Bang Bang Romeo

Musicians — Yorkshire

01Profile

A Bang Bang Romeo Photo

03Interview

Name?
BANG BANG ROMEO

Where are you from?
Yorkshire

What do you do?
Theatrical, Soulful, Bluesy, Rock 'n' Roll music.

Describe your style in three words?
Loud, Proud, Commanding.

If you could make a record with anyone from history?
Probably Amy Winehouse, she's got such a profound, soulful and heartbreaking voice. It would have been really special to hear her and our Starsie proper go at it vocally.

What’s the best gig you've ever been to?
Fleetwood Mac headlining Isle Of Wight Festival in 2015, we are all huge fans anyway, but they were just absolutely electric that night. Joel was in tears from the second The Chain kicked in, it just all felt like a really magical moment, made extra special by the fact it was also the first major festival we had ever played.

What British music icons inspire your sound today?
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have had a huge influence on us musically, and are never far from the CD player in our van. We just love the drama and theatrics of all of their songs and the emotion they get across.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
That would have to be David Bowie, a cliched answer maybe, but he was just a truly exceptional human being. Ridiculously talented and so switched on and intelligent, I feel like an hour with Bowie would be like a spiritual experience, not to mention the opportunity to write and jam with him. We were all absolutely devastated at his passing, it was such a strange day. All the stars just seemed to shine that bit less brightly for a while afterwards. 

Which British subculture means the most to you?
I suppose the whole Britpop / Mod movements really because they actually played a big part in the band getting together. Ross, our guitarists owns a clothes shop in Doncaster, Revolver Menswear, which stocks Fred Perry, Paisley shirts etc... all that kind of clobber. It was pretty much the only decent shop of its kind locally, which led to Joel our bassist hanging out there most days, talking clothes and music. Those chats led to him eventually bringing down his guitar for a jam with Ross & Stars, and the rest as they say... is history. 

If you could share the bill with any British band in history?
Queen, simply because Freddie Mercury is undoubtedly the greatest frontman of all time, a complete entertainer and showman. We also take a huge amount of influence from the full on theatrical rock 'n' roll stage show they put on. Truly genius.

What music did you listen to growing up?
This is where it begins to sound mega cliched, but we all had very similar musical upbringings on the classics. The Beatles were an essential, Rolling Stones, Thin Lizzy, Radiohead, Mamas and Papas, Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Michael Jackson.... We were all lucky to have been surrounded with music growing up and having families with a wide ranging appreciation for good music.

04Playlist Notes

What was the first song you played on repeat?
'Paranoid Android' by Radiohead.

One record you would keep forever?
'Rumours' by Fleetwood Mac. Track 'Gold Dust Woman'.

A song from your favourite album?
'Karma Police' by Radiohead.

A song you wish you had written?
'Do You Realize??' by The Flaming Lips.

A song that defines the teenage you?
'Dangerous Animals' by Arctic Monkeys.

What was the last piece of music you bought?
'Pure Comedy' by Father John Misty.

A song lyric that inspires you?
"Some people say it's just Rock 'n' Roll,
Ah but it gets you right down to your soul."

'Push The Sky Away' by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.

Is there a song you like that people wouldn’t expect?
'Leave Me Alone' by Michael Jackson.

Best love song of all time?
'Chemical' by Bang Bang Romeo (can we say that? haha).

Best song to turn up loud?
'Out Of Sight' by Spiritualized.

Best song to bring people together?
'Don't Look Back In Anger' by Oasis.

4 songs you can’t stop listening to right now?

'Brave New World' by The Blinders
A Ferocious live act also from our home town. Must see live. It's been really exciting watching them grow.

'Roll Out' by The Wholls
The next big rock 'n' roll band, had the crowd at TRNSMT Festival eating out of the palm of their hands, immense live. Meant for stadiums.

'These Words' by The Lemon Twigs
Sprinklings of Bowie magic in these brothers, ridiculously good live at Glastonbury this summer, pays homage to the likes of The Beatles & Bowie while still sounding current and relevant, feel good vibes.

'Corrine' by Black Honey
We've been lucky enough to share a few festival stages with these guys now and they just get better every time. Infectious Tarantino Rock, they give us faith that it can still happen for bands as the first time we saw them was with 30 other people in the basement of a pub in Sheffield a couple years back, then the other week we saw them play to 10,000 on the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury. Destined for the biggest of stages.

