Joe Romersa is an American musician, composer, voice actor, and music producer. Romersa started his career as a drummer, but early on he branched out into sound engineering. As Romersa tells it, "After a tragic early tour I did at age 19 which left me homeless sleeping on a park bench in New Jersey, I had to find a way to make money and still be close to what I love; music." Romersa later studied sound engineering. Combining his fledgling career as a professional musician with the more stable income of sound engineering allowed Romersa to hone his craft as both a drummer/percussionist and as a sound engineer.

Career

Early career

Romersa started touring as the drummer for the Marc Tanner Band. On April 19, 1979, they would open for Firefall, at the Palace Theater in Cleveland Ohio. The

Marc Tanner Band The Marc Tanner Band was an American rock band fronted by Marc Tanner that released two albums on the Elektra label. They had a minor hit with the song " Elena" in 1979. Background During their time the band released two albums, '' No Escape'' i ...

also opened for Jefferson Starship. Romersa was a drummer, percussionist, and composer on Tanner's second album, ''Temptation'', along with guitarist Ritchie Zito and bassist Ron Edwards.

Soy Cowboy

While working in the studio, a chance meeting with keyboardist and songwriter Vincent Nicoletti would result in the band Soy Cowboy with its "Thai Western" sound. Romersa was brought in as a drummer and sound engineer, and eventually became lead vocalist. After their first recordings received airplay by Los Angeles radio personality Tom Schnabel of KCRW-FM (89.9), the band caught the attention of then-art student Tarsem Singh. In 1990, Singh would produce Soy Cowboy's only music video for their song "Lily Pads and Rock Cod". Soy Cowboy's first album, ''First Time Again'', was produced in 1991 but it was not released to the public. The album would later be released in 2009, by Shadow Box Studio. Their second album, ''2012'', was produced and released in 2012. As noted by Schnabel, "The band got moderate airplay on U.S. radio, but in England briefly jumped to the top of the charts."

Sound engineering

Romersa was both a drummer and engineer on

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for his signature blend of humoro ...

's 1991 album '' The Missing Years''. He would go on to work with

Carlene Carter Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith (country musician), Carl Smith. Since 1978, Carter has ...

on her 1993

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

album '' Little Love Letters'' as the drummer, percussionist, engineer and backup vocalist, along with bassist

Howie Epstein Howard Norman Epstein (July 21, 1955 – February 23, 2003) was an American musician best known as a bassist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early life Epstein was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He grew up in a musical household. Epste ...

and keyboardist

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin M ...

. ''Little Love Letters'' would rise to No. 35 on the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...

chart and included the No. 3 hit "Every Little Thing" and two top 100 songs; "I Love You 'Cause I Want To" (#50) and "Unbreakable Heart" (#51). Romersa's daughter, Reyna, would make her video debut in "I Love You 'Cause I Want To". In the late 1980s, Romersa began working with eden ahbez. Romersa and ahbez worked together until the latter's death in 1995.

Voice acting

In 1994, Romersa started engineering, voice acting and ADR directing on anime and video game projects, which led to his work on ''Silent Hill''. Romersa would go on to work as music supervisor on ''

Silent Hill 3 is a 2003 survival horror video game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2. The third installment in the ''Silent Hill'' series and a direct sequel to the Silent ...

'', '' 4: The Room'' and ''

Homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States and Canada. United St ...

''. He also wrote the lyrics and contributed vocals to "Hometown" and "Cradle of Forest".

Return to music

One of Romersa's projects as a producer was singer Alana Sweetwater's 2004 self-titled debut album. Her single from that album, "Song of Love", was featured on the original Showtime series '' The Real L Word''. Romersa was also a musician on the album and sound engineer. Romersa released his first album as a solo artist in 2017, ''Enough''. Written and composed by Romersa, ''Enough'' includes tracks by fellow musicians including Laurence Juber ("Love, and You"), Prescott Niles ("Enough", "Humans Doing Angels' Work", "Soldier of Love") and Jeff Jourard ("Give Our Money Back"). Romersa's musical inspirations include

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (; December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock Supergroup (music), supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards) of The Nice, Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitars, producer) ...

