Stigmata brings you interview with another great band – ROME, the new neofolk sensation from Luxembourg. Three albums on Cold Meat Industry and more to come! Enjoy.
I’ve heard a lot of rumours about ROME, but I had no chance to find any official information about the band, so I think we should start the interview from the very beginning. Please introduce yourself. Who stays behind ROME?
Well, my name is Jerome Reuter and I started this project in late 2005/ early 2006. ROME is a one-man band but for live performances I usually have one or two associates with me on stage and in the studio I get help from Patrick Damiani, the engineer at Tidal Wave Recording Studios based in Karlsruhe, Germany.
And could you tell me more about yourself? I've heard you are from Luxembourg, is that correct? How old are you? Are you a professional musician or you have a full-time job?
Yes, I was born and raised in Luxembourg. Right now I live in Germany and I spent some time in England too. I am 25 now. I don't have a full-time job. I do music. And I work here and there to pay the rent.
For me your motherland Luxembourg is Terra Incognita: I have never seen any news from this country and I have never met people who were lucky to visit those lands. How big musical scene of your country? Does you country differ a lot from the rest EU or it shares the same problems and fortunes with the rest of Europe?
Well, there's not that much happening here anyway, no wonder you never heard an news from here. I hardly ever do. We have a lot of bands here but there's no real scene of anything. It is just too small. You basically have one band for every genre. I guess I must be the guy who does neofolk or whatever you want to call it.
We share some of the same problems but on a smaller scale obviously. Unemployment is not so much of an issue these days as it is in Germany or France. The most important aspect of Luxembourg is probably its size. It is so damn small, sooner or later one needs to break out. That's why I have been living in different countries.
So, this is the case when size does matter, right? Do you plan come back home some day?
Yes, I will be living there again. But I also know I will move back out again, hehe.
How different Luxembourg from Germany?
Every country is different. The food, the people's mentality, everything. You will find a different mentality in every bigger city. The same applies to Luxembourg. Luxembourg is just one big city really and I think we get along pretty well with our neighbours.
When you have begun to play music and how you became interested in neofolk?
My interest in music has always been there, so it was just a matter of time before I would pick up an instrument. I finally did so when I was about eleven and got my first guitar. I bought my first neofolk records in a shop in Brussels where I was staying with a punk band at the time to do some recordings. It started from there I guess. That was in the late nineties.
So, before ROME you were in a punk band? Could you tell me more about your pre-ROME musical experience?
Well, ever since I was about 12 I played in bands. I have been in numerous projects before I started ROME. I stopped counting. Some of that were punk bands. Others were more singer-songwriter- like. All types, really.
Anything to recall? Or all those bands were one-day projects without any proper releases?
No, there were a couple of one-day or one-performance projects but for the most part they were actual bands releasing actual records. But namedropping would not help because most of those projects were limited to playing several gigs in Luxembourg and not getting out of the country. They each had an importance for my personal musical development but they are of no importance to understand ROME.
You band has a name ROME. What is so special for you in this ‘eternal’ Italian city?
Everything, really. The capital of Europe, the birthplace of so many things. I think everybody feels that, no matter how polluted the cities are today. Everyone can relate to it on some level or other. Plus as a name it is short and easy to remember.
First you have released an EP, then full-length. It was done because of marketing goals or there are some other reasons behind this release-plan?
I guess it was a bit of both. Berlin was just my demo I sent to CMI without even having a name for it. When I told Roger I had some more material ready to be recorded he thought it would be best to release that demo as a teaser. I am glad we did, because I was free to do a complete new album "Nera".
I own only your debut full-length CD so far, and the release doesn’t have any lyrics, unfortunately. Why do you hide them? And could you tell me a bit about themes of your songs?
I don't really think I hide the lyrics. I try to do the vocals in a way people can understand most of it. The lyrics are crucial to ROME. I believe people pay more attention to the words when they are not easily accessible.
The main themes are grief, despair, composure, dignity and betrayal and they are set in a world scorched by civil war. The songs are little stories taken out of that world.
Well, there many countries were people don't understand English, but they can read it :) Any plans to release lyrics some day?
Yes. In a couple of years probably.
Nera is a conceptual album or it’s just a bunch of songs written at the same period of time?
Again, a bit of both. The initial idea was for Nera to be a conceptual album about the Spanish civil war. But I later dropped the idea when I realised I wanted to include some stuff that did not really fit into that box.
Could you tell me a bit about your new album? Unfortunately, I had no chance to listen to it so far, but I’ve heard that it’s good. So, what do you think about your new work?
