Reuben Whetten | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: Oh right, that is called game over. That is Ruben Wetton, and I think we have him on the line with us via What's app Ruben? Are you there, sir? Hey, welcome to the show, my friend. Hey, So, where are you exactly? Are you in? I was I was saying when I was talking about how you were going to be on with us, I didn't know if we'd be talking to you from somewhere in the United States or 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 where you are, you're in your someplace hot, that's for sure. You sound like I mean, I get the impression, or you like me. Do you like the hot weather? Because I actually like the heat, and obviously it's a dryer heat in that part of the country. But how do 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 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. But so then you so that's where you did you grow up there and then you moved to the US or what what's kind of your uh, what's what's kind of your background?

1:15 Speaker 2: M Well, that's where my dad's part of the side 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 prematurely and so so then there was some problems in Mexico going on when I was like four, So we moved down to Arizona. Yeah, and I lived out here for five years and then we went back.

1:42 Speaker 1: Okay, all right, so where like where do you spend the majority of your time or New Mexico in Mexico? Okay, gotcha? Gotcha? So obviously, so you were born in Texas, but much of your childhood in Mexico. I mean, what was that

1:59 Speaker 1: do you for? It sounds like, I mean, do you prefer to be in Mexico or like how do you 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 with the United States in terms of I mean, is it a lot of the same music or is it different or what's it like being there versus being here? In terms of music, there.

2:27 Speaker 2: Really isn't a music scene out there really, Like, if 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 think that is? I mean, is there just is it? Use because it's interesting and it occurs to me as I'm talking to you. I don't think I've ever had a musical guest on the show who has spent a lot of time in Mexico or has lived there or grown up there as you have. I mean, why do you think that is? Is there just not an emphasis on and on that culturally in Mexico and and and sort of you know, fostering the arts and encouraging people to get into music, or is there just not not a system of venues to play or why do you 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 running sheep. So from my backyard. It's it's basically a 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? I mean, is that just something? Is that? Is that 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 out there. I saw a lot of sheep down in the south, and it's not very common in the north. 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 sheep was a was a it's going to be a little successful with more than cattle. There's a lot of There's been quite a few problems with with the business 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 to be filled. So I mean, how do you feel about it at this point? I mean, does it seem 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, obviously you know you've got that there, but you're in Arizona right now. Do you spend a lot of time in the United States.

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

5:28 Speaker 3: Maybe.

5:29 Speaker 1: Okay, so you're up here pretty well, I say up here, But you're on this side of the border pretty frequently. 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? 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, I do play the show.

5:48 Speaker 1: Right, gotcha? Gotcha? And how did you become a musician? I was reading something about was it your grandfather who 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, you know, watching you take this and run with it and release music and talk to people on the radio 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 was reading this too, Is this true that you stepped away from music for a couple of years to I think you had mentioned this to serve a mission. And I'm curious about that because that's a big decision to 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 music on the internet, like on Spotify and stuff like that. Yeah, And it wasn't something huge going on at the time, and so it wasn't it wasn't so hard to step away because there wasn't so much.

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

7:10 Speaker 2: And and during during my mission, I wrote three songs about all the hardships I went through. And when I got back, I decided to record those songs, and that is my three song project called Songs I wrote on 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 that one of those songs?

7:40 Speaker 2: No, this one's one I wrote more recently. I co wrote it with a country artist from Canada. The name is Judah Wardrobe.

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

8:00 Speaker 2: I was just on Instagram one day and I found his profile and I saw he didn't have a big following like me. Yeah, obviously it was bigger than mine. So I thought I shoot him a message and and let's see what happened. And he decided to to hop on the song and and and we co wrote it together a.

8:23 Speaker 1: Video call Oh okay, yeah, I mean it's amazing. You know, I'm old enough to remember, you know, prem generation X, so I remember like pre Internet, when that kind of thing wasn't possible. But so that's that's that's excellent. And then is it true that you've you've documented a lot of a lot of what you've gone through online on on YouTube?

8:44 Speaker 2: Uh? Yeah, yeah, there's there's a few things up there like, uh, 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 moment where you did call us I'm sorry, you did send us another track called don't Call Me heading Home, And at the end of our conversation in a moment, we're going to play that. That's another song of yours that will feature on the show today. But I appreciate you joining us, and you know, I wish you a success as you continue on your career. Sounds like you're off to a great start, and you know you've got an interesting background. What can you tell us about this song Don't Call Me Heading Home.

9:29 Speaker 1: Is this one of the one of the tracks that you from the three 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 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, I had written it.

9:50 Speaker 2: So as you listen to this song, you might think that it's some sort of toxic relationship between me and 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 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 little hidden.

10:40 Speaker 1: Right, gotcha.

10:42 Speaker 2: But if I were to explain every single lyric behind it, I could relate it exactly the school.

10:51 Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, interesting, Well that you know that ambiguity too is part of what makes art so interesting and what makes music interesting. So we're going to hit that track in a moment and we'll let you go. But before we let you go, Ruben, where's the best place for people to go online to keep up with everything that 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. Mostly sometimes YouTube.

11:18 Speaker 1: You should spell You should spell your name too for 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 and then Wettin is w h e t t e n Okay.

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

11:39 Speaker 1: Okay, outstanding. So we're gonna play this this track, another song that you sent us, Don't call Me Heading Home and Rubin. I'm sure we'll talk again in the future. In uh, Ruben Wetton, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you all right, you got to take care, bye bye bye bye. All right, and here it is. This is called Don't Call Me Head and Home by Ruben Wetton.