The Move The Move were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine Top 40, top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

Discography

Mainstream albums

Indie albums

Acting

Anime voice-over

*'' Akira'' as Joker *'' Armitage III'' as Big Thug *'' Bastard!!'' as Priest C *''

Battle Athletes is a Japanese franchise which includes an OVA series animated by AIC, a manga by Yūki Nakano, and a 26-episode anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo from October 1997 to March 1998. A reboot manga, ''Pale Blue Dot: Battle Athl ...

'' as Claus (Ep. 4); Hans (Ep. 4) *''

Battle Athletes Victory is a Japanese franchise which includes an OVA series animated by AIC, a manga by Yūki Nakano, and a 26-episode anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo from October 1997 to March 1998. A reboot manga, ''Pale Blue Dot: Battle Athl ...

'' as Additional Voices *'' Black Jack'' as Mob Boss *''

Black Magic M-66 is a cyberpunk manga written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. It was first published as a ''dōjinshi'' in 1983, and was later reprinted in ''tankōbon'' format by Seishinsha in 1985. The series was later adapted into an OVA in 1987 whic ...

'' as Additional Voices *'' Blood: The Last Vampire'' as David *'' Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'' as Ryouga Senba *''

Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 Japanese neo-noir space Western anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise (company), Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, ...

'' as Abdul Hakim *''

Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure is a Japanese anime series animated by AIC and created by Masaki Kajishima, best known for the '' Tenchi Muyo!'' franchise. It was originally broadcast on Wowow from April to July 1999 and was licensed in the US by Pioneer LDC, later k ...

'' *'' El Hazard: The Magnificent World'' as Driver (Ep. 3) *''El Hazard 2 – The Magnificent World'' as Additional Voices *'' El Hazard: The Alternative World'' as Additional Voices *'' El Hazard: The Wanderers'' as Additional Voices *'' Gate Keepers'' as Hippie *''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized between 1989 and 1991, is set in mid-21st century Japan and tel ...

'' as Truck Driver (as Joe Michaels) *'' Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence'' as Crab Man, Undersea Cyborg Escort (Animaze Dub) *'' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: 2nd Gig'' as Coil Krasnov, Kitora Masoki *'' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society'' as Colonel Ka Gael, Security Cyborg *'' Hand Maid May'' as Additional Voices *'' Hyper Doll'' as Additional Voices *'' Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro'' as Gustav (Animaze Dub) *''

Macross Plus is a four-episode anime Original video animation, OVA and theatrical movie in the ''The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Macross'' series. It was the first sequel to the original ''Macross'' television series that took place in the official ...

'' as Additional Voices *'' Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie Trilogy'' as Gaia *'' Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team'' as Hige, Doctor *''Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team – Miller's Report'' as Agent Jacob *'' Moldiver'' as Additional Voices *''

Ninja Scroll is a 1993 Japanese animated ''jidaigeki''- ''chanbara'' film written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, starring the voices of Kōichi Yamadera, Emi Shinohara, Takeshi Aono, Daisuke Gōri, Toshihiko Seki and Shūichirō Moriyama. The film ...

'' as Additional Voices *'' Ninku the Movie'' as Additional Voices *'' Orguss 02'' as Additional Voices *''

Outlaw Star is a media franchise#Japan, Japanese media mix primarily consisting of an anime Television show, television series produced by Sunrise (now a division of Bandai Namco Filmworks) and a corresponding Seinen manga, ''seinen'' manga series w ...

'' as Fake Shimi; Kyokan *'' Phantom Quest Corp'' as Additional Voices *''Red Hawk – Weapon of Death'' as Additional Voices *''

Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins in 1878, the 11th year of the Meiji era in Japan, and follows a former assassin of the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work against ...

