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Interview: Drug Store Romeos on Soundtracks and Synaesthesia With their transcendent, ethereal and dreamlike sound, Drug Store Romeos have gained a fanbase across the globe. Amrit Virdi chatted with the talented indie dream-pop trio to discuss creativity in lockdown, synaesthesia and their musical bond. United by the power of technology in lockdown, Hampshire three-piece Drug Store Romeos haven’t let the current circumstances halt plans for their debut album, now fittingly revealed as The World Within Our Bedrooms. Vocalist Sarah explains “we basically had a year of having to work quite independently, and I think it went really well to be honest, as we then fused our pieces together,” when discussing the process behind their upcoming record. Interestingly, colour and visuals drive the band’s otherworldly sound, as guitarist Charlie reveals “there is one of our songs, that is going to be a single, that probably only exists because of that exact colour of purple,” as he gestures towards a fluorescent purple light. Whilst the band were quick to state that their synaesthesia was not “as cool as a lot of people’s”, the detail Charlie describes about his “third eye” vision when it comes to the interrelation between colour and music is simply fascinating. The band are joyously close-knit having been friends since their school days and a shared passion for music evidently plays into their illusive melodies. Sarah refers to the experimental and psychedelic tunes of British Band Broadcast as being their “mother hen to discovering ourselves”, as Charlie recalls Broadcast’s music as evoking imagery of “a kind of moderately isolated, young, English woman who is kind of melancholic”, which the band were aiming to recreate.
Despite their differing musical backgrounds, ranging from jazz and classical to 90s alt-rock, the friendship holding the band together is rock solid and musically unites the trio, as drummer Jonny amicably referenced his bandmate as introducing him to new realms of music. “Finding friends like Charlie early on who had quite an established music taste was very useful for me because I could look at that and kind of get more of an understanding of my own perception on music”, the drummer explains with a grin. Equally grin-inducing and described by Charlie as “very surreal” is the use of the band’s techno-track Frame of Reference in the Amazon Original film ‘The Map of Tiny Perfect Things’. Leading to a skyrocket of their streams in America, Charlie expresses his gratitude by saying it is “the biggest compliment”. The future is bright for Drug Store Romeos as they remain a tight-knit trio united by music. Frame of Reference is available to stream now, with their debut album The World Within Our Bedrooms out on June 25th.
By Amrit Virdi Page Design by Chiara Crompton ‘Image courtesy of Paul Hudson on Flickr’; https://unsplash.com/photos/ sBc8oen_ocg
