Interview with Broken Romeo - @BrokenRomeo

Broken Romeo is the Indie Music Bus™ January/2013 Band of the Month chosen by a panel with 10 judges. We have been working with these guy's almost since the beginning of the our service.

Broken Romeo is an Alternative Rock band from Tucson, Arizona. The music they produce is diverse and draws on influences including everything from classic rock to contemporary bands. Broken Romeo was the 2011 Tammie winner in the Rock category and they have shared the stage with many National acts. In Oct 2011 Broken Romeo released an all new full length album called “Desperation Daze”. The album was recorded May thru June 2011 at Og7 studio in Tucson, Az., and was engineered and co-produced by Nando Rivas. The album is available at CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, and many other online distributors. The album is also available at all Zia Record Exchange locations in Arizona and Nevada.

And now on to our interview with Broken Romeo conducted by Kiva of @IndieViews

It’s been a year and a half since you record Desperation Daze. I know you are currently working on some new material. Are you back in the studio and, if so, how does it feel to get back in there again, working on the "birthing" process of a new album?

We are working on new material. We spent a lot of time playing live shows in 2012 to support the Desperation Daze album. It's always a bit of a transition going from the "Studio" mentality back to being a "Live" band mentality and Vice Versa. We did a bunch of guitar overdubs on Desperation Daze which took us a bit of time to incorporate into the live set. In the Fall of 2012 we decided to start working on new material again. The song writing process is a bit all over the place with us. Some songs are developed from band writing/jam sessions. Several of the new songs have been developing from that process. Some of the songs were written by our guitar player for his solo project that we were excited about and thought would make good contributions to the new record. Some of the new song idea's were demo's which I had/have been working on. They are all still in the development process. We are working through them now as a band. Things will develop and change as the process wears on. Each band member will add their own unique essence to the song ideas so in the end it will be a band collaboration regardless of where the idea originated from.

What can your fans expect from the new project and when can they expect to hear it?

We plan on tracking the new album in May 2013 at OG7 studio, where we recorded Desperation Daze. May 2013 will make it 2 years to the month that we started tracking the last album. Some of the album will be recorded at OG7 and some will be recorded at our own studio. We think people will really dig the new stuff! I think the new material really builds off of what we did on Desperation Daze. Steve and I spent a few weeks in Germany and in Berlin in December 2012. We had such a great time. We also got to visit Hansa studio where so many great albums were made (Bowie, U2, etc.). It really inspired us. I am quite sure the influences will find a way into the new music in some fashion be it sonically or lyrically. I would say we are doing some interesting things rhythmically and musically that we didn't do on Desperation Daze. We hope to have the finished product by Fall of 2013!

You have been nominated for "Best Alternative Band" by the 2012 Artists in Music Awards, which is coming up in February. You just won the 2012 Tammie (Tucson Area Music Awards) for Best Rock Band which followed your 2011 win in the same category and now, you have been named Indie Music Bus Artist of the Month for January. There is obviously something about your music that wins the critics and fans over. That is oftentimes, very hard to do. Films, books, bands, art are very often a favorite of either fans or critics, but rarely both.

You seem to have crushed that stereotype. Why do you think it is? What is your special ingredient?

We have had plenty of detractors over the years as well so it’s nice to get some positive feedback. I think from a critical stand point we always try to produce quality work. We don’t release many demo’s or material which we think isn’t up to snuff. We also put a big emphasis on the quality of the song. We have always done our own thing. We don’t chase music trends or try to write songs to sound like this band or that band. We have always been a hard band to pigeon hole. We have always tried to be true to what we are and what we do best. We know our limitations but we still like to challenge ourselves as songwriters, musicians and performers. We always like to prepare ourselves and be professional be it in the studio, at a gig or even in practice. I think that represents itself in the music that we produce.

As to the fans..we have really developed a solid and loyal fan base. It seems to be growing bigger every day. We have really used Social Media quite a bit to make new fans. I think we have filled a void for fans who love Alternative Rock music. It seems to be a dying thing these days but it is all we know and love! We also make a point to be very accessible to our fans. We so appreciate them and try to interact with them as much as possible. We have some real “Super” fans out there..Fans like Nora, Marie, BR Diva, Carla, Carlos, Diamond Sam, Metal Goddess Jen, Tobi, Jeanette, Irish Jenny, Dede, Crystal, Liz and many, many more. These fans have spent lots of time supporting us, buying our music and merchandise, spreading the word about us and our music on Social media.  Walter from Indie Music Bus has been terrific too! We couldn't do it without them! We also have some extremely loyal DJ’s that have supported us and played us religiously. It has been such a great experience seeing all the BR love from DJ’s, critics and fans alike! We hope to keep the ball rolling and the movement growing with this new record!

Listening to your music takes me back to a very happy time in life! Back to when I was a teenager and AC/DC and Bon Jovi played music that was the soundtrack of my life at that time. I was driving the other day and Back in Black came on. I immediately was taken back to a certain time and place in my life by that song. Do you hope, when you write your music, that it will be on someone's life soundtrack in 20 years? If so, what song do you think will stand out and stand the test of time and why?

I think everyone relates to music like that. Certainly we hope that our music connects with people on an emotional level. It’s all about getting the music out there. Getting your music heard is the challenge. I am not sure what song of ours would stand out over another. Probably depends on who you ask! I will say that the song Hallelujah from Desperation Daze has seemed to connect with a lot of people.

How did Broken Romeo come to be? I am always interested to hear how bands begin, whether it be siblings playing together or neighbors who started a garage band. Mostly I want to know how you knew when you got the right fit?

Steve, our lead guitar player, and I are brothers. We worked together at The Wherehouse Records with Ari, our bass player, when we all went to college. Ari and I wanted to start a band. We needed a guitar player so after a lot of pestering Steve agreed. We have had a few drummers over the years. Matt is the newest member of the band..he joined us in early 2010. We all have different musical backgrounds and taste but it seems to work!

Enjoy music by Broken Romeo

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If someone took away the instrument you played now and said you had to switch places with someone else in the band, who would you switch with and why?

Me personally? I have always been a closet drummer!! Don’t tell Matt!

Being in Tucson I am sure you get more opportunities to play outdoor or open air venues to a lot of artists. What type of venue do you prefer to play in? Living rooms, bars, outdoors or arenas?

We have played a few outdoor gigs but I always preferred to play indoors. I always think the sound is better indoors. I prefer to play a decent sized stage. The sound is the most important thing. It’s rare to get a true sound check these days. You usually get a quick line check which is not sufficient. But you learn to adapt..the show must go on right! We always like playing venues with a good vibe and energy as well.

This email based interview was conducted by Kiva of IndieViews. Kiva is also the Executive Producer and Host of the Butterflies Radio @IndieViews Artist Spotlight, which airs Monday night's at 8pm EDT at http://butterfliesradio.com

Broken Romeo Links
http://brokenromeo.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/brokenromeo
https://twitter.com/brokenromeo
https://www.facebook.com/BrokenRomeoAZ