Romanie Chats ‘Anthony’, Her Inspirations And Finding Her Footing In Naarm
Before 2023 can begin, it’s important to look back on the sombre moments in life and reflect on how much we’ve been through these past three years. No one has understood this more than Naarm based, dream-pop artist, Romanie, who has reflected on her grief with their latest track, ‘Anthony’, following the loss of her grandfather and his battle with dementia.
We here at Ungrained feel honoured to talk to Romanie herself about her new song, her new feelings, and her growth going into the new year.
Romanie! How have you been? How has this year been treating you so far?
It’s been a rollercoaster already! I’ve been getting some amazing responses for ‘Anthony’ which has made me feel very, very lucky and proud - something I don’t usually take in because I’m always on the go or working on something else. It’s definitely been a busy year already, which I feel is the same for a lot of people around me. Anyone else counting down to Christmas festivities already?
You’re an artist that wants to transcend the labels of genre within music. What are some of the ways you’ve tried to make your sound as genreless as possible?
I try not to think about genres too much when I write. Most of my songs mainly start when I need to get something off my chest so maybe the genre will just flow towards the kind of mood I’m in haha! It’s nice to think though that I’m not easily placed into a box, it means I have room to grow and keep expanding what I like in music - something that is extremely important to me.
‘Anthony’ has two main points of inspiration: your own familial experiences, and The Father, starring Anthony Hopkins. How important is it for you to find inspiration in various artforms, other than music?
It’s absolutely key to me. I’m always on the hunt for inspiration and love to get floored by art, being a movie or a painting or even eavesdropping (sorry to the strangers on the tram) someone’s conversation. I’m always impressed by how other creative people express their views on life, it’s probably my favourite thing to go somewhere and discover a new thing. I think it also sometimes helps that I’m not a native English speaker, I always keep my ears open for quirky expressions (and make up my own sometimes accidentally, which results in hilarious conversations with my friends). I love getting shown different artforms and try and implement them into my own songs or bring my own take on something.
Your debut EP, Little Big Steps, is all about you navigating your way through uncharted territory, moving to Australia and witnessing the brute force of the Naarm music scene first-hand. Did you have to re-find your footing after your grandfather’s passing? Was that fundamental idea of ‘home’ becoming less tangible?
It’s such a good question - I constantly think about the concept of ‘home’ and try to define what it means to me. I haven’t been back to Belgium since I first got to Melbourne so it does feel like a different lifetime (today, it might feel different again tomorrow - that’s the thing about homesickness) and with a lot of really big things happening over the last few years, I sometimes feel like my past isn’t really real. I do feel really at home in Melbourne and recently became a permanent resident in Australia so I guess it gives me a bit more time to think about where I want my home to be. I like that it’s not a set-in-stone thing for me though, I’ve always had a travel bug. That being said, I’m looking forward to visiting Belgium again and seeing my friends and family again.
‘Anthony’ was made with love by a multitude of fantastic collaborators, such as Alex O’ Gorman and Hamish Patrick. What was it like sharing such a personal song in its half-finished state? Is collaboration something you want to explore?
I am truly the luckiest person in the world to be working with such kind and talented artists. When I sent my demos to Gormie I didn’t really think I’d get a reply because they were literally voice memos from an old iPhone with just me and guitar, but he called me back straight away to lock in a meeting which I was so happy about. Turned out we were a really good team and I feel very grateful for calling Gormie and Hamish my friends now. I’ve always loved to co-write with other artists as well. It's very inspiring to see how other people approach songwriting and I always leave a session with a new view on the world I feel like. So definitely keen to do a lot more of that.
As previously mentioned, you take inspiration from a feature film. Do you think there is a vulnerability within your music that you fail to see in other, more narrative-focused artforms?
I think every artform is vulnerable - there’s always a person with a thought process behind it and putting something creative out into the world feels quite daunting, but so rewarding if you can connect or see people connect with your work.
You’re a very open artist, consistently drawing from real and intimate experiences. Is there a part of your psyche and your own experience you don’t want to share, or feel you are not yet ready to share?
It’s something I’ve been thinking about recently! I think there’s a few songwriting doors I haven’t opened yet so I’m curious to see when or if I’ll ever write about some of those experiences. I do always hear from my friends that I can use a bit of a filter on my writing at some points haha - calling things out that happened a minute ago or naming people with their real-life names. It helps me personally to write about things that happen to me so I think I’ll keep doing so, but maybe not necessarily release everything.
Both as a song and a music video, ‘Anthony’ feels undeniably nostalgic. Other than the lyrics themselves, how does the sound of the song and the visual storytelling of the ‘Anthony’ music video remind you of home?
For the video I really wanted to get footage of pigeons, because my grandpa was a pigeon racer and I grew up around pigeons. There’s something nostalgic about a bowling alley as well, my friends and I grew up in a small town and spent a lot of our childhood roaming around playing games so it’s quite special to have that implemented in my own video clip now.
You’ve described yourself as an existential sort of person. Would you consider yourself hopeful? Does the sorrow from your past affect how you see the future?
Oh, I’m extremely existential - thinking about big life questions all the time. Reading the news alone makes me want to kick into gear and start a million petitions to change things that don’t seem right. But I’m also a very hopeful person, I'd like to believe. It’s not because sad things sometimes happen that you have to become a sad person and I think you can just learn to do things differently or appreciate things that are right in front of you.
Before we let you go, what is foreseen in the Romanie future in 2023? New songs? Tour dates? How do you plan to spend the rest of this year?
I’ve said it before (we all have) but I think this is going to be my year where I thrive personally and hopefully musically. Last year I spent a lot of time working behind the scenes, writing and recording and this year I’d like to take my band on the road and show you what we’ve been working on. I’m trying not to plan too far ahead though, the last couple of years have been slightly disappointing in regards to planning calendars so I’m trying to take it day by day.