Interview | Guitarist Michael Romeo of Symphony X

“We are no millionaires, but we are able to make a living.”

Although Symphony X has not released any new material since their more than excellent 2015 album called ‘Underworld’ the band is now on a European Tour, celebrating its 30th anniversary. Symphony X have never been a band to rush new material, with just nine studio albums in their career, the fans probably cannot wait to hear new songs and a new album. So, an hour before the show I had the chance to talk to Michael Romeo (guitarist and main songwriter) about a possible new album and other “urgent” things concerning Symphony X.

SYMPHONY X THIRTY-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

So, your thirty-year anniversary, what were the highlights?

,,Well, oh, Jesus, I mean, I guess there are a lot of highlights and a lot of not so great things, you know, oh man, looking back, I mean, in the very beginning when we started and the things that we were playing were not so popular. But our first gig in Japan, our first big tour, that was great, but we did not know anything about the music scene. We were just a bunch of guys from the east coast; so, we did not know what was going on in the rest of the world. But I thought from the start, this is rather good what we are doing here and just from there it went up and down really.”

Looking back now, if you could turn back time, are there things that you would have done differently?

,,…. uhm, well, yeah, maybe, it is hard, maybe it would be great if we had done the records faster and maybe a bit more touring would be wiser. But in the beginning, we were always just so concentrated on the record and trying to get better, so the first couple of records were pretty slow. But a lot has happened since then, you know with Covid and Russell’s accident, but I think that things turned out fairly good in the end.”

Were there career disappointments?

,,I do not know. There were no real big disappointments, there was nothing really bad, everything went slow and steady. Now, the tour, we did not know what to expect as we have not been here a while, but then you start playing and it is really another highpoint.”

THE TOUR SETLIST

Is the setlist a 30-year anniversary Symphony X setlist?

,,Yeah, a little bit of that and just getting back on the road and on the stage, you know after the whole Covid misery; that was really bad, so many bands did not survive. But we come here, and it is great to play in Europe again. The fans are there, and they are really enthusiastic, and they lift us up enormously. As the setlist is concerned we tried a little bit of everything; songs that cover our career so far, but that is really hard as we have so much material that we can play.

We need to feel the flow of the set, so we have some tracks from our early records and some newer stuff. We take our time to come up with a good setlist, we really give it some thought and this setlist that we are playing now really feels good, so I know that you are going to like it… ha ha.”

Are there any Symphony X crowd pleasers?

,,Yeah, I mean, there are some, for example ,,Set The World On Fire”, ,,Without You” and ,,Serpent’s Kiss” maybe. We try to get them in there, but there is so much stuff we can play. If we decide to play ,,The Odessey’’ this time then that is already one third of the night, so maybe next time, because if you always do that it is not special anymore, so, yeah, it’s tough.”

A NEW STUDIO ALBUM

How about a new album, your last one is already ages ago…

,,Ha ha, yeah, I know. But the things (Covid, Russell’s accident) that happened over the last two/three years really had impact as we sometimes did not know how to go on. So there was a lot of bullshit going on and so, you know. I have lots of new material already so, I kept working on new songs, going into the studio, trying something out, a couple of new ideas and I got things going. But then we had to stop because we had to rehearse for the upcoming tour.

WHERE WAS I?

Touring is cool of course, but I do not write new songs when I am on tour. In the old days we just took as much time as we needed to get the things done, now, it is just that you cannot earn money with selling records anymore, so we decided to do it in between the tours. For me that really sucks because when I get home after this tour I go into the studio and I go, where was I???

I once tried to write songs while we were on tour but that does not work for me. Everybody’s in the bus, talking, hanging out, drinking, gaming, you know, it is not the right thing for me. I like to be in my environment, be in my studio where I have all my tools and all the stuff I need. But coming back to the new album, I really got lots of new stuff, latest ideas and for now it is just a matter of working these things out into actual songs. But it is tough as I am now in a live mode and at home, I am in a creative mode, so, yeah, it will be ready some time….”

