Reuben Whetten | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: Oh right, that is called game over. That is Ruben Wetton,

0:04 Speaker 1: and I think we have him on the line with

0:06 Speaker 1: us via What's app Ruben? Are you there, sir? Hey,

0:10 Speaker 1: welcome to the show, my friend. Hey, So, where are

0:12 Speaker 1: you exactly? Are you in? I was I was saying

0:15 Speaker 1: when I was talking about how you were going to

0:17 Speaker 1: be on with us, I didn't know if we'd be

0:18 Speaker 1: talking to you from somewhere in the United States or

0:21 Speaker 1: are you in Mexico or where are you exactly?

0:24 Speaker 2: Well, I'm based in Mexico, but I'm currently visiting the US.

0:30 Speaker 3: I'm in Arizona right now.

0:32 Speaker 1: Oh, I got you? Okay, all right, Well, regardless of

0:35 Speaker 1: where you are, you're in your someplace hot, that's for sure.

0:39 Speaker 1: You sound like I mean, I get the impression, or

0:41 Speaker 1: you like me. Do you like the hot weather? Because

0:43 Speaker 1: I actually like the heat, and obviously it's a dryer

0:45 Speaker 1: heat in that part of the country. But how do

0:47 Speaker 1: you feel about it? Do you like the heat?

0:50 Speaker 3: It depends on the day.

0:51 Speaker 1: Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. So are you

0:57 Speaker 1: Where are you from?

0:57 Speaker 2: Originally from a small town in Mexico called Colonia.

1:03 Speaker 1: Guards Okay, and then I'm not gonna try to pronounce it.

1:06 Speaker 1: But so then you so that's where you did you

1:08 Speaker 1: grow up there and then you moved to the US

1:10 Speaker 1: or what what's kind of your uh, what's what's kind

1:12 Speaker 1: of your background?

1:15 Speaker 2: M Well, that's where my dad's part of the side

1:19 Speaker 2: comes from.

1:20 Speaker 3: My mom is from New Mexico.

1:22 Speaker 2: Okay, And so I was born in El Paso, Texas

1:26 Speaker 2: prematurely and so so then there was some problems in

1:33 Speaker 2: Mexico going on when I was like four, So we

1:36 Speaker 2: moved down to Arizona. Yeah, and I lived out here

1:40 Speaker 2: for five years and then we went back.

1:42 Speaker 1: Okay, all right, so where like where do you spend

1:46 Speaker 1: the majority of your time or New Mexico in Mexico? Okay, gotcha? Gotcha?

1:52 Speaker 1: So obviously, so you were born in Texas, but much

1:55 Speaker 1: of your childhood in Mexico. I mean, what was that

1:59 Speaker 1: do you for? It sounds like, I mean, do you

2:01 Speaker 1: prefer to be in Mexico or like how do you

2:04 Speaker 1: decide where you're living?

2:07 Speaker 2: Yeah?

2:08 Speaker 3: Yeah, I like Mexico a lot.

2:10 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. What's the music scene like there in contrast

2:15 Speaker 1: with the United States in terms of I mean, is

2:18 Speaker 1: it a lot of the same music or is it

2:20 Speaker 1: different or what's it like being there versus being here?

2:24 Speaker 1: In terms of music, there.

2:27 Speaker 2: Really isn't a music scene out there really, Like, if

2:31 Speaker 2: there is, there's hardly anything.

2:35 Speaker 3: I have hardly any success out there.

2:38 Speaker 1: Oh really, now, why do you now why do you

2:42 Speaker 1: think that is? I mean, is there just is it?

2:45 Speaker 1: Use because it's interesting and it occurs to me as

2:48 Speaker 1: I'm talking to you. I don't think I've ever had

2:49 Speaker 1: a musical guest on the show who has spent a

2:52 Speaker 1: lot of time in Mexico or has lived there or

2:55 Speaker 1: grown up there as you have. I mean, why do

2:57 Speaker 1: you think that is? Is there just not an emphasis

2:59 Speaker 1: on and on that culturally in Mexico and and and

3:05 Speaker 1: sort of you know, fostering the arts and encouraging people

3:08 Speaker 1: to get into music, or is there just not not

3:11 Speaker 1: a system of venues to play or why do you

3:13 Speaker 1: think that is?

3:16 Speaker 2: Well, yeah, it's mostly in that part of the country.

3:20 Speaker 3: It's mostly agriculture.

3:22 Speaker 2: Okay, So I had to jump into running sheep out there.

3:27 Speaker 1: So oh what is that tell me about that?

3:33 Speaker 2: So about three months ago something like that, I started

3:39 Speaker 2: running sheep. So from my backyard. It's it's basically a

3:45 Speaker 2: mini version of running a cattle ranch really smaller animals.

3:52 Speaker 1: Oh interesting, interesting? How did you decide to get into that?