'' as Merchant (Ep. 15); Politician (Ep. 15); Raiko *'' Sol Bianca: The Legacy'' as Additional Voices *'' Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie'' as

Balrog Balrogs () are a species of powerful demonic monsters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. One first appeared in print in his high-fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings'', where the Company of the Ring encounter a Balrog known as Durin's Bane in ...

(as Joe Michaels) *'' Street Fighter II V'' as Balrog (Animaze Dub) *''

Street Fighter Alpha ''Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams'', known as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 1995 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for Arcade video game, arcades. It was the first all new ''Street Fighter'' game produced ...

'' as

Zangief Zangief (; Japanese: ), often called the , is a character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series. Considered to be the first grappling-based fighting game character, he made his debut in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' (1991). In the ...

*''

The Big O is a Japanese mecha-anime television series created by designer Keiichi Sato and director Kazuyoshi Katayama for Sunrise. The writing staff was assembled by the series' head writer, Chiaki J. Konaka, who is known for his work on '' Se ...

'' as Nightingale Club Bouncer (Ep. 2), Repairman (Ep. 25) *''

The Legend of Black Heaven , also referred to as ''The Legend of Black Heaven'' and ''Kacho-Ōji'', is a Japanese anime television series conceptualized by Hiroki Hayashi and produced by Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer LDC Inc., AIC and A.P.P.P. It is directed by Yasuhi ...

'' as Luke Yamada *''

The Wings of Honneamise ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' as Air Force Member 4 *'' They Were 11'' as Knu *''

Trigun is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. It was first serialized in Tokuma Shoten's manga magazine ''Monthly Shōnen Captain'' from March 1995 to December 1996, until the magazine ceased its publication; ...

'' as Descartes

Video game roles

*'' Brave Fencer Musashi'' as Ben *'' NeverDead'' as Astaroth *''

Seven Samurai 20XX is a PlayStation 2 game released by Sammy Studios in 2004. Its story and concept are based upon Akira Kurosawa's 1954 movie ''Seven Samurai''. Rights for the production of the game were given by the Kurosawa production, with character designs by ...

'' - Zex

Non-anime voice-over

*Big Rig Buddies as Smokey the Fire Truck (formerly)

Staff work

* Armitage III as ADR Engineer * Brave Fencer Musashi as Voice Director * Bushido Blade 2 as Digital Tracker (English voices) *

The Castle of Cagliostro is a 1979 Japanese animated action adventure comedy film co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is the second animated feature film based on the 1967–69 manga series ''Lupin III'' by Monkey Punch. The film was Miyazaki's feature d ...

as Digital Tracker, English Adapter, Director (Manga Entertainment dub) * Dual! Paralle lunlun monogatari as Final Mixer, director *

as Digital Tracker (English voices) * Firefighter F.D.18 as English Dialogue Director * Front Mission 4 as Voice Director *Invisible Mom II as Music Supervisor * Lurking Fear as Dialogue Editor * Nano Breaker as ADR Director * The New Adventures of Captain Planet as Sound Designer *Reaper Tales as Sound Recordist *

Resident Evil 5 ''Resident Evil 5'' is a 2009 third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. It is a major installment in the ''Resident Evil'' series, and was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in March 2009 and for Window ...

as Sound Designer, Video Storyboard Artist *Shadow Warriors as Dialogue Editor * Silent Hill: Homecoming as Lyricist *

as Writer, director *

Suikoden IV is a role-playing video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami exclusively for the PlayStation 2 video game console and is the fourth installment of the ''Suikoden'' video game series. It was released in Au ...

as ADR Director *Timberwood Tales as Editor *Tollbooth as Dialogue Editor, ADR recordist * Wings of Honnêamise as Dialogue Sound Engineer * Got Milk? as Music Score

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Romersa, Joe Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American composers 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians American audio engineers American male composers American male drummers American male singer-songwriters American male video game actors American male voice actors American multi-instrumentalists American rock singers American rock songwriters American sound designers American voice directors Grammy Award winners Living people Silent Hill