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The Battalion Page 3 • Friday, November 7, 2003
Tuning in, dropping out
Ryan Cabrera found his voice by leaving one college campus and touring others
Photo courtesy of Brad Alesi
Ryan Cabrera, a singer and songwriter from Dallas, will play a concert benefitting the Pi Kappa Phi fra
ternity's philanthropy PUSH this Saturday at Rudder Auditorium.
By Blake Kimzey
THE BATTALION
Talking to Ryan Cabrera while he is taking a break from a sound
check for a concert at Louisiana State University is the perfect way
to understand what makes the budding 21-year-old musician so
likeable.
The last two years have been a whirlwind for Cabrera, who went
from independent label obscurity to landing a multi-record deal with
Atlantic Records and EMI Music Publishing.
Originally from Dallas, Cabrera traveled to Los Angeles a year
ago expecting little and hoping for the best. He headed west eager
to make a few contacts that could offer sage advice and point him in
the right direction.
When Cabrera met Joe Simpson, father of pop star Jessica
Simpson and the influential head of JT Entertainment, his hopes of
meeting the right people began to materialize into a legitimate
opportunity. With Simpson’s help, he landed multiple auditions with
major record labels, including the president of Atlantic Records, and
a shot at making his dream come true.
Meeting Simpson and flying to New York for the audition of a
lifetime, however, wasn’t as easy as signing the dotted line of a
multi-record deal and shaking hands.
The original puzzle piece fell into place when Cabrera first
picked up a guitar out of boredom in middle school.
“When I was over at my best friend’s house in the eighth grade,
1 found his older brother’s guitar out of boredom and went to town
on what I call ‘The Dave Matthews school of rock,”’ Cabrera said.
“I just learned all the Dave Matthews’ songs ever, and I think if
you know Dave then that will get your fingers ready for just about
anything.”
After discovering one of his primary influences in Dave
Matthews, Cabrera helped to start Rubix’s Groove, a cliche, cookie-
cutter jam-band that established a local following in north Dallas.
Upon graduation from high school, Cabrera was stuck in limbo.
His parents wanted him to go to college but he desperately wanted
to pursue a music career. Cabrera decided to follow his parents’
wishes and enrolled at the University of Texas at Dallas.
If it wasn’t for a vacation his parents took during his sophomore
year at UTD, Cabrera could still be stuck in jam-band infamy. As
soon as his parents went out of town, he decided to drop out of
school.
Making the bold decision to leave college proved to be the next
piece of the puzzle to fall into place.
“At the time I was going to school at
UTD, and I was a year and a half into it and
all I really wanted to do was play music. It
was kind of like an obsession,” Cabrera said.
He knew to expect a firestorm when his
parents returned, because they didn’t think
playing music was a real job.
“They didn’t think music was a way to
make a living,” Cabrera said. “I didn’t care
because I wanted to get better and prove to
myself this is something I could do. I think
that’s why I kind of lost myself in my room
for five months doing scales and vocal
warm-ups for five hours a day — I wouldn’t
recommend that to anybody.”
Cabrera said he wasn’t sure where he
would end up but knew what it would take to
get there. Eliminating everything else from
his life, it became his sole obsession to
improve his voice.
“I did things like moving a table with
my diaphragm and hoisting tables and
chairs above my head while I was singing,
just to get better and improve my range,”
Cabrera said. “I came out of my room after
five months and knew for sure what 1 want
ed to do.”
What resulted from this self-imposed
exile was a sound reminiscent of Dave
Matthews, John Mayer and Howie Day.
After stomping out of UTD and leaving
Rubix’s Groove, Cabrera recorded an inde
pendent record and began traveling any
where and everywhere he could to play live,
and people began to notice.
That was when the final puzzle piece fell
into place: Cabrera nailed a personal audition and inked a multi
record deal with Atlantic Records.
“I was never expecting a record deal. It had always been the
dream and it is one of those things you don’t realize happens until
it happens,” Cabrera said. “One week I’m in my room doing vocal
exercises and then the next week I’m in front of the president of
Atlantic Records basically auditioning. I only expected to go out to
Los Angeles for a month in January, and now I live there. It has
been wild.”
When Cabrera was preparing to go into the studio, he decided to
co-produce his debut album with hit maker Johnny Rzeznik of the
Goo Goo Dolls. Earlier in the year, Cabrera and Rzeznik had writ
ten two songs together, and the opportunity to work together again
made sense.
“I freaked out when I heard Johnny Rzeznik was going to work
with me,” Cabrera said. “It was his first time to produce but he
See Cabrera on page 4
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