MORE DETAILS PERHAPS?

Any idea when the new album will be actually out on the streets?

,,I mean, next year we have to finish this. But we have to tour to earn some money to make the records you know. There is no doubt that it will be out next year as I told you I do have a lot of material, but now it is just to put all these puzzle pieces together.”

Will it be a concept album?

,,I am not 100% sure, I mean there are a couple of things floating around, so you never know…”

And a title?

,,No, that is too far gone, mate, ha ha. But that is not a real problem, that is mostly a piece of cake.”

Do you have a musical theme or concept in your mind before you start writing/composing?

,,It always starts with just one small thing, turning into larger pieces and that builds up into a complete song or musical theme, maybe an orchestral thing.”

NEW AMBITIONS

Which Symphony X song are you most proud of?

,,Nothing yet, ha ha..”

Still to come?

,,Yeah, still to come, ha ha, I mean, we already did a lot of good stuff and all different. We did some really heavy songs and some really progressive ones. Or take a song like ,,Without You”, which is totally different, a nice catchy melodic one that is. But that special one, hopefully that is still to come.”

Any ambitions left to fulfill?

,,Wow, I did not see that one coming, I mean, most of the stuff I wanted to do I actually achieved. Being in a band, going on tour, playing the guitar really well, I am okay with that. Then I got a little older and I discovered classical music and film music, Star Wars and all that stuff and I wanted to compose music for movies, I really loved that. Two years ago, I wanted to learn to play the cello, and I always want to discover something new. So my ambitions keep changing, who knows what next year will bring. I just love music and try playing new instruments and improve my guitar playing.”

ROLE MODELS

Are there still guitar players that you look up to, role models?

,,I mean when I was young, it was Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen, Sabbath, Priest, Rush. you know.”

And guys like Clapton or Hendrix, which are my guitar heroes…

,,I mean, they are great, but when I started playing guitar it was Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads that were my guitar heroes, those were the guys.”

Do you listen to contemporary music, or in fact do you listen to other music at all?

,,I love classical music, film music and even some electronic stuff, you know that is really cool. I still listen to Sabbath and Rush, all that kind of stuff and some new stuff works as well sometimes. But I think today it is just hard for guys to try to be really different and there is not a lot of money in the business anymore. So maybe the creative thing is a lot harder now and everything sounds kind of the same.”

BEING PART OF SYMPHONY X

What is the best thing about being a bandmember in Symphony X?

,,Another surprising question, ha-ha  the best thing, ha ha…I guess, even though we are not real millionaires or so but we are able to make a living and there is some satisfaction because my parents were very strict and they wanted me to go to college otherwise you would become a bum and that sort of shit; but I said I want to be in a band, I want to be a guitar player, so there’s a little satisfaction in that I achieved that. And, hey, I am a millionaire, no, I am not, but I do what I always wanted to do from the time I was a kid. And of course, we have a fun time, it is comfortable, it is cool, so, yeah.”

The worst thing about being a Symphony X bandmember?

,,Ha ha, I knew that was coming, ha ha… the worst?? There is nothing I can think of, things have been smooth and steady, maybe it was better if we were a little bit more popular, but then we would have to play more mainstream stuff and I do not know if that is really okay as we better should do what we do and like what we do.”

TO CONCLUDE

Last thing you do before you go on stage?

,,No ritual, no, not at all, I just warm up a little, nothing special, a cup of coffee and then we just do it.”

Last question, if I were in Symphony X and you would be the music reporter, what would be your last question?

,,That’s good, that’s really good, another one I did not see coming, ha ha…wow, that’s hard, man, last question, wow, oh man, really tough, maybe when it comes to music what is your biggest inspiration and then I would have to say: all the bands I grew up with when I was young and then classical music, like Stravinsky and all the film stuff, John Williams is my guy, my God! Well, that was good man, some really good questions, loved it.”

Thanks for your time.

All promo photos by Danny Sanchez