Roman is a band made up of three brothers from Oregon. We got to know them and their hypnotic brand of folk-pop earlier this year when they released their album Two Wolves.
The whole world of being a musician is different now with no regular concerts going on and regulations and situations changing constantly.
I spoke with the band about the new state of the industry, songwriting, intended imagery and working with your siblings:
NT: How did Roman come to be?
R: “I remember writing my first song, which was a breakup ballad, after teaching myself how to play piano. I played it for my brothers when they were home from college and I remember them being surprised, saying something like: “Wow. That’s a really catchy melody. Also, wait, you can play piano now?!”. It was a really fun moment.
As I continued songwriting, the three of us brothers started playing a mixture of originals and covers at small venues in Oregon. Eventually, we began recording original songs and exploring production, structures, harmonies, and instrumentation together. Then one day, my oldest brother Mark and I were on the phone — he’s a screenwriter — and he was talking about a character in his story named Roman and it just clicked as a band name. I had always loved the sound of bands with one name like – Beck, Cake, Nirvana – and so Roman came to be.”
NT: Is it difficult to create with your siblings?
Mark- “Nope”
Jon- “Yep”
Justin- “Sometimes”
R: “Some version of that. No, it’s actually incredible. They happen to be two of my favorite people, and we have that familial shorthand for bouncing ideas around or thinking about abstract directions for the music. Also, there’s no shortage of inside jokes. I’d say half of the time we are laughing.”
NT: Your music sounds like it belongs in a soundtrack. Do you create music with visuals in mind?
R: “We definitely think visually about music and how moods are created in a soundscape. For the Two Wolves album, I can almost picture being in a remote cabin at dusk, just completely enveloped by nature. Maybe there’s a rocking chair and a nice glass of whiskey or wine. Oh, and for a song like “Do You Ever Wonder?”, it’s probably raining. There’s no shortage of rain in the Oregon winters for inspiration. But yeah, I do think it helps inform some of the musical choices to try to capture imagery and a feeling in the chords.”
NT: What are a few of your favorite movies?
R: “I actually majored in Film and worked for about 5 years in the film industry. Justin and Mark also currently work in film, so cinema has been a major influence on all three of us. I would say our favorite films have an artistic depth — ones you can revisit and affect you differently in various seasons of your life. A few film school classics that come to mind are Powell and Pressburger’s Black Narcissus, Kurosawa’s Ikiru, Bergman’s Winter Light, Davies’ 3:10 to Yuma, Ford’s The Searchers. Also pretty much everything by Hitchcock, Kubrick, Dreyer. A few more modern favorites include Adaptation, Big Fish and Good Will Hunting.”
NT: I hear a lot of similarities in your music to Elliott Smith. What other artists influence Roman?
R: “Yeah we all love Elliott’s music. He’s just one of the greatest and purest songwriters we’ve ever heard. I’d say the Beatles’ White Album, Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Beck’s Sea Change, Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago are musically and melodically tremendous works of art. We also love listening to great film composers like John Williams, Danny Elfman (“Ice Dance” gets us every time) Bernard Herrmann, Jon Brion, Ennio Morriconne and so many more.”
NT: Since we can’t play shows in 2020, what other creative ways are you using to connect with fans?
R: “We’ve been doing Instagram contests, live performances in the living room, acoustic covers and T-shirt giveaways. It definitely makes you think outside the box.
We’re also currently working on a few new songs in our home studio, which we are really excited about. One is a tribute to Mark’s Yorkshire Terrier, Mr. Higgins, who just said goodbye after 17 amazing years. The song kinda has a throwback Turtles vibe, like “Happy Together” or “Elenore” with an upbeat playfulness, but also with the warmth of an elegy on the chorus. It might make you dance, but then also maybe cry?? I think it can do both.”
NT: Where was the photo on your album cover taken?
R: “It’s Oregon landscape, the northwest habitat of the gray wolf, which is an endangered species here. The photo has a haunting beauty to it, but also there’s a layer of significance related to the album concept, that the image would prompt the question ‘where are the two wolves?’. The answer is that they aren’t in the landscape but rather within the viewer – the dark and light wolf within us all – which references an old Native American story of good and evil. We also structured the song order on the album to reflect the concept by grouping the first five tracks united by more hopeful melodies and themes as representative of the light wolf and the last five tracks which explore darker territory in terms of lyrics, melody and tone, as representative of the dark wolf.”
NT: In your creative process what comes first, lyrics or instrumentation?
R: “I have hundreds of notes with lyrics and phrases that I’ve saved, but I always start with instrumentals first. With every chord there’s a mystery of where to go next, and I lose myself in that experience. After working on a song, I’ll record it on my phone and come back to it later in the day. It’s amazing how certain places one can go when writing can sound so good at the moment and other times not right at all. That’s why I’d describe it almost as another world I find myself in. And when I listen back and the music translates well to this one, it’s saved and brought to the brother factory. That’s where notes are given on structure, harmonies are found, complimentary piano or guitar riffs are explored. And then production plays another part as we lay it down and see what works.”
NT: Are there any other genres you would like to explore as Roman or as a side project?
R: “Justin has been doing some film scoring down in LA, but I think it would be really interesting to score something as a band. We love what Jonny Greenwood has done in recent years, from There Will Be Blood to Phantom Thread. Each score is so unique and crafted to the picture. I think it would be an amazing opportunity to collaborate with a director and score a feature film.”
FOLLOW ROMAN
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
SPOTIFY
APPLE MUSIC
BANDCAMP
YOUTUBE