Sho: First of all, I’m so happy to have this opportunity to meet you because I love your music so much. I heard that you’re back from the Australian tour now?
No Rome: Australia. Yeah, we did Asia, New Zealand and then Australia. We just finished this Saturday.
Sho: I see. The tour was by yourself or..?
No Rome: It was with the 1975.
Sho: How was it?
No Rome: It was fun. This was like the last leg. We did UK, we did North America, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. Definitely a crazy experience for me. I’ve never had that kind of opportunity.I took a chance.
Sho: With big arenas and big crowds right?
No Rome: The arenas were all sold out. I hadn’t played in an arena before. I’m glad people liked it. It was more of like a ‘Whatever I’ll just do it!’ When they told me like ‘Do you want to open for the 1975?’ I was like ‘Their so big but whatever let’s just do it’ and it helped my career so.
Sho: Did the audience like you?
No Rome: I wrote songs for their album, and Matty collaborated with the songs for me so it kind of worked out. The people were just fanning over like ‘Oh my god, this is a dream come true.’
Sho: Because they know that song already and they know about you right?
I can’t imagine that. We never did a big world tour. I wish I could someday but you know. When you go on tour, how long do you stay in one country?
No Rome: It depends, we sometimes do like two days, sometimes just a day. Literally, we play a show and then the next day we leave. It’s definitely exhausting. I think ‘How do people do this every year?’ (laughs)
Sho: That’s what I imagined as well like ‘How do people do this?’ (laughs)
No Rome: In America we were living in a bus so it was way different.
Sho: So it was a bus tour.
No Rome: Mmm hmm but the next day you wake up in a different state with a different time zone. I remember, I would always wake up at eleven am. I don’t know why but it’s because time keeps moving one hour. And I was just like ‘Why do I keep waking up at eleven?’ (laughter) It was definitely a crazy experience.
Sho: Is the tour wrapping up now?
No Rome: With the 1975, yes. The last leg of that and I start doing my own shows. A UK tour coming this November.
Sho: I heard that you’re playing in Manila?
No Rome: This Sunday. Like a homecoming gig.
Sho: That’s what I thought you know. You live in London now. You got big and famous there and now you’re going back to your hometown. It must be really exciting.
No Rome: It’s emotional. I think I’m such an emotional guy that I don’t get excited, I just feel sentimental all of the time. I’m like looking at the skyline like ‘Oh my god, what the hell, I don’t know what to say’ all of the time and when I go on for the shows, that’s when I get hyped. More often than not, I’m more sentimental. I guess the fuel is my music so to say. I’m really excited for it, it’s different. With these people I kind of grew up with and stuff like that.
Sho: I read the interview that you did via skype and you were saying that you get sad and emotional all of time.
No Rome: For that EP. I guess at that time, I was in a very dark place. Which kind of consisted of all of the songs that were written in all sorts of places. These were songs that inspired that situation.
Sho: I really love your lyrics too. It makes me feel pain because they are emotional lyrics and I’m just guessing here but are the lyrics that you write inspired by true stories from your life?
No Rome: It’s always hard to talk about it straight up because it’s genuine you know. There must be a tiny bit of changing of words for songwriting. When I write a song about somebody, I’m not going to tell you their names. ‘Her name starts with an E so it’s Emily’, you know? That kind of stuff, I never get too specific but I want to be the guy who can say it in his songs. Maybe too shy to say it (to somebody in real life) but that is my role as an artist, if I was contributing something to pop music, I want to be that guy. That’s why I love writing because ‘Ok, I’m going to tell you this story, and I know it’s probably going to go 50/50. You might relate to it, you might not but I’ll tell you the story.’ People kind of resonate to it in a way like ‘Oh, I wanted to say that feeling, but I couldn’t express it and you kind of expressed it for me.’
Sho: The narratives in your lyrics felt like they were actual happenings.
No Rome: Most of them are very accurate because I want to write songs and I want you to see what’s happening. The chorus kind of explains it.
Sho: I think it’s amazing.
No Rome: Thank you.
Sho: When songwriting for pop music, the way to translate the emotions into words is very important but there’s beauty in general writing in just writing about what happened as it is. That can be very emotional as well and in your songwriting, I felt like it was good mixture between the two.
No Rome: Yeah. I was obsessed with pop culture and I thought ‘What if I start talking about sensitive materials in the midst of pop music?’ Memorable vs memorable choruses and you feel that it is torn. And it’s not through punishment but it’s in a way of expression. Everybody can listen to and everybody can feel that same way. When I’m talking about mental health, anxiety and depression, and put these elements into pop music, people can be aware that these are actually existing topics because you don’t realize until you go out and meet people that these things actually exist you know? People lose lives just because of mental health and if you put it in a pop context, in a more obvious, in a more cool interesting way the purpose is more obvious.
Sho: The lyrics from your song pink ‘Come to my show?’ That was a punchline for me because I’m a musician myself and it really hit me.
