Back in (OH GOD! HAS IT BEEN THAT LONG) 1994, a titan of a band by the name of SYMPHONY X rocked the progressive rock world in a way that has impacted the metal landscape and forged an imprint and defined progressive rock. This was what the world had been yearning, demanding, requiring, and Symphony X was the answer to fans of prog rock across the globe. Today they are on the verge of releasing their 9th album Underworld, (11th, if you consider the compilation and live albums), and it is aimed to please every musical connoisseur, fan and foe alike, with the tantalizing extremes, and everything in between. Their journey and scope is broad, but their passion for musical greatness is undying, and that is ever so apparent after spending an engaging evening picking the brain of guitarist, Mike Romeo.
You have been doing this for little over 20 years. That’s quite an accomplishment today! You are called veterans now!
Don’t remind me! It has been a long time…a long time.
It has been long time! So what is it about Symphony X that keeps the fans coming back?
Obviously, it’s the new music, and even thought it has been so long, every record we have, we really try to keep the fans happy. We pay attention to what they are saying and try to make them happy – but you are also trying to make yourself happy. I mean, we are writing the music really for us, but of course we are thinking about them. We put a lot of time into these records, and a lot of care. I think the people who listen, I think they get it. They hear that, and this record is no different. There was a lot of time, a lot of work, and lot of taking the fans into account. There are a lot of fans who like the heavier stuff (like on the last record, Iconoclast) and there are fans that like may be the more progressive and melodic kind of thing we do. This one I think is a blend. We are really happy about it, and at the same time, we were being conscious of what the fans were looking for and tried to incorporate all those things. Actually, this is a good balance of everything we have done and at the same time I think it’s fresh and new. It’s not repeating ourselves and it is just taking some of the things we’ve done and presented them in a new light.
What keep you all coming back for more? I mean what keep you all from getting burned out?
Oh God, I don’t know! (laughs) We do get burned out, you know? It’s a lot of work it really is, but we enjoy it. It’s just life man! It’s just music and something we all love. We’ve been together so long and it has been pretty much the same guys. We all enjoy what we do. I mean, what else would there be? (laughs) You know? I mean, yeah, every record gets a little bit harder. We try our best not to repeat ourselves and we dug a little deeper, but you love doing it! I can’t figure any other job I would rather do than this.
And there you go! Are you living the dream?
I don’t know if I am living the dream! The dream would be the billion dollar bank account and that kind of thing. Living large? No. Getting by? Yeah. The music business is really getting tough nowadays. Everybody I talk to, all the guys in different bands, are really just having a tough time. A lot of things are changing in the industry.
Well, there is a lot of saturation.
Absolutely! And it’s so difficult and I know some guys who run a band and they are trying to get it going and I just don’t even know what to tell them! Asking me for advice, it’s like, “I don’t know man! It’s so saturated!” I mean, there are so many bands, so many guys trying to do stuff, and even us that are doing it, it’s tough! It’s a tough road, definitely a tough road.
You gotta love it though!
Yeah I do, I mean if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. You have to. It’s in your blood! We do what we do and we hope we get by!
Once you figure out that billion dollar bank account, you let me know!
Yeah, well that’s not gonna happen any time soon! You never know though! Every record does a little better. Things over time get better; do a little better. In the beginning, yeah, it was really difficult, but you just do the best you can. Especially in metal, in this kind of world, and with the stuff we are doing, it is not like the biggest genre either. That in itself makes it a little more difficult, but it’s what we like to do man! There is no other way.
So, do you feel that since your music rides that fine line between melodic and heavy, does it draw in a broader audience for you?
Yeah, I think it might. I think there are some things on this record that might appeal to maybe some different kinds of fans. With the fans that we have, it was obviously written with them in mind. Just like we were talking, there is some real heavy stuff in there that the fans of that kind of thing, that’s for them. Then there is some melodic stuff, but I think it’s put together well, so it doesn’t sounds like there is anything out of place or doesn’t belong. I think while we were working on this record, that was the big point: just trying to make it an album beginning to end, and have it make sense and have it be listenable. You were saying about things are so saturated. It’s hard to get people’s attention. We stayed true on this record. Yeah! Take the time to listen to the whole thing. It was meant to be listened to as a whole.
On previous albums like Paradise Lost and Iconoclast there were overarching themes. Is there an overarching theme for Underworld?
Yes. It was kind of the same approach as with those records (and a couple of our other records too). We usually take a little time before we write anything to talk about themes and what we are going to do musically, and get a bit of a framework going – some kind of outline. With this one, early on, we had been looking into Dante’s Inferno and Orpheus in the Underworld. It became a little combination of those two, which in themselves are very similar. What was cool about it was that we have some of the heavier songs lend themselves well to Dante’s Inferno. You can get those very hellish images and the songs may be a little darker and you can incorporate some of the choir and darker strings and that is great for those kinds of really heavy songs. And with the Orpheus (a similar story: the guy loses his wife and is going to go to hell and back to get her), and that line “going to hell and back for someone”, that kind of stuck too because the more melodic songs have an emotional context. Right out of the gate that clicked. This was good because we were talking about doing some of the heavier stuff and also getting back to some of the melodic stuff. Lyrically and thematically that was perfect because it covered the whole range of the really dark heavy stuff and the most soaring and more melodic kind of thing.
You all started it in September of last year and you got lot of it done throughout December. Is that does time frame usual for you or did this one take longer (or shorter) than previous albums?
