Michael Romeo (Symphony X)
May 2007
You almost took a five year break with Symphony X. I guess it wasn't intentional...
No, not at all, man. We just did a lot of touring with "The Odyssey". We actually started to work on the new songs at the end of 2004. And then we had the Gigantour here. We got offered to do that and we kinda put the writing in the back-burner. And there's a lot of things just started happening with touring. We really didn't get working on the music 100%. After the Gigantour in 2005 is really when we started. It was a long time, man!
Some of the members were active on the side. Pi (Michael Pinella) and Russ did a solo album.
Yeah, they had some stuff they wanted to do and it was just kind of a fun thing for them. They wanted to get some stuff. I know Pinella had some stuff that we haven't used for the band. And with Russ' album, he grew up with the early rock and blues stuff so he feels pretty close to that stuff. For him it was something to do that he really enjoys.
Do you like their album?
Yeah, they are both great. This is what they grew up with. Pinella grew up with a lot of classical stuff and some of the 70s progressive bands and his solo album really reflects that. And the same thing with Russ. His influences were a lot of the rock guys like Zeppelin and some of the early 70s rock stuff and blues stuff, so this is kinda where he comes from. So, for both of them it was a cool thing to do and kinda get back to their roots a little and just having fun.
What do you think about the Allen/Lande project that has two albums now?
Well, I've only heard one of them a little bit, so I don't really know too much about it. Russ played some of the stuff for me. I cannot remember much of it but they are two great singers. I've been so busy with this record there's so much music I haven't heard lately.
And you didn't fancy the idea of releasing a solo album during this period?
Yeah man, I thought about it but I think the real thing that was on my mind was putting all my efforts into this record. We have thought about it early on of what kind of direction we wanted to take and what we really needed to do and one of the things we kind of decided was that the album needed to be very guitar riff driven. And a lot of the work was my responsibility and that took a lot of my time and I really put a lot into this thing. So, the idea of a solo album wasn't really in my mind once we started working on the album.
What kind of music you would be interested in doing for a solo record?
If I did a solo album it'd be a little bit of everything. It'd be some metal stuff, maybe a little more guitar oriented kind of thing with some of the orchestra kind of stuff in the background here and there. It'd probably really very similar to the band, so it might be kind of weird to do. But I always would love to do one but this is so much time spend with the band stuff. One of the big things with the time is that we work at the studio in my house, so even though I'm not recording the guitars a particular day I'm here and recording or working with Russ on vocals. So for me it's work everyday all the time. My time is really busy when working on a new album.
You mentioned about the Gigantour that you did in 2005. How successful was that for the band?
I think it was really successful. A lot of people who have never seen us before got a chance to see us. A lot of people didn't know who we were because here in the States we're still considered as a new band. It's different here. People didn't really know who we were and after the Gigantour the it went over extremely well. We could see our sales doubled and tripled. Obviously it helped us a lot, which was even more pressure for the new album because we really knew we have to do something that would be the best we could do. But yeah, the Gigantour overall was a great thing for us to do.
What were your best and worst memories of that tour?
The best memory... let me see. Man, it's hard as every show was really good. Maybe not the best single memory but overall it's like we're playing with bands like Megadeth and Dream Theater. Great guys and great musicians. it was great hanging out with them. All the bands got along great. Everybody hung out. The whole tour was a great memory. There was just a great vibe, there was a great atmosphere, great players. Probably the worst thing was... (laughs) there were a couple of shows when the power went off and our set was interrupted. It happened two nights in a row at the same place, so it was some kind of a power issue. Shit happens, man.
Or a sabotage... (laughs)
(Laughs) Nah. It was all cool, man.
I'm sure you would do it again if asked.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
And how about Ozzfest?
We'll do whatever, man, whatever it takes. But I think for us Ozzfest would be great too. Ozzfest and Gigantour are probably the biggest ones over here in the States. like I said, man, whatever comes our way.
Back to the chronology of the last few years... Mike LePond had some serious health issues lately. How is he now?
He had this Crohns Disease for a long time. It's some kind of intestinal thing, but I don't know all about it. It was always an issue man, it would always creep up every once in a while. He finally decided to go and get this surgery. It was right around the time when we were supposed to do some festivals that summer. He looked really sick, he looked bad and he decided to get this surgery done. And he did it and I think the Crohns Disease I don't think is 100% curable. But all the symptoms with this surgery he got, it's really under control and it's easy to maintain. He'll never get as bad as he was. So, yeah, he really did the right thing. He really needed to do it and he did it. He looks really healthy now and he's ready to rock.