I obviously like it, because otherwise I would not have released it. It's hard to say. I need some more time to think about it. Let it grow on me and gain some distance to it. It is still very fresh. Plus I am working on other stuff right now, so I don't stop to think about the past. I am more worried about how the next album is gonna sound. The work is done pretty much on impulse and once it's done, I immediately forget about it and move on. All I can say is that I really like to play the new songs live and so far I believe people liked to hear them.
Are there any differences between the first album and the second one?
Certainly. But don't ask me, haha. I think, generally, the second album is much more quiet and personnal than Nera. It's not by coincidence that it's called Confessions.
Cold Meat was the first label you sent your demo to? I ask this because CMI isn't a neofolk label, so I was really surprised when I have found great release on it!
I sent a couple of demos to different labels, but Cold Meat was the first one to really show genuine interest. Roger really saw something in this and that really gave me some confidence.
From my personal view current neofolk scene looks suspicious at ROME and for most neofolk fans your music is still unknown. What do you think about fan's reaction on your works?
People who don't like your music usually don't write mails. So all I get is good feedback, haha. It is hard to say. I have only been around for a couple of months really. Things like time. It takes a while for a record to spread. So far I got a couple of great reviews and I have been talking to a number of people who got my message right. I have been featured in a couple of bigger magazines and I suppose some die-hard neofolk fans don't like that or are suspicious of something like that coming from CMI. I don't really worry about such things. All I want to do is record my songs and indulge in art, regardless of what others think or what the public says.
You have released 3 albums in less than a year - that's a lot. A lot of bands spend years just to record a single CD. What helps you to create so many songs? And when we should expect new gifts from ROME?
I am in a very difficult place in my personal life right now. Splitting time with different things in different countries. It wears you down but the good thing about it is that it really inspires you. I am always working on new material, so I don't think people will have to wait for several years before the next ROME album comes out.
Could you tell me a bit about the process of song creation? What comes first; an idea, a melody or lyrics? And how do you know that the song is ready and it needs to be recorded?
Sometimes I read a line in a book which inspires me to write some lyrics and do a song with that. It happens that I read something and can actually hear what that would sound like in music. Other times I hear some sample snippet in a movie or something and get an idea for a song or I fool around with the guitar to come up with something decent. That's probably the most frequent one. I usually write the lyrics the day I record the song, haha. Generally you feel when you have something decent on your hands. It just announces itself. Then you know you can go and record it. I usually figure out the arrangements when I am in the studio.
Why do you choose themes for your music from the past? What makes you dig all those events from the beginning of XX century? Don't we have a lot of fun these days: war on terror, homemade porn, Paris Hilton, overpopulation and Internet.... :)
The incidents and facts I sing about are probably rooted in the 20th Century, but the same rules apply today. It's not like I'm living in the past. It just makes a much better scenery to put your stuff into. And I think people can relate to that. Obviously we do have "a lot of fun" these days, which is why I address some of that in my songs. You won't find the name Paris Hilton but you will definitely find words like despair and shallowness.
It seems humanity enjoys repeating the same mistakes over and over again. What do you think about that?
Yes, that's the way it looks to me too. It is just a matter of time before things turn bad again. Every generation has to learn things for itself. It seems that some knowledge is harder to pass on. A new generation doesn't want somebody else to have fought the wars for them. It is ridiculous, but what can we do? It is human nature.
In ancient societies musicians and singers were a part of priest caste, today musicians are part of service industry and as a rule their works have nothing common with spirituality or Art. How do you see your place in this world? Why do you write music - it's your gift or it's your damnation?
Music is a business nowadays and it is part of a service industry, but people are changing that. We are all trying to put some culture back into music. There will always be stars and celebrities nobody needs but what happens underground is important. I believe it is more important today than ever before.
I write music because I have to. It is my way of expressing myself and communicating with other people. I don't see it as a gift or damnation. It is who I am. Some write, some paint, some talk to people. I don't believe in talking.
Why do you think so? Many musicians say that underground is dead and there is no underground any longer. People don't buy records, labels disappear, and overall quality of releases is getting lower and lower. Free MP3s kill underground...
Yes, I totally agree. I nonetheless, decided to be a musician, despite of all of that. If the going gets tough, the tough get going. Never surrender. Just because things are not easy, does not mean you should not stand up and fight. I try o release quality music and remain in this business with a sense of integrity. Somebody must be the flagbearer.
What kind of music do you listen for your own pleasure?
Anything really. I am a fan of songwriters like Nick Cave or Tom Waits. I like loud music as well. I buy records all the time. Ambient stuff, Indi Rock, and even one or two pop records. You name it. It is all about the music. My life is about music.
What do you like and hate most in being a musician?
I like everything about it. I used to hate carrying around amplifiers. That's when I switched to doing vocals and acoustic guitar, haha. No seriously. Music is what my life is about. I eat, sleep and breathe it. What's not to like?
