Everything changed when front man Nowell died of a heroin overdose on May 25, 1996. Nowell’s death preceded the release of their third self-titled album that would launch the band into stardom. The band broke up shortly afterward.

The fame of the album led the band to regroup as the Long Beach Dub Allstars in 1997 with new blood including front man Opie Ortiz, guitarist RAS-1 and Miguel and others including a new keyboardist and saxophone section. Although the band released two albums they disbanded in 2002 to follow separate pet projects.

Almost a decade later the band is back and ready for action. Joining the group is new front man and guitarist Rome Ramirez. While Ramirez has found favor with the band Nowell’s family filed a lawsuit if the band continued under its previous name. The re-formed group now performs under the name Sublime with Rome.

Lumino got the chance to sit down with Ramirez to talk about life on the road, joining Sublime and their upcoming New Years Eve show in Chicago.

Tell me about your tour, how was it?

We just got done with the tour and we’re taking a break right now and working on our new album. The tour was a blast though, we’ve had a lot of fun partying with fans.

I’d love to hear more about the new album, how is it sounding?

It’s sounding great we are getting inspiration from all different genres. It will still sound like Sublime but for a new generation.

You’re the newest member of the group, what was it like joining such an influential band?

It was kind of intimidating at first but everything just fell in to place. We all have a great time partying on the road.

You’re new on the scene, how did the band discover you?

I’m originally from San Francisco and I’ve been playing music since I was 11 years old. I moved out to Los Angeles to play music a few years ago and become friends with a sound engineer and we started a band together. He was a friend of Gaugh’s and when he [Gaugh] heard my stuff at a party he invited me to sit in with him. I’ve been playing Sublime songs ever since.

Whether you are an old school fan or a novice to the group, you can come out and hear Ramirez as the frontman and judge for yourself. If you are in the Chicago area Sublime with Rome plays at Q101’s New Years Eve bash along with the Dirty Heads and American Taxi.

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