3:56 Speaker 1: I mean, is that just something? Is that? Is that

3:58 Speaker 1: a common business there the people that people start.

4:04 Speaker 3: Cattle?

4:05 Speaker 2: Yes, sheep, No, it's still something quite new there.

4:10 Speaker 3: It's more common in the south, and.

4:15 Speaker 2: I saw it more as a as a church missionary

4:19 Speaker 2: out there. I saw a lot of sheep down in

4:22 Speaker 2: the south, and it's not very common in the north.

4:25 Speaker 2: It's more of cattle ranching.

4:28 Speaker 3: Okay, So so.

4:31 Speaker 2: I was just doing numbers and I saw that the

4:34 Speaker 2: sheep was a was a it's going to be a

4:39 Speaker 2: little successful with more than cattle. There's a lot of

4:44 Speaker 2: There's been quite a few problems with with the business

4:50 Speaker 2: currently with with cattle, so I decided to jumping sheep instead.

4:54 Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, so you found obviously a niche that needed

4:57 Speaker 1: to be filled. So I mean, how do you feel

4:59 Speaker 1: about it at this point? I mean, does it seem

5:02 Speaker 1: like it's working out, like it's successful for you?

5:06 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it's going quite well.

5:11 Speaker 1: Okay, good, good. So how much time do you spend like,

5:16 Speaker 1: obviously you know you've got that there, but you're in

5:19 Speaker 1: Arizona right now. Do you spend a lot of time

5:21 Speaker 1: in the United States.

5:23 Speaker 2: No, I usually visit the United States about once twice

5:28 Speaker 2: a month.

5:28 Speaker 3: Maybe.

5:29 Speaker 1: Okay, so you're up here pretty well, I say up here,

5:31 Speaker 1: But you're on this side of the border pretty frequently.

5:34 Speaker 1: So when you're here, what are you doing?

5:35 Speaker 2: Like?

5:35 Speaker 1: Are you playing shows here? Do you do some touring here?

5:38 Speaker 1: What do you do when you're in the United States?

5:41 Speaker 2: I mostly just visit family, but if the opportunity comes,

5:45 Speaker 2: I do play the show.

5:48 Speaker 1: Right, gotcha? Gotcha? And how did you become a musician?

5:53 Speaker 1: I was reading something about was it your grandfather who

5:57 Speaker 1: inspired you to pick up a guitar?

6:00 Speaker 3: Yes, sir, he's the one.

6:03 Speaker 1: Very good, very good. Is he still alive?

6:06 Speaker 3: He is? He is. He's eighty four years old, I.

6:09 Speaker 1: Think, oh, no, kidding. So he must be proud of you,

6:11 Speaker 1: you know, watching you take this and run with it

6:13 Speaker 1: and release music and talk to people on the radio

6:16 Speaker 1: about it.

6:18 Speaker 2: Yeah.

6:18 Speaker 3: Yeah, he's happy about it.

6:21 Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I can imagine. I can imagine. And I

6:24 Speaker 1: was reading this too, Is this true that you stepped

6:26 Speaker 1: away from music for a couple of years to I

6:29 Speaker 1: think you had mentioned this to serve a mission. And

6:33 Speaker 1: I'm curious about that because that's a big decision to

6:35 Speaker 1: make a commitment like that.

6:38 Speaker 3: It is.

6:38 Speaker 2: It is so before my mission, I was just releasing

6:45 Speaker 2: music on the internet, like on Spotify and stuff like that. Yeah,

6:49 Speaker 2: And it wasn't something huge going on at the time,

6:53 Speaker 2: and so it wasn't it wasn't so hard to step

6:57 Speaker 2: away because there wasn't so much.

7:02 Speaker 3: What's the word. I wasn't so focused on it as

7:06 Speaker 3: I am now.

7:10 Speaker 2: And and during during my mission, I wrote three songs

7:16 Speaker 2: about all the hardships I went through. And when I

7:21 Speaker 2: got back, I decided to record those songs, and that

7:25 Speaker 2: is my three song project called Songs I wrote on

7:29 Speaker 2: my mission.

7:30 Speaker 3: Oh okay, it came out back in November.

7:34 Speaker 1: Gotcha okay? And then so that song came over? Is

7:37 Speaker 1: that one of those songs?

7:40 Speaker 2: No, this one's one I wrote more recently. I co

7:46 Speaker 2: wrote it with a country artist from Canada. The name

7:50 Speaker 2: is Judah Wardrobe.

7:52 Speaker 1: Okay. And how did you? How did you connect with

7:57 Speaker 1: that person?

8:00 Speaker 2: I was just on Instagram one day and I found

8:03 Speaker 2: his profile and I saw he didn't have a big

8:06 Speaker 2: following like me. Yeah, obviously it was bigger than mine.

8:09 Speaker 2: So I thought I shoot him a message and and

8:15 Speaker 2: let's see what happened. And he decided to to hop

8:19 Speaker 2: on the song and and and we co wrote it

8:22 Speaker 2: together a.