So, may be we should talk a bit about your latest inspirations? What movies and books touched your soul and mind, moved you to dedicate some of your time for thinking and writing a song?
There have been a lot of inspiring movies lately because I have been raiding my friend's video collections in search for samples, haha. The most inspiring of them were older stuff from Nicolas Roeg and Fellini. I love the 70s as far as movies go. Right now I am reading some Kerouac just for old times sake and I just received some more Mishima in the mail. German inter-war literature is always inspiring to me.
Your taste is pretty different from typical neofolk or martial musician - you do not mention Leni Reifenstahl and other 'must have' figures :)
Are there any movies you would call 'influential' for you as a person? As for me, I would name 'Dolls', 'Winter, spring, summer, autumn and again winter', '8 1/2', 'Stalker' and 'Come and See'...
Well, the 'must have' figures don't need to be mentioned. That's like mentioning Goethe or Nietzsche. Those are classics. We all know what people are reading. I am no different. I read Mishima, Genet and the other lads and I like movies like the Wickerman and such and the stuff you already mentioned. Classics. But I like to keep my eyes and ears open for new stuff, because usually the most inspiring stuff comes from places you do not expect. I think the most influential movie I ever saw probably was a German version (made in the late 60s/early 70s I think) of Jack London's The Seawolf. I was a ten year old boy and fell in love right there, haha.
But I must add that watching a drama performance/ theatre has always been very inspiring too. Just in general. You know, seeing all of the action up close.
German inter-war literature… You mean Erns Junger or something else? And what is your pick for Mishima?
You mean which Mishima books? I haven't read too many of them yet, but I really liked Sun and Steel and Confessions of a Mask. I am working on the other ones, though. Right now I'm reading Forbidden Colours. I always read several books at a time. As for the German inter-war thing, yes, Ernst Juenger and guys like Ernst von Salomon, but also Benn, Hesse and the likes.
And do you find many inspirations from modern art? To me contemporary Art is degrading, and I hardly find books to read, paintings to look at, poems to enjoy.... what about you?
It is hard to find really great new books. There are just so many mediocre ones. I bought some last week which I think are quite promising, but since I haven't read them I can't really say. Media overkill makes it hard to sift through it all. Contemporary paintings so far have never been inspiring to me. Painting in general doesn't do it for me in the way music does.
I totally agree with you, I gave up reading fiction books about 5 years ago - they all boring. Now I read only historical ones... and I have found that no fiction can match real life!
How do you usually pick up books for yourself? You read reviews or listen to opinion of your friends?
Usually one book leads to another. Sometimes I talk to friends about it but most of the times I do some research on my own and come up with a list of things I'm interested in.
The design of Nera package reminds me designs of latest releases from DEATH IN JUNE. Who was an author of the design? You or Roger?
Actually we always do the artwork together. I took that picture in Vienna.
Well, if you say it reminds you of DEATH IN JUNE, I think it could be worse, hehe, because DEATH IN JUNE always has the best artwork and design...
Since I have mentioned DI6 I think I have to ask you about music of Douglas Pi. Many compare DI6 to ROME. And I recall Douglas mentioned Nera as one of the best albums in 2006. Do you like works of DI6? Have they affected you somehow?
Well, anyone with ears can hear that the works of Douglas have affected me. I really like Death In June. We all like Death In June, don't we? Without them ROME would certainly not sound the way it does. There are many different influences of course, coming from all kinds of genres, but DI6 showed me where I could go with my songs. It showed me how I could combine the different things like art, photography and poetry I am interested in, and pour it into one thing. And I thank him for that.
Quite a number of musicians told me that they use their music as a tool to spread their views among people. So, their music is a form of propaganda. The good examples are bands like ACTUS and ORPLID. What about you? Do you aware that you music may affect other people and even change their views?
I am very aware that music can change people's perspective on things because it happened to me on various occasions. But I have never thought of my music that way or what it can mean to other people. After all, I have only been around for a couple of months, really. My music is just my way if communicating with myself and those around me and I am thankful for everyone who feels touched by it in one way or another. Music can make people see things differently for sure. It's not going to change the world though. But it can help, hehe. Art should not be easy to digest and give only one possible explanation to it. Oherwise it's just boring. I certainly don't use music as a tool for propaganda. No self-respecting artist should do that.
And how important to you to be heard?
No, it is not important to me. I like my music as a unity to be heard and dealt with by individuals. My music is not propaganda. I feel far removed from any ideology. I want to express myself and how I look upon the world. I am not spreading a message. ROME is to be taken the way it is. It is a form of art, nothing more, nothing less. I am not here to change the world. I am just expressing myself. I am not a messiah.
|
