We recently connected with John Ruzicka and have shared our conversation below.

John, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

So many of us have been impacted by Covid over the past couple of years. We had several public gigs and private events lined up for early 2020 when the world shut down. San Diego is an ideal destination for many companies to hold their annual events, so we (as a city) were hit particularly hard. We were fortunate to not have to deal with the worst aspects of Covid from a personal standpoint — but the hit to our business was particularly painful.

We used the downtime to continue rehearsing (individually), and, like everyone else, some of us discovered new hobbies. Sourdough, anyone?

We have an incredible network of event planners, bar owners, and the like — so we were able to keep in touch with many of them and have a pulse on the events industry as a whole. So when things started to open up in 2021, we were the first call that many people made for events they were planning. We played a handful of gigs in 2021, which helped us knock the dust off and feel normal again.

Our main act is live band karaoke, so audience participation is critical. It was easy to see how many people had missed live music and just being together as humans. Seeing folks join the band on stage again was a great turning point in 2021.

We continue to take precautions like additional cleaning of our gear to ensure we’re not contributing to the spread of Covid, and to make people feel comfortable being on stage.

We’ve definitely learned a lot over the past couple of years. First and foremost, people are more eager than ever to spend time together and to finally feel “normal” again. We’ve had so many people tell us how much they missed seeing live bands. We’ve also learned that patience, consistency and resilience are qualities that we all need to practice on a regular basis. Rock Out Karaoke was started in 2006, and while we’ve added tons of new songs to our list, our performances are very much the same. I think event planners and bar owners value that type of consistency and professionalism. So to be able to weather the pandemic and come out on this side as we were before is a big win for the band. Finally, we have to enjoy every moment. You never know when something like Covid may happen again. Nothing in life is guaranteed, so we just have to keep playing and making people smile.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

In 2006, the original members of Rock Out Karaoke were in a cover band in San Diego playing regular gigs and filling bars in Pacific Beach and the Gaslamp. We had seen other live karaoke in different cities, but many of them used paper lyrics sheets or nothing at all. We knew we could do it better and recognized the opportunity in San Diego and Southern California.

We diversified our song list and quickly found a home-grown solution so that we could display lyrics on screen while the band plays along. Early on we decided that the karaoke singers should be the stars of the show. So you’ll never see us play extended versions of guitar solos or try to steal the spotlight. We do our best to play the song just like you’d hear on the record and let the singers shine. For so many people, our gig is the first — and sometimes only — time they’ll have the chance to sing with a live band. We work hard to make anyone feel comfortable on stage.

In the background we always like to be the part of any event that the organizer doesn’t have to worry about. Whether it’s a wedding, corporate event, or simply a bar gig — people hire us to do a job and we take that very seriously. No one has time to micromanage the entertainment (nor should they).

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

One of the most rewarding aspects of playing live music in San Diego for nearly 20 years has been the network of people we’ve come to call friends, colleagues, and fans. At one point in our journey we were selling Rock Out Karaoke t-shirts — in bright red, no less! Folks would wear these shirts to our shows and our biggest fans became our closest friends. I remember one night when about 30 people were wearing matching shirts, so we had to grab a photo.

Other times we’ve seen people walking around town in our shirts. It’s crazy to spot your band’s logo in the wild or see it in photos on social media!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Our biggest mission is to provide a memorable experience for people who come to our shows or for those who hire us for private events. We’ve all been to corporate events that just seem to fall flat. We work hard to make sure folks will remember their time with us (and call us back!). In fact, we’ve had many corporate clients who will call us back year after year because their guests have so much fun. And we still hear stories about couples who met at one of our bar gigs.

Creating smiles, helping people connect with their favorite music, and giving people the opportunity to unleash their inner rock star — that’s why we started the band, and I’d say we’re still delivering on those promises nearly 16 years later.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rockoutkaraoke.com
• Instagram: @rockoutkaraoke
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockoutkaraoke
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rock-out-karaoke-san-diego-4