Was it ever a concern that he might have to quit playing?
I don't think it ever came to that. We were all worried about it because it kinda sucks when we were suppose to do something and then that happens. i mean there's always some kind of an emergency. Some shit you just can't help. But this was an ongoing thing and it was actually getting worse. he did the surgery and he did the right thing. Everything should be fine now.
You mentioned that you put the first touches to the songs in 2004. Was it a long process when you got to the point and started actually writing?
It was on and off. I can't exactly remember when we started. it might have been March 2005. I remember some work being done then. We worked a little bit then we went on doing the Gigantour and then we continued writing. There was a lot of little riffs and little things along the way, but we really really started in September/October 2005. We just said that we can't do anything else as we really needed to get this record done. It's been so long.
What's the best way to work on songs? Do you prefer when you have plenty of time for the project or you like having a deadline?
I mean pressure helps sometimes, believe it or not. But realistically for us to do what we need to do... I guess with any records that we do I think we need a good eight months to really write and really concentrate and really put it together. Some albums were quicker and some were longer. And with this album too, man, there's so much expectations and really wanted to make sure that every song was good and recording process was the best that we could do. There was pressure, which as I said can help. But we definitely need time to do it right. The only problem with this record was that a lot of the time was broken up, so we didn't have that constant focus. I mean after the Gigantour when we started really putting songs together I think I had like four hours of riffs and parts and just a big gigantic nightmare of unfinished things. That's what happens I guess when we kinda lose track of our schedule.
Which album you wrote the fastest?
Probably our second album was our fastest I think. That's only because the first album was kind of like a demo and it really didn't sound very good and the band was kinda new to itself. So with the second album we just wanted to try it doing better and kinda fine tuned what we've done, so that thing happened in 8 months from the time of the first record. And then the longest obviously was this one. But like I said it's not that it took that long to write, it just took us a long time to get to that point. There was just more touring for "The Odyssey" then it was for anything we've ever done.
I think it's a good thing because it helps the band to promote themselves.
I totally agree. That's why we decided to do the Gigantour and we did a tour in the States with Queensryche too before the Gigantour. So there were a lot of opportunities that we really wanted to take that would kinda help the band out and, like you said, promote the band a little bit. But by doing that the album just got pushed back more and more and the pressure was even more because it was longer and it just kinda turned into this big mess. But at the end of the day it's all cool. We did the touring and we delivered an album that I'm very confident with.
Speaking of the album, one of the first things to hear is that it has a orchestral approach than "V" and "The Odyssey" had...
Yeah. I mean the beginning piece is totally the orchestra, but for the rest we wanted the songs to be very guitar driver. Going back to the metal roots like the stuff I grew up with: Sabbath; they always had great riffs. That was pretty much the focal point, having some great riffs and then using the orchestra here and there and incorporating it into the songs instead of segues or other orchestral pieces. The orchestra is in there but it's more blended in with the band I think. There's more of a marriage between the two. I think it's in there just enough. The perfect example would be track four "Serpent's Kiss" where there's a heavy riff, a guitar driven riff but in the middle it does have a little bit of the orchestra breaking down and then the band comes back. We wanted to keep some of those elements, but like I said, we really wanted it to be pretty aggressive and pretty riff driven.
The first real song on the album "Set the World on Fire" is very melodic metal, even I'd say with German metal elements. How come?
I don't know, man, it just happened. (Laughs) That song definitely has elements of what we normally would do, but yeah man, I would agree, definitely there's melodic thing in the choruses and maybe the verses are a little more aggressive than what we might normally do too. That kind of approach was for the album. Keeping the aggression and keeping the riffs going but still not losing the melody. And yeah, you could relate it to some of the German metal stuff, the power metal. We just do our thing and obviously we're influenced by so many bands like that, so there's a little piece of everything.
I think that song is a great starter for the album.
Yeah, man, I think it kinda sets off the album very well. It sounds like something typical to us, but like you said it does have the melody and it does have some of the riffs. It's kinda typical for us, but it's definitely... how can I say... maybe more modern or more metal. It's hard to really say and judging your own stuff.
I know it's tough but what would be your favourite moment on the new album?
Yeah, that's tough. (Laughs) I don't know, man. I really don't.
I got you!
