Jerome Reuter är den enda fasta medlemmen i ROME, ett band som spelar experimentell neofolk. Han är kompis med Thåström och besökte Sverige senast i augusti. På torsdag är han tillbaka och spelar på Musikens Hus så vi passade på att fråga ut honom om musiken, Thåström och guilty pleasures.
Hi, how are you?
– Swell.
And who are you?
– I’m Jerome from the musical project called ROME.
For those who don’t know, what is ROME?
– It’s this folky darkwave/post-industrial/
How would you describe your music if you use only metaphors?
– Gandhi drowning dogs in slow motion at Studio 54.
You sing a lot about war, why?
– It’s just a backdrop to my love songs. Grave stuff like that avoids the cheesiness to a degree, I guess. Just like flowers put the glamour in grave matters such as funerals.
”He’s what I would consider a brother-in-arms”
You are friends with Joakim Thåström, have a duett with him and have made a cover of his song Fanfanfan where you sing the refrain in Swedish (good job!). What is it in Thåströms music that you like so much?
– It’s weird, but it feels to me like we have the exact same strange source of inspiration, the same kind of musical blend at our core. I don’t really know how to describe it. You know, usually musicians can’t share the same vision of things, as everyone is sort of engulfed in their own world, especially when coming from different generations, and obviously our work is not the same, but there’s certain similarities. And he’s what I would consider a brother-in-arms. Our record collections look very similar too, haha.
You have released eleven albums in eleven years. How do you make time for that?
– I don’t socialise.
Do you have any guilty pleasure music that you like listening to but not really wanna admit that you like?
– Not really. I know no shame. I like good music, so sometimes there’s these über-pop kinda songs that are cheesy as hell, but are just really nicely executed. I don’t have a proper example right now…
What can the audience expect of your next gig in Gothenburg?
– We’ll have the full-band along, so it will be a much louder, more post-punk version of our set than last time.
What is your plans for the future?
– Socialising just a little bit.
