“You have to follow your dreams no matter what” – ROMES talk new EP, making a name for themselves
Photos by Lori Gutman
Interview & Story by Bridjet Mendyuk
In a few short months indie-alt pop band ROMES has accomplished more than most bands can say in their whole career. From more than a million streams on Spotify of their first EP Believe via Five Seven Music to becoming the band behind the playoff video for the Toronto Raptors, their hometown team. To top it all off, their EP was produced and mixed by a Grammy award winning producer, Tony Hoffer (M83, The Kooks, Phoenix). Drummer Nicolas Amadeus told us how the rollercoaster ride of Believe has been, how they came about to make their EP and what’s next for the foursome. According to Amadeus, “everything up until this EP [felt like]building blocks.”
“It goes back to last year when we started writing the songs for the EP, but the four of us have been playing music together in various arrangements for a big part of 10 or more years,” Amadeus explained. “We definitely have this chemistry; two of us are brothers, four of us basically all brothers at this point. We’re all best friends, there is this certain chemistry. We’ve been playing music together a whole lot, and this EP as ROMES is the first time we felt like we were making the music we always wanted to make.”
Going into the studio, Amadeus said the band knew what they wanted the album to sound like. On the contrary to most bands first starting off, this EP is cohesive and points in all directions in terms of genre. Packed with layers, electric guitar and dance-driven beats, Believe checks out in all categories. Wanting only the “most essential parts,” ROMES left the picking to Hoffer since “he’s a [professional]and knew the exact sounds and how to get them.” While their single “Believe” is about following your dreams, Amadeus said, “the rest of the songs are more about sex in some form,” which are obvious in the titles: “When The Night Comes” and “Spend The Night.” Taking influences from their parent’s record collection, “Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill, D’Angelo, Daft Punk-a lot of soul and R n’ B influences,” it’s no wonder their EP is becoming more popular by the second. “Believe” has been the most popular, exceeding more than a million streams.
“All of us would agree in the band that ‘Believe’ holds a special place in our hearts. It was written at a time where people were doubting our choice to continue music as a career,” Amadeus said. “There was a lot of skepticism over what we were doing. We wrote ‘Believe’ out of that as a motivational song. It was the way that we were feeling as well as a message to listeners. Basically, to always back yourself and do what you love to do. You have to follow your dreams no matter what.”
From four guys who met in Ireland for school to selling out their first New York City show, the band has come a long way. ROMES has only played a couple shows (three or four in Toronto and then one in NYC). Amadeus said the next thing on the list is to improve the band’s live show. Eventually, ROMES wants to play Madison Square Garden and the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Amadeus said the guys “are down in the basement practicing every day” and are currently working on an album. If their album is anything like their EP, ROMES can expect their hopes for bigger crowds to become a reality.
“Right now, we would say we’re all living our dream because we’re making music,” Amadeus explained. “We’ve all gone through sacrifices to make this our full-time career because it’s what we want to do. It’s such early days still with the EP. We feel very proud of it, and it’s great to see what the reaction has been so far. It’s just motivation for us at this point to keep working our asses off every day to keep going where it needs to go.”