I think we actually started the writing more like around February 2014 or right after the beginning of the year. That’s when we really put an idea together and really started working on it after that. We would talk about these things and the guys would let me go off for a couple of months to get the basic song ideas, come up with the riffs, and that kind of thing. We went into the studio in September, once the stuff was written and worked out. I think we mixed it probably around March. Yeah, it’s not really a lot of time you know, taking time to setup and tie up all those things and then release in July. Considering the stuff that we do, and given the time, that’s not whole lot of time! Basically it was a year, from the begging to the end.
You all released a couple of singles that I feel represent the record well. They are a little bit heavy but at the same time have very melodic parts. Tell me more about the theme and the lyrics for those two songs.
Yeah, I mean the lyrics touch on those things. There is a song “Kiss of Fire” and it’s in the depths of hell and there is a lot of vivid imagery and darker kind of stuff. In that light, the song “Without You” is more of a ballady kind of song, and it’s about a guy who suffered a loss. We kept those lyrics personal and not as if we were talking about someone in a book. You are kind of putting yourself, or anybody who can relate, in that situation. So, with the lyrics that is the main thing, for at least for those songs. They are songs are more melodic and emotional, and are a bit more personal, like I am talking to you. The darker and heavier stuff has a lot more imagery, cinematic “trying-to-create-a-picture” kind of a thing. It just works for those kinds of songs.
And you released a lyric video for “Without You.” It’s visually stunning. Did you have a creative hand in that?
Not really. I know that they need to put out some songs to get promotion going and to get some interest in the record. I get it. To be honest, I would rather just put out the whole thing or nothing. I think the songs that are there kind of represent the record, but not totally. This record does have a lot of different variety to and trying to find one or two songs, it’s tough man! Like the song “Kiss of Fire” which is really heavy bordering on crushing at times…
SYMPHONY X – Without You (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)
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You’ve mentioned “Kiss of Fire” a couple of times now. Is this your favorite?
They are all my favorites. That’s on the other side of the spectrum as opposed to “Without You”. “Without You” is very ballady, acoustic guitar/piano, good vocal melody, and a very emotional kind of a song. The other one is just more balls-out kind of a thing. Those are the two extremes of the record. They kind of represent the record, but it’s so hard. If it were up to me, it was written to be a record, a whole, so it’s like trying to pull pieces out of a puzzle.
It’s like trying to pick out your favorite child.
That is totally true. I think the songs are ok. The first one they put out, “Nevermore” was pretty typical of us. It is very melodic on the chorus. “Without You” is even more so. It’s hard because you don’t want to mislead people either. If I had to pick, those probably would have been the ones.
SYMPHONY X – Nevermore (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)
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I read that you are gonna be teaming up with Overkill? And that will be the first time that you all will be playing this all together in your own backyard.
Yeah! We’ve known these guys for years; good friends with them. They are in town guys, local guys, Jersey guys, for the most part . We always run into each other at festivals and we actually rehearsed for years and years (and it just closed down recently) at D.D.’s rehearsal studio (Overkill’s bassist). That’s where we started running into these guys. That’s going back to 1998 or something!
Don’t remind me!
Yeah, and don’t remind me either! Yeah, I mean we’ve been around for a long time. Over the years we’ve hung out with them at festivals and took a couple of trips to Canada – we would share a bus. We always talked about doing something together. The timing was right. They are a little more thrashy than us, and we are a little more prog and melodic, but it’s still close, and I think it’s a good diversity. It gives something to all the fans. I think it’s a good mix.
What’s up next besides the show? Do you have any tours?
Yeah, the next thing would be European tour and it will probably be February, March or late January – after the holidays. The record is not even out yet, so we will just kind of, little by little, look at what we are going to do. But that’s the time frame we are thinking. Obviously after that, South America and wherever else we can go. We will definitely try to come back here and have our own tour. We were just saying how tough it is. We just have to keep working and keep busy.
You also have several side projects in addition to Symphony X. That sounds like a lot of work. How do you keep up?
I don’t have too many things. I like to help our friends out, that kind of stuff. The guys in the band have played on some different things and a couple of different projects. That never interferes with the band. While I was spending a couple of months writing, the bass player (Mike Lepond) worked on his solo record. Pinnella (the keyboard player) was working on one as well. Russell plays on some different things. We just keep busy. Like we were saying, it’s definitely tough, so the more stuff you can kind of do, just keeps you working. It never really interferes with what we do. We all all come together regardless of what other things are going on. Once we are down here and hanging out in the studio, we are all on the same page, putting new songs together. I think everybody was excited and it shows in their performance too. There was definitely lot of energy and there are moments when you are listening back and you get goosebumps. It’s like, “Oh man! That’s really awesome!” There was some of that going on. We all picked up on it. Once we are here, we are doing our thing. Yeah. This is the priority.
Sounds like you are living the dream!
No, no, no! Creating music is great. The business side of things is getting difficult.
When you are not doing Symphony X, what do you find yourself doing during the down time?
(laughs) Oh there is really not a lot of down time, especially for me. It’s because I do all the recording here in my studio, so I am here the whole time and recording the record and working with the guys. For me, it’s a lot of time. But now that the record is wrapped up, we have a little bit of time before we start rehearsing, which should be next month, I am a big fan of film music: the big epic movies and the big sound tracks.
Which sound track on your iPod?
Oh God! I have a lot of stuff, like the Star Wars stuff, and Indiana Jones, and Lord of the Rings, the 300. There are many great films music stuff I like. I have been getting into that. I reached out to some guys that are involved in the film, TV and video game world. Some of that is in band. There is that symphonic element and you know in a couple of different songs, and I think in all kind of stems from that. So yeah, I’ve been trying to get into that and just keep busy.
