ROME Wasn't Built In A Day With JEROME REUTER

Interview by Kris Peters
For 20 years, Jerome Reuter a.k.a. ROME has been a force to reckon
with in the musical underground. Through relentless touring and a
steady stream of high-quality concept albums, ROME has built a
remarkably loyal following from Berlin to LA, from Sydney to
Saigon, from Lisbon to Kyiv.
The Luxembourg-born singer-songwriter has created an authoritative
body of work, encompassing more than 20 full-length albums and
numerous other official releases. ROME's compelling brand of Dark
Folk merges various musical influences, from Post-Punk to Chanson.
Lyrically inspired by world literature from Burroughs to Brecht,
Celine to Cioran, from Hesse to Jünger; ROME’s detailed,
well-researched, yet particularly accessible concept albums combine
his interest in history, philosophy and the arts in a most
compelling way. Through his unique vision, he has managed to
establish his very own musical niche informed by various European
folk and Chanson traditions coupled with post punk and industrial
influences.
Now, for the very first time, Reuter is heading to Australia for a
select run of shows starting from August 22, and to celebrate the
occasion, HEAVY was fortunate enough to score some time to discuss
his plans. We start by asking Reuter why he has neglected us for
the last two decades (with a smile, of course).
"Good question," he laughed. "There were a few attempts before, but
there was COVID and this and that, but finally we got this back on
track for this year and also because it's our 20th anniversar,y we
are doing a big tour, so I guess we waited a little bit to make it
happen this year."
Being his first time out here, Australian fans have little idea of
what to actually expect when Reuter takes the stage, so we try to
fill in the blanks.
"This Australian tour is going to be a stripped-back, solo show,"
he began. "So it's just going to be me on guitar. It's not the
whole band, it's not the big kaboom of thundering drums that I am
known for. It's more of an honest, direct, intimate approach with
me just on guitar, revisiting some of the material I have written
in the last several years and taking it back to the roots."
In the full interview, Jerome talks more about the tour and what to
expect, the challenges of visiting a country for the first time,
constructing set lists, how he develops his conceptual ideas and
how much research goes into them, the plethora of goodness being
released to celebrate Rome's 20th anniversary and more.


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