No Rome: Yeah! that hit you hard (laughs)
Sho: Yeah, that was my punchline.
No Rome: I appreciate that.
Sho: I was watching your music videos and saw how you dress up and thought that you like fashion culture too? Do you choose the outfits that you wear for the music videos ?
No Rome: That is definitely show wear for me but I would never want it to be separate and too extreme. Not extreme in a way like ‘Oh that’s not something that I would wear.’ Because I think I’m more into styling. Not like fashion itself but styling. Style is my obsession. It comes into my music like ‘In my EP what am I going to be wearing?’ you know? For me that is my fun, I enjoy that. What kind of outfit would I wear when I’m on shows or interviews or when I’m going out you know? Just like that. It’s just fun, dressing up. Art is self expression right? You put on dark coloured clothes and it sends a ‘Don’t talk to me.’ message you know ? (laughs)
Sho: Self expression is an important part of your music.
No Rome: Definitely.
Sho: I was just guessing because you like Raf Simons and you also put it in your lyrics too. I thought Raf Simons was making a T-shirt for New Order at that time right? You like New Order right?
No Rome: I love New Order. I actually have that piece.
Sho: Really? It was just my guess but I knew you were saying that you liked New Order in your interview and I was like ‘maybe… ‘ (laughs)
No Rome: I like Raf Simons too.
Sho: We change our costumes for every album and every tour. We have a stylist who we really trust. We want to make music that has value and we don’t want it to be any price. We wanted to tell the audience by changing our costumes that we are on stage for them now. So I understand that it’s not just about the music but what you wear is important.
No Rome: As pretentious as it sounds, that’s why I feel like music is a form of artistry. If you’re a musician and you’re devoted to it then you would not ask ‘Oh, what do I want to wear on stage ? What do I want the listeners to think?’But you think about all of this stuff because it’s important. That’s how you become an artist. That’s why I think there is a difference between being an artist and being a musician. Musicians are more solely focused on making music, playing the instrument and being very good at what they do. The artist is a person who thinks about everything and not just about music. Like the whole picture.
Sho: I wanted to ask you how you make your songs. Because we are a band and we make our songs with all of us together but you write songs by yourself.
No Rome: That’s why it takes so much time. I have bad songs. I don’t know if you’ve heard them but I’ve got rock songs.
Sho: The ones on your EP.
No Rome: It’s still consistent and still happens because I think I want to express in this kind of way because I grew up with that kind of music. It takes time. When I’m making a hip hop beat and sometimes I want to do heavy metal but I find a way to work it out I guess.
I write everything by myself. I would usually pick up the guitar, then I would get some good chords. Or I would have a melody in my head or I’m already on the computer doing something and feel like ‘Oh my god, this is the best thing ever.’ So hard to explain but the best way to explain it is that. But there is always some sort of situation that is happening.
Sho: Do you always write it?
No Rome: I always do write it. I think this single that I’m putting out, the one that I worked with Michael who is a songwriter, was the first time I had written with a songwriter. I mainly do it like 70 is on me and 30 is on the other person. Probably the guy switched up like one word or something. But for the last two EPs I wrote them all by myself. I was working on them with Matty and George from the 1975 but it was more like Matty having these ideas sonically and he would throw in a couple of melodies here and there but most of it was just made by myself. I just find it really weird to do it with a songwriter. When it works, it’s super cool but it’s because I just can’t have somebody talk about my life. I would rather be tormented right now and writing something that I really want to write then be like ‘Give me five hit songs.’ But I get it because I have friends who do that and it works for them you know? That’s their way of making music but this is mine.
Sho: I started writing songs when I was 20 but my band started when I was 18 so I wasn’t the songwriter first. I had some ideas but I didn’t know how to write songs so I thought I had to practice to master writing them. So when I was around 20 or 21, I would write one song everyday, and I would keep practicing. I did that for two years or something. It was pretty hard but now I can write songs that I want to so I have freedom to do anything. But I was wondering how you started learning how to write songs.
No Rome: No idea. I find beauty in people who write weirdly just because they are like ‘I have something to say so I’m just going to write it down.’ I find beauty in that. This guys who really wants to say something and he’s trying. That’s why I really like seeing progress. I like to see artists develop their sounds and I think ‘Wow, that guy started off by writing about something so simple and now he’s talking about his whole life. What happened to him?’ In general, I picked up the piano and that was the first thing that I had learned. I just had a crush in grade school who I found really cute and I wrote a song. It’s very simple. It’s so dumb and it’s not even a cool song but that’s my first memory of writing a song. I thought that they were just like poems because I liked to read poems. So like poems with some melody or background music.
Sho: So you started with words?
No Rome: Words first and then I started to play the piano.
Sho: Is that still the same way? The words come first?