8:23 Speaker 1: Video call Oh okay, yeah, I mean it's amazing. You know,

8:27 Speaker 1: I'm old enough to remember, you know, prem generation X,

8:30 Speaker 1: so I remember like pre Internet, when that kind of

8:32 Speaker 1: thing wasn't possible. But so that's that's that's excellent. And

8:36 Speaker 1: then is it true that you've you've documented a lot

8:39 Speaker 1: of a lot of what you've gone through online on

8:42 Speaker 1: on YouTube?

8:44 Speaker 2: Uh? Yeah, yeah, there's there's a few things up there like, uh,

8:49 Speaker 2: I think a day in the life video that I made.

8:52 Speaker 3: Yeah, it was about sixteen, yeah, and and stuff like that.

8:59 Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, very cool, very cool. Well, in a

9:02 Speaker 1: moment where you did call us I'm sorry, you did

9:05 Speaker 1: send us another track called don't Call Me heading Home,

9:09 Speaker 1: And at the end of our conversation in a moment,

9:11 Speaker 1: we're going to play that. That's another song of yours

9:13 Speaker 1: that will feature on the show today. But I appreciate

9:16 Speaker 1: you joining us, and you know, I wish you a

9:19 Speaker 1: success as you continue on your career. Sounds like you're

9:22 Speaker 1: off to a great start, and you know you've got

9:25 Speaker 1: an interesting background. What can you tell us about this

9:28 Speaker 1: song Don't Call Me Heading Home. Is this one of

9:30 Speaker 1: the one of the tracks that you from the three

9:33 Speaker 1: that you were talking about, or is this also separate?

9:36 Speaker 3: This is also separate.

9:37 Speaker 2: Okay, this one is actually one I wrote when I

9:41 Speaker 2: graduated high school, which was also a month before my mission.

9:45 Speaker 3: Before I started my mission. Oh wow, back in twenty three,

9:49 Speaker 3: I had written it.

9:50 Speaker 2: So as you listen to this song, you might think

9:54 Speaker 2: that it's some sort of toxic relationship between me and

9:58 Speaker 2: a girl.

9:58 Speaker 1: That's what I said, Yeah, that, but that's.

10:01 Speaker 3: Not the case. I actually wrote it.

10:04 Speaker 2: I actually wrote it about like leaving school, because school

10:10 Speaker 2: for me was one of the toughest things ever.

10:13 Speaker 3: Really hated it.

10:14 Speaker 1: Yeah, so.

10:17 Speaker 3: I decided to use my creativity and.

10:21 Speaker 2: My lyrical expression in a way that you wouldn't exactly.

10:29 Speaker 3: You wouldn't exactly find that.

10:35 Speaker 2: The reason behind it is just like it's something a

10:39 Speaker 2: little hidden.

10:40 Speaker 1: Right, gotcha.

10:42 Speaker 2: But if I were to explain every single lyric behind it,

10:48 Speaker 2: I could relate it exactly the school.

10:51 Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, interesting, Well that you know that ambiguity too

10:55 Speaker 1: is part of what makes art so interesting and what

10:58 Speaker 1: makes music interesting. So we're going to hit that track

11:01 Speaker 1: in a moment and we'll let you go. But before

11:03 Speaker 1: we let you go, Ruben, where's the best place for

11:05 Speaker 1: people to go online to keep up with everything that

11:06 Speaker 1: you're doing?

11:07 Speaker 3: Where?

11:07 Speaker 1: Where should people go?

11:10 Speaker 2: Mostly Instagram? Okay, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok That's where I'm at.

11:16 Speaker 2: Mostly sometimes YouTube.

11:18 Speaker 1: You should spell You should spell your name too for

11:20 Speaker 1: people who have no idea how to spell Ruben Wetton.

11:22 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, it's.

11:24 Speaker 2: Kind of confusing.

11:25 Speaker 3: People always spell it wrong.

11:26 Speaker 2: I bet and it's r e U b e n

11:30 Speaker 2: and then Wettin is w h e t t e

11:33 Speaker 2: n Okay.

11:34 Speaker 3: And then music so at Ruben Wetten. Music is where

11:38 Speaker 3: you can find me.

11:39 Speaker 1: Okay, outstanding. So we're gonna play this this track, another

11:42 Speaker 1: song that you sent us, Don't call Me Heading Home

11:44 Speaker 1: and Rubin. I'm sure we'll talk again in the future.

11:46 Speaker 1: In uh, Ruben Wetton, thank you so much for joining

11:48 Speaker 1: us today. Thank you all right, you got to take care,

11:51 Speaker 1: bye bye bye bye. All right, and here it is.

11:54 Speaker 1: This is called Don't Call Me Head and Home by

11:56 Speaker 1: Ruben Wetton.