Senior Dominic Peluso, also known as “The Ram”, is starting to make a name for himself in the music industry. The York-hi interviewed him to find out who he is as an artist.

Q: How did you get involved in Music?

A: At first, I started writing raps about anything and everything back in 5th grade. There was a part of me that just wanted to stand out and do something that was different– especially to impress my classmates and peers. I started actually getting into meaningful music around 8th grade when I had problems fitting in and being accepted. Basically, when times were rough, I really didn’t know what to do about it. I would sit around the house and ask, “why me?” or “why is everybody against me? Why is nothing working out?”. At this point, the whole ‘writing raps’ thing was out the window and I hadn’t really written much since 5th or 6th grade… but when I actually found a purpose for the lyrics, it became my go to outlet, and if you listen to my music now, it’s obvious that it still is to this day.

Q: What artists are you interested in or inspired by?

A: I listen to plenty of musicians, especially outside of RnB, Rap and Hip-Hop genres. Some of my favorites, just to listen to, are Logic, J. Cole, Frank Ocean, but also Death Cab for Cutie, Sam Hunt, Neck Deep, and Real Friends. I feel like if I listen to too much Rap, it would morph my writing style to typical Rap styles. I like to keep an even-flow of many types of genres to help the writing and producing processes.

Q: Are you involved in any musical clubs or groups at York or are you just doing this independently?

A: I take music production classes at York, but am not very involved in the after school programs, like Amateur Musicians, where you can actually go to restaurants and coffee houses to perform, like more spoken-word artists here at York. With the resources I have here in the music lab, I like to come in, sit down, and just do my own thing.

Q: If you could compare yourself to any established artist, who would that be and why?

A: Plenty of people have told me that my fast pace can be compared to Logic or NF, and word choice can be compared to Chance the Rapper. My styles of addressing my issues in music have also been compared to “Punk Rock meets Rap”.

Q: What do you think your listeners will get out of your music?

A: In “Suburbia”, my debut album that came out last May, I explained difficulties in a recent relationship with a girl who wasn’t loyal, kids who dissociated themselves with me due to popularity issues, family problems, and various of other things that affected me, in the town I grew up in, to the point where I wanted to address it in a healthy way. Now with a new album, things will have a vibe of overcoming issues and moving on, how I will be when I graduate high school this year and move into the real world. Listeners can see how to deal with things, and to see they aren’t alone. Everyone has issues, no matter who they are. I just want to be a voice for myself, and hopefully for other kids dealing with similar things.

Anyways, my second – and possibly final album – will drop next Spring.

There will be a point in time when I’ll be 40 years old, sitting in a lawn chair or wherever I may be, looking back on the past where I didn’t have a clue how things would work out. It’s stressful to think that anything can happen in the future, but also pleasing. I know that my 40 year old self will be thinking… “So, This is What the Real World is Like”.

Q: What are your goals as an artist?

A: I’m not trying to be that kid that wants to risk my future to be a rapper. I don’t even have any type of tools outside of school. Honestly, I’m just trying to take all the free time I have this year at school and spend it in the studio here. I’m just going to put it all out there and compile it into my Sophomore album, which is inspired by graduating high school and moving on with my life. With all my effort, I will try and get as much of a following that I can up until May when the album drops. But if something happens and the new album is a hit, then hey, I wouldn’t mind being a famous musician. I know plenty of my classmates have their doubts in me, but I really do not care at all. To them- You can yell my name  to be funny all you like. You can say anything you want to behind my back about how you don’t like the music I spend my own time making. All of that says a whole lot more about you than it does me. I’m just doing what I love to do. Support it or don’t, grow up, and leave it at that.