No Rome: Yeah, it depends. Like I said, most of the time it would be. I would already have the topic in my head. Jokingly, I like to call it situational pop music because there has to be a situation. ‘I hate this person so much!’ What do I do, I make a song and go on my computer and make a beat or I would pick up the guitar and have this line that I want to sing. That’s how that pink line came about. I had words that I really wanted to fit in there and was like ‘Ok, alright.’
Sho: Because I come up with the melody first and if I come up with the words at the same time, that’s when I’m really lucky. I have to think about the topics later and be like ‘What is this song going to be about?’ I wish that I could come up with the words first and be situation first. I have situations in my head but it’s separated.
No Rome: I get you though. Sometimes I just have melodies and I throw random words in. When I have a demo, sometimes you just hear bits and I don’t know even know what the songs are going to be about but that’s usually when I try to make an enjoyable song. Narcissist came about in that way. I had a story in my head, and I had a melody in my head. Narcist was a word that nobody used in a song before so I just put that in. During that time, I was just obsessed with putting in words that don’t usually go with pop music. ‘I want to use the word narcissist but what do I do with it?’ I made that song and that was the biggest thing I have done.
Sho: So, for that one you had the melody as well as the situation.
No Rome: Yeah so that one was when I was going through it ‘Like oh my god, I’m going to be going through a break up, I can feel it, I can feel it’ (laughs) And it happens. I’m the guy who think about the worst that could happen. So when it works to my benefit, fortunately, I’m already thinking about the worst and having so many ideas in my head. It’s definitely not an attitude that you should look up to but it works for me.
Sho: How is the London music scene? Do you have places that you go to play music or?
No Rome: I go to pubs and stuff. Just because that’s just the best place to sit down and sometimes there’s music playing where there are bands. Or whenever there’s a band that I want to see comes and I want to watch the show. But I like it there because people like to genre bend. There would be a pop pop band but it would always be something different. It’s not on the nose, there’s something that will catch you. Even if it’s on stage whilst playing some kind of music. It would be pop pop but dressed up as hipsters or whatever. Super street fashion when their playing pop pop music you know? Or wearing preppy clothes. From my observation it’s just really cool. Like this one rapper that I’m listening to right now Octavian he’s really trap but he’s not afraid to sing over EDM songs. He’s got this rock star voice and I really love his music and I’m a big fan. That’s for me what I see as the London music scene. Not afraid to explore stuff. Just because there is just so much culture in one spot. You get to meet different people all of the time.
Sho: Sounds interesting. Now, pop music uses a lot of electronic sounds. But we are a rock band with only four members. So when we write songs, we think about how we are going to play the live show as well. We only use the instruments that we play that works for the live show too. But do you think about the live performances that you will be doing when you write your songs?
No Rome: I usually don’t think about the live show but I do think about how I’m going to incorporate it whilst I’m making it. Because when I want to make something so exotic, I’m not afraid about doing it because I embrace modernity. I’m like ‘Yeah, I got a backing track on but take that off and I can still play you live music.’ It’s like confidence but not in an arrogant way. Even if you strip it off, I could still play you a good piece of music. That’s why I just put in my head, just to hype myself up you know what I mean? Because I have a band with me and we’ve been touring the world. So now I kind of think about ‘Ok, how would my drummer do it?’ It’s a 50/50. Most of the time, I don’t want to think about it because I want to write but I guess it’s so different when you’re in a band. it’s totally different because you have to think about the basses as well. I’m just no rome with a live band. So I guess that’s my asset.
Sho: Yeah, for us when we go too far with the melody and throw that to our members, some of the band members are like ‘So what do I do and why did you write this song you know?’ and be like ‘Oh, sorry. but it’s a good song anyway.’ It’s fun but we have to think about all of the members because they are here to play. You can’t just give them nothing.
No Rome: I feel like that too and that it has come both hand in hand. I still kind of think about how it could be done live. I have been a fan of electronic music because I grew up with dance and punk bands especially because I grew up in that scene. ‘They all hate it but I need to do it!’ and making music. That’s what rock n roll is. Just do it and rock it. Easy for me to say.
Sho: After Manila, what is your plan?
No Rome: I’m finishing up this mixtape. It’s a collaborative thing and after I go on tour again in November for the UK tour. Basically a tour with all of the artists so that’s going to be fun. Hopefully finishing up this mixtape soon though because I’ve been working on it for a while now. It’s more about the situation because the people I’m collaborating with are on tour as well so I get off tour and they go on tour and we’re like ‘Oh we’re never going to finish this song!’ But being patient is good.
Sho: I understand that. I was just making a soundtrack for a movie and we collaborated with artists. We missed the deadline but when you have to collaborate with someone, it’s not only your schedule so it’s like ‘When does this end?’ you know?
No Rome: Definitely.
Sho: We are looking forward to your next mixtape. Hope it comes out soon (laughs)
No Rome: Thank you.
photography Yosuke Torii
text&edit Ryoko Kuwahara
No Rome
『Crying In The Prettiest Places』
Now On Sale
（Dirty Hit / Hostess）
http://hostess.co.jp/artists/norome/
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