there with Ethan Greene, Catfish, and Dan Dreifort. For such a small little town in the middle of one of the poorest regions in America, Athens certainly has it's share of great musicians. Hopefully, time will only bring us more.
