'She was the inspiration for it'
Michigan musician ROKITA makes music inspired by family
Courtesy of CAROKITA MUSIC LLC, designed by artist Abdellatif J. (abdodesign01 on Fiverr)
From a young age, Chris Rokita listened to classic rock music bands such as Iron Maiden and Poison. He then played in a band with his brother and made digital music arrangements as a hobby.
Rokita is now 56 years old, and he is a husband, father and full-time electrical engineer in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Despite his passion for music, he has only recently returned to the craft of song writing, composing and mixing.
"It's was never something I really could do (as a career)," he said. "With a full-time job and a family to take it care of, it ended up falling to the wayside over the years."
It wasn't until 2021 that he started pursuing music on the side and regularly writing lyrics and music compositions. He said his eldest daughter, Stephanie, loved to sing and that they would film karaoke videos together to put on YouTube. From there it progressed, and he started posting his own song covers and original music.
"It was pretty rough at first," Rokita said. "Everything was so new to me, including social media."
He said when he started out, he received lots of constructive criticism on his work and had to do a lot of networking early on to lay the foundations for newer projects. He said this networking has helped him improve each song he has released, including his most recent single "She Is."
"This latest song, I wanted to come up with something special and get more people involved," he said.
Rokita said the song is inspired by classic rock from the 1980s, and embodies a "feel-good" energy for listeners. While he said he tries to make every song unique, the goal of them are similar: to inspire people and make them feel good.
"I have a chance to make a positive influence on people, and that's really important to me," he said.
The song was partially inspired and fully supported by his wife, Maria, who also starred in the music video for the song.
"She was the inspiration for it," Rokita said. "So it was a perfect fit. She was a really good sport in the video and really likes the song."
Rokita has been with his wife for 10 years and married for six. The couple has twin boys together. They have bonded over music, especially Spanish karaoke songs as his wife is originally from Mexico.
Additionally, he said the song is meant to be a humorous commentary on "age-old debate" on the differences between men and women.
"No relationship is perfect," he said. "There will always be some back and forth, some give and take, and that is what 'She Is' is about."
This reflects in the lyrics of the song, describing the woman as various positive and negative adjectives such as "unstable," "unshakable," "completely compelling" and "fashion negotiable." These phrases slowly shift from being a mix of negative and positive to all positive by the final verse of the song, showing the ups and downs all relationships face.
Rokita said he originally planned to write the song in Spanish, but the lyrics were not flowing the way he wanted them to. As a result, his wife is helping him with his next song, which will consist of both English and Spanish lyrics. The song will be in tribute to his recently deceased mother.
"She was a great mother and I miss her dearly," he said. "It's going to be kind of general for people who have experienced the loss of a loved one."
This song is still being worked on and does not have a title or release date yet.
In the meantime, Rokita encouraged people to check out "She Is," which recently received over 200,000 views on YouTube and 1,000 listens on Spotify. To listen to the song, see reviews on it and learn more about Rokita, you can visit his website here.
