Meet Eric Sonera-Ramos | Lead Vocalist, 10:30 Type

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eric Sonera-Ramos and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
All of us in the band wandered into Tucson later in life. I’m an Air Force brat who moved to Tucson for my high school years, and my parents come from Puerto Rico – we grew up as a Spanish-only home! English was for outside the home. While I grew up listening to latin music and church tunes inside the house, outside was a totally different story – outside was where rock, R&B, hip-hop and jazz lived, and I lived to hear those styles. I’m deeply influenced by the traditional styles I grew up on, and what I was discovering on my own (especially R&B and rock). The intermingling of the two has definitely influenced my vocals and my songwriting. Joel and I write a good amount of our songs, and Joel plays piano and rhythm guitar for the band, and he produces our albums – he carries a lot of weight in the band! The music he grew up with in Boulder, CO and his adopted musical stylings have an interesting interplay within the band and so much of the the jazz, gospel and folk elements in our music comes from this background. Jacob plays lead guitar for the band, and his Southern roots show – that expressivity is so rooted in the blues and country legends he grew up on! He’s larger than life on any stage. Kevin takes his Nevada roots in a different direction; a lot of his drumming heroes are in the rock scene, and he’s very thoughtful about how he puts it all together for the rhythm undergirding the band. It’s common to see him take a new song and workshop it over the course of a couple of weeks, and it’s always satisfying to see where those rock influences take him and where completely new styling takes over.

Our Tucson roots really factor into what we play and write and how it’s received. We’re a Tucson local band, and I know that for myself the desert landscapes and the mountains easily frame my lyrics as pertains cool water and railroads! Tucson’s urbanization and the Sonoran desert cooperate and conflict in subtle ways; that thought plays on my mind and worms its way into our music, albeit more illusively. Even though all of us go to different churches and have different approaches to our faith, we all got up to some kind of church music and that background definitely informs our songwriting and the musicality of the band. Tucson’s church scene is small and eclectic; the way in which the community feels a bit like everyone knows everyone else has a funny way of endearing itself to me and adding to the artistic sense of Tucson as a place where the world meets and agrees to be small and cozy and authentically eccentric.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Musically we’re in a space that I’ve been calling Soul Americana, mostly because I don’t have anything else that quite fits! It’s an interesting blend of folk and R&B, the sort of happy accident that happens when friends are having a good time experimenting with making music that they like. I think it’s very reflective of Tucson as a city, in that the style is relaxed but also lends itself to having some pretty hype moments. We’re having a lot of fun developing the style and incorporating other influences as they come and go; you’ll even hear some ragtime piano every so often!

Our current lineup has been playing together for the last 3 years, and we’ve got a lot to show for it! We’ve written some 50-60 original songs, and have about as many reinterpretations of songs that sound cool and have influenced us. We play 1-2 gigs or shows a month, and we recently released a single and an EP on Spotify that we couldn’t be more proud of, with more on the way soon. (“On the River Tide” is a particular standout, I think.)

We have a gig on July 8 at Tohono Chul botanical gardens from 6-9pm as part of Chilling at the Chul; it’s completely free to attend both the gardens and our gig, it’ll be a great way to see what our band 10:30 Type is all about.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We’re going up to the mountains! Especially now when it’s starting to get hot. Nothing beats going up to Mount Lemmon for a relaxing combination of desert and alpine fishing, hiking, or playing cards. (Or if we’re feeling more active… rock climbing!)

Downtown Tucson is so underrated – on the weekend we’d go down with some friends and check out a show at Fox Theater, hear some new music at Hotel Congress, and people watch! I like to get a good start to my day, so I’d drag everyone to HeeMee’s for a scone, and the best Korean sandwich you’ve had (bet your life on it!)

Tucson is a surprisingly great city for Ethiopian food – everyone who knows me knows I’m all about Cafe Desta, best Ethiopian food I’ve had in the US. Tucson is fantastic for Mexican food, but most of the known Tucson spots are Sonoran-influenced. I love southern Mexican food, and El Antojo Poblano is an unbeatable hole-in-the-wall for after a Tumamoc hike (try their mole!)

The dance scene in Tucson is fantastic and close-knit – country, swing, salsa, you name it. I’m more than a little rusty, so I’d hope my friends would be the ones encouraging me to go with them! Off-the-beaten path: did you know there’s great skydiving in Tucson? Marana skydiving up north is surprisingly awesome; Eloy (a little further up) is a world-renowned center for the sport.

Tucson always has something creative going on, whether it’s music or food, so I’d definitely check out local festivals and events to see what I can take my friends to.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
All of us have a massive debt of gratitude to our families, and our churches have all nursed our musical talent in one way or other. House of Bards, Cartel Coffee, and Sky Bar are fantastic at encouraging and showcasing local bands and musical talent, and were a part of our journey in learning how to hold an audience’s attention and play to the venue. Hotel McCoy, Fork and Fire Taphouse, and Borderlands Brewing have been great hosts to our music, and I would encourage anyone who’s looking for places to support to go there as they continue to support Tucson local music and art!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1030_type/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1030Type/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC63fIAZXGhKKn1QvqDYNi5A

Other: Our new EP: https://open.spotify.com/album/27dBmM6Ofl8XuVbLHQgVDm?si=UdhkA6rxQQS-zTildjMuMw Spotify artist profile: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0EgsitZ7mWdwdNdQb3p4Tw?si=hx_8FPW9TQeFhkA61JulUA