Dead Rhetoric: You’ll be doing a co-headlining tour in the fall of North America with fellow New Jersey band Overkill – what are your expectations and how difficult will it be to pare down a set list to 75 minutes given nine albums to choose from?
Romeo: The set list is always…give and take. Everybody kind of has their favorite songs. We are all in the ballpark, but with the new record it gets tough because you have to lose some of the other stuff. It’s an ongoing thing, we are going to do a set that feels good. We are out with Overkill, we are good friends with them and we’ve always talked about doing something together. They are a little thrashier than us, but we are both metal bands. We have a little more melodic, progressive influence, I think having a show with a little diversity is good. Some of our fans might like what they are doing, and it goes both ways. Every metal band has their own thing that makes them different, and as long as it’s not too crazy of a thing, the tour will be good.
Dead Rhetoric: When looking at the career arc of Symphony X, are there any special markers that you can see as game changing for building your following or possibly attain a new level of respect?
Romeo: Everything you do you want to get another level, improve or what have you. All of us, every band, every musician. But with us there are a couple of points. Let me think, looking back… that’s a good question. Probably The Divine Wings of Tragedy record was a pretty important thing for us going way back. One, it kind of felt like a band. It felt like we knew what we were going to do, the first couple of records there was some neo-classical things going on, we were trying other stuff, we all love progressive and metal music. But that third record was like this is what we do – the heavy songs with the classical parts, a lot of melody, a lighter song with the acoustic guitar and piano, the more epic track. If it wasn’t for that record, everything else would be different. Probably Paradise Lost or even the V record, they all did something in their own way. The Odyssey too, that was the next step from Divine in the sense of the title cut, very orchestral and thematic, plus heavy stuff too. Paradise Lost, things stepped up in the songwriting and definitely on the production end of things. Every album always has a little bit… this one too, in years ahead I’ll be able to look back and think about how far we’ve come. It remains to be seen how well it will be received though.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do you stand on the balancing act between meeting fan expectations and creating material that is satisfying for the band? Are there times where things can be ‘too progressive’ for instance?
Romeo: It depends on what you set out to do. It can change and has over the years. Maybe when we start working on the next record it will be… who knows, contain another 20 minute song. All of those things factor in, and the fans opinion does factor in. I think it’s pretty apparent, we do give a nod back on this record to things that we’ve done musically on the Divine record or the V record. You do try to think about the fans, but you have to think about yourself too. You have to make yourself happy, like anything it’s a little bit of a balancing act.
Dead Rhetoric: Symphony X is fortunate to develop under more of the older label business model of building your profile – where do you see the state of the industry for younger bands based on the current changes with digital downloads, social media, instant access, and bands having to consistently tour more than ever?
Romeo: Oh man, I don’t know. I think it’s going to be really hard for any new band. Of course there will be that one band that gets the super hit, and probably be more of a pop thing. It’s definitely different, like anything with the Internet there are pros and cons. It’s great that a band starting out can sell their own music, but so can twenty million other bands. You kind of get lost, I’m thinking that for a young band starting now it’s got to be so hard.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s left on the bucket list for Symphony X or yourself personally to accomplish? Any specific dreams or places you want to go that you haven’t been to as of yet?
Romeo: Where haven’t we been? Australia believe it or not, that would be something cool and at some point during this touring cycle it will happen. I can’t really think of anything in particular, it’s really about the music man and like you said keep having that marker of a next thing, getting to some kind of next level. Would it be great to be an overnight success and make millions and millions of dollars? Of course it would, but being realistic we just want to do what we do and try to make each album the best that we can to be able to do another one. That’s really it, we all want to hit the lottery but if you can’t you still gotta do what you think is right and keep pushing that ball up the hill.
Dead Rhetoric: Having done instructional video material in the past, is there a desire to put out more material in that vein? And how do you feel about the state of guitar playing in 2015?
Romeo: Oh…good question man! I think there are still guys like me who really love it and are all about it. I just think a lot of the kids these days, they don’t appreciate it. I remember when I was in high school, everybody played or was into a similar kind of music. You would see someone in a Sabbath shirt, Judas Priest, this guy knows another guy that’s a drummer around the corner. Now, I don’t really see it. It’s a different thing, there are some guys who are all about metal and playing. It doesn’t seem like what it used to be, there are so many different styles. People don’t really listen to things, maybe 5 seconds of one thing. When we were growing up with music, we listened to the whole record and would learn it, take it apart. You don’t have to worry, the drummer next door already knew it so you could go jam, it was cool. Now, it’s tough. They have other things to do. There are guys that are still serious about it, it just seems like there aren’t as many as there used to be. As long as they are playing. Everything is right there at their fingertips, instant access to everything, there is so much and it’s so saturated, it’s hard to appreciate any kind of music because you are bombarded with so much every day.
Dead Rhetoric: What are the plans for the rest of 2015 and early 2016 following your North American co-headline tour with Overkill?
Romeo: The Overkill tour is September/October, then we will chill for the holidays, everyone will spend time with their families. The next tour will be Europe right after the New Year, late January to March maybe. South America, try to get to some places we haven’t been or been to in a while, Australia, Japan. And to come back here to North America and do our own full on headlining tour. It’s so early in the game but (there is) plenty of time.