03Interview

Name?
BANG BANG ROMEO

Where are you from?
Yorkshire

What do you do?
Theatrical, Soulful, Bluesy, Rock 'n' Roll music.

Describe your style in three words?
Loud, Proud, Commanding.

If you could make a record with anyone from history?
Probably Amy Winehouse, she's got such a profound, soulful and heartbreaking voice. It would have been really special to hear her and our Starsie proper go at it vocally.

What’s the best gig you've ever been to?
Fleetwood Mac headlining Isle Of Wight Festival in 2015, we are all huge fans anyway, but they were just absolutely electric that night. Joel was in tears from the second The Chain kicked in, it just all felt like a really magical moment, made extra special by the fact it was also the first major festival we had ever played.

What British music icons inspire your sound today?
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have had a huge influence on us musically, and are never far from the CD player in our van. We just love the drama and theatrics of all of their songs and the emotion they get across.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
That would have to be David Bowie, a cliched answer maybe, but he was just a truly exceptional human being. Ridiculously talented and so switched on and intelligent, I feel like an hour with Bowie would be like a spiritual experience, not to mention the opportunity to write and jam with him. We were all absolutely devastated at his passing, it was such a strange day. All the stars just seemed to shine that bit less brightly for a while afterwards. 

Which British subculture means the most to you?
I suppose the whole Britpop / Mod movements really because they actually played a big part in the band getting together. Ross, our guitarists owns a clothes shop in Doncaster, Revolver Menswear, which stocks Fred Perry, Paisley shirts etc... all that kind of clobber. It was pretty much the only decent shop of its kind locally, which led to Joel our bassist hanging out there most days, talking clothes and music. Those chats led to him eventually bringing down his guitar for a jam with Ross & Stars, and the rest as they say... is history. 

If you could share the bill with any British band in history?
Queen, simply because Freddie Mercury is undoubtedly the greatest frontman of all time, a complete entertainer and showman. We also take a huge amount of influence from the full on theatrical rock 'n' roll stage show they put on. Truly genius.

What music did you listen to growing up?
This is where it begins to sound mega cliched, but we all had very similar musical upbringings on the classics. The Beatles were an essential, Rolling Stones, Thin Lizzy, Radiohead, Mamas and Papas, Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Michael Jackson.... We were all lucky to have been surrounded with music growing up and having families with a wide ranging appreciation for good music.

04Playlist Notes

What was the first song you played on repeat?
'Paranoid Android' by Radiohead.

One record you would keep forever?
'Rumours' by Fleetwood Mac. Track 'Gold Dust Woman'.

A song from your favourite album?
'Karma Police' by Radiohead.

A song you wish you had written?
'Do You Realize??' by The Flaming Lips.

A song that defines the teenage you?
'Dangerous Animals' by Arctic Monkeys.

What was the last piece of music you bought?
'Pure Comedy' by Father John Misty.

A song lyric that inspires you?
"Some people say it's just Rock 'n' Roll,
Ah but it gets you right down to your soul."

'Push The Sky Away' by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.

Is there a song you like that people wouldn’t expect?
'Leave Me Alone' by Michael Jackson.

Best love song of all time?
'Chemical' by Bang Bang Romeo (can we say that? haha).

Best song to turn up loud?
'Out Of Sight' by Spiritualized.

Best song to bring people together?
'Don't Look Back In Anger' by Oasis.

4 songs you can’t stop listening to right now?

'Brave New World' by The Blinders
A Ferocious live act also from our home town. Must see live. It's been really exciting watching them grow.

'Roll Out' by The Wholls
The next big rock 'n' roll band, had the crowd at TRNSMT Festival eating out of the palm of their hands, immense live. Meant for stadiums.

'These Words' by The Lemon Twigs
Sprinklings of Bowie magic in these brothers, ridiculously good live at Glastonbury this summer, pays homage to the likes of The Beatles & Bowie while still sounding current and relevant, feel good vibes.

'Corrine' by Black Honey
We've been lucky enough to share a few festival stages with these guys now and they just get better every time. Infectious Tarantino Rock, they give us faith that it can still happen for bands as the first time we saw them was with 30 other people in the basement of a pub in Sheffield a couple years back, then the other week we saw them play to 10,000 on the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury. Destined for the biggest of stages.

 

05Videos

Bang Bang Romeo | Chemical (2017)

Bang Bang Romeo | Johannesburg (2015)