Q&A: Electro-Rock Duo ROMES Takes Debut Album ‘SONIC TRASH’ Across Europe
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY FAITH LUEVANOS ☆
Photo by Nicolas Bitove
“WHY CAN’T A ROCK BAND TAKE THE SAME APPROACH AS ELECTRONIC ARTISTS?”—Sibling duo Jacob and Nicolas Bitove, a.k.a. ROMES, have taken the punk scene by storm with their self-proclaimed “punktronic” sound, which blends heavy industrial beats with the chaotic energy of a rock band. Their debut album SONIC TRASH has gained noticeable momentum, bringing together listeners worldwide. ROMES recently finished their first headline tour throughout Europe, turning their set into a full-blown festival-style performance. They’re currently bringing that one-of-a-kind set to the U.S., supporting Des Rocs.
SONIC TRASH isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for the people who live without boundaries, the ones full of grit who express themselves better on a dancefloor when words fail. ROMES’ success came organically, fueled by the intrigue of fans who shared their passion for pulsing synths and infectious drums. “So many people are telling us after the shows that they stumbled across one of our videos on social media and immediately bought a ticket,” the band said .
The Luna Collective received the opportunity to chat with the duo while they were in Europe on tour and dive deeper into SONIC TRASH, their experience playing outside of the country, how their music has impacted fans, and more. Read the full interview below.
Photo by Gene Perez | @chikireet
LUNA: You guys are in the middle of your first European headlining tour. Have you noticed any major differences in playing shows at home versus outside of the country?
ROMES: European crowds are the best. Whether it’s a Monday night or Saturday, everyone is coming out to let loose and have a good time. As our first-ever headline tour, every crowd and the energy they brought completely surpassed our expectations. Every night is a serious party, and we’re loving it. Also, the drives between cities are a hell of a lot more manageable. Touring across Canada is a grind! For some reason, we’ve only ever done it in the dead of winter. Would not recommend.
LUNA: What are some things you guys do in order to reset or recharge while out on the road?
ROMES: Days off are rare, but when we do get one, we use it to explore the cities and just take it all in. Since we’re always on the go, it’s kind of hard to just stay still and chill, even on those days off. So we’ll just walk around and check out the sights. We stayed at an awesome hotel in Dornbirn, Austria, with some outdoor saunas overlooking the Alps. That was pretty sick. We also met a bunch of cool people at the shows and usually ended up heading out to the local bars with them afterwards, which was always a good time.
LUNA: You'll be coming to play some U.S. shows shortly. How has touring in Europe prepared you for this next round?
ROMES: The European tour was the first time we had ever played any of the SONIC TRASH songs live. It was really cool to finally be able to bring them to life. For this upcoming U.S. run, we’ve got a 40-minute set since we’re direct support, so we need to cut about half an hour from the set we played in Europe. We’ll probably end up with 40 minutes of full-throttle bangers.
LUNA: What do you hope fans take away from your set or experience throughout?
ROMES: We’ve always admired how electronic artists craft a seamless set from start to finish. We’ve never been fans of the whole start song, end song, talk about random shit kind of vibe. So with this SONIC TRASH set, we thought, “Why can’t a rock band take the same approach as electronic artists?" So our entire show is one continuous set with songs transitioning into one another. We also mash-up a bunch of our tracks live and remix them with some of our favourite jams from Beastie Boys, SebastiAn, Daft Punk, The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, etc.
We’ve got a lot going on behind the scenes in our show as well. For example, in certain sections, the drums control the lights and synth via drum triggers. Jacob also has the ability to manipulate and mangle my acoustic drums in real time with custom MIDI mappings and VST chains we’ve built.
Our show blurs a lot of lines and integrates gear in unconventional ways. At the end of the day, we’re trying to give people an experience that catches them off guard with a bunch of surprises. The things you would typically expect from a rock duo, we’re trying to do the exact opposite.
LUNA: Your music is such a powerful blend of genres. Where do you find the most inspiration?
ROMES: It all happened very naturally. In making SONIC TRASH, we opened up our creative process to pull from all the music we grew up on in the 90’s, from hip hop to punk to electronic to industrial. Our parents introduced us to such a wide spectrum of music when we were young, and a lot of that finds its way into our sound. We never set out to try to replicate any of it, but rather just went back to our roots and the bands that got us to pick up instruments in the first place. It’s interesting because a lot of people, after shows, will tell us that our sound has a certain nostalgia factor while at the same time sounding like something they’ve never heard before.
LUNA: SONIC TRASH has been out for a few months now. What have been some notable fan reactions or responses to it?
ROMES: It’s always amazing to get DMs from people talking about how some of the songs have helped them get through some tough times. Instrumentally, a lot of the songs have a raw energy to them, but lyrically, they’re pretty dark and deal with a lot of personal struggles and anxieties.
LUNA: What’s your favorite song to perform?
ROMES: It changes every night!
LUNA: Just to give some people a little bit of FOMO, can you describe what a ROMES show looks/feels like?
ROMES: Raw Overdriven Mind Expansion Systems.
LUNA: Any final messages you’d like to share with fans?
ROMES: Hope to catch you at a show soon!