Yeah, you did. It's so hard to say, man. Probably my favourite is the third song, the "Domination" song. It's up there. It's definitely one of my favourites. Just because to me that song is a little bit of every single thing that we do. Those fast riffs are similar to something that was on the "Divine" album, but then there's the verse in the main riff, which is a little more metal. Thick riffs. And then the bridge and some of the middle part is a little bit of the progressive elements. I think that song has a lot of all the things we do. I can say the same for the "Paradise Lost" track, which is like the mellow song on the record. But me looking at that it's like kinda typical of what we do but I think we really try to make it even more melodic and even more lush and very full. Some of Russ' vocals on a lot of these more mellow songs are really emotional. He did an awesome job with all the singing. So, those are probably my two favourites but, shit man, I love them all.
What do you think could be the fans' favourite?
(Laughs) That's tough too. Oh boy! I think the fans' favourite might be the first song "Set the World on Fire". I think that one will be the most identifiable to them because it is kind of us. And maybe the title track could be a favourite which is kind of a typical, maybe "Accolade" sounding thing, so I think the fans will relate to those. But I think everything will grow on them. There's a lot to digest first. There's a lot of different stuff on the record. We really tried to make it special and give each song something like "What the hell is that", that kind of thing.
Have you already made up your mind about what songs from the album to play live on the coming tour?
Well, we have a couple of now that we're kind of trying to integrate into the set. I think as time goes on and once the album is released we'll probably have a pretty good amount of songs from the new record. But it's like you said "What would be the fans' favourite?". It's kinda hard to get that right now, to know which songs are gonna be the ones. And even for us because we never played them live. Every song always gets a different reaction and sometimes it might not be the reaction that you're expecting. So, we'll do those experiments and play a couple of songs here and there and see which ones are cool and which ones maybe not cool. I think they're all cool, so... (Laughs)
Is there any song from the old ones that you enjoy the most playing live?
Yeah. There's a song that we always play and it always feels great and I think the whole band loves playing it. It's "Of Sins and Shadows" and it always feels great playing. I think "Inferno" too from "The Odyssey" record is another one of those songs we love playing live. It just feels great.
Speaking of live stuff, you're preparing for a really long and extensive touring period.
Yeah, it's gonna be long. I hope it's gonna go very smooth. With this tour there's a lot of places we'll be going where maybe we haven't been to in a while and some other places we've never been to yet. I'm a pretty easygoing guy and as long as everything is running smooth and we're keeping busy and the fans are having a good time, I'm gonna be happy. I just really want to hit the road and kick some ass. This tour will be the biggest tour of the band so far. I just hope that more people will get to know about the band and we'll try to move ahead.
After the South and North American shows you're gonna move over to Europe for some festivals and the second leg of the Dream Theater tour. How did you get on the bill?
I think the big thing with the Dream Theater guys goes back to the Gigantour. we were asked to do Gigantour mostly because Mike Portnoy and the Dream Theater guys thought we would be a good band o have on the bill, so they kind of made that happen. As well as some of the guys in Megadeth. It was like that we had some people pushing for us. And on the Gigantour everyone got along really great and we had a great time with the Dream Theater guys. And now that they are doing their European tour they contacted us and asked if we were interested. It just happened like that. Mike Portnoy was just helping the band out.
Will it be a long tour?
With the Dream Theater guys? I think it's gonna be a couple of months. I'm sure over the next couple of weeks all the dates will be announced because they are under negotiations. That's gonna be a pretty long tour.
Do you also plan a headlining tour after this?
Yeah, absolutely. We're gonna start the real tour for the album in July here in America. Then we go over to do the Dream Theater support in Europe and after those dates we'll come back for a real headlining tour. There's so much touring we're talking about right now, there's a lot of big plans. Just wait and see for the dates announced.
For closing, what kind of music you listen to these days to chill out?
It depends on the mood. I usually just go back to the stuff that I grew up with. I kick back listen to some old Sabbath and kinda go back when I was younger and how excited you were to get a new Judas Priest record. You try to capture some of that. When I put on a CD now I go back to that stuff. I go back to Heaven and Hell or some old Priest or Scorpions. That's usually the thing I enjoy listening to.
Are you planning to visit any of the Heaven and Hell dates?
Actually the guys playing right in my town next Friday. The Megadeth guys are on the bill as well, so they got me and Russ going to the show, so we'll probably go hang out and see our buds in Megadeth and check out Heaven and Hell. I'm really looking forward to seeing them., because that's classic Black Sabbath. That's the fucking shit, man!