Tucked away in Kensington Market, Downtown Toronto’s most culturally diverse neighbourhood, Jacob and Nick Bitove along with Wicklow raised Andrew Keyes and James Tebbits have relentlessly spent their waking hours exploring their eclectic tastes in music and ultimately writing the tracks for debut EP Believe.
Collectively known as ROMES, the four lads met when Jacob and Nick moved to Ireland in the late ’90’s where the brothers befriended Andrew and James in middle-school. The four mates began jamming together in their young, formative years - spending school afternoons perfecting cover songs and recording home demos. With a move across the pond Andrew and James joined Jacob and Nick in Toronto to convert a basement into a music hub and to create ROMES.
Title track from the EP, “Believe” , is as inspirational as it is addictive. As Jacob explained the song’s meaning, “Everyone has the power to dream and no one can take that away from you. I wanted to write a song to motivate all the dreamers, myself being one of them. Live your life how you want to, not how others think you should”. With soulful melodies and bright, funky guitar riffs playing off gritty synths, tracks “Tryna Be” and “When The Night Comes” are instant, high-energy, anthemic ear candy. These larger-than-life tunes, backboned by thumping, hip-hop rhythms and disco-inspired bass-lines, put a modern twist on the group’s early musical inspirations.
ROMES stands out not only for their pop sensibilities, but also for the deeper message behind their songs. Jacob describes, “I look up to artists who document true emotion in their writing and I feel that’s rare in current pop music. While writing these songs, I wanted to make sure I was being real, direct and honest with myself. A strong melody with meaningful lyrics was always the goal”. After all, the purpose of music is to tell a story—and the ROMES’ tale is shaping up to be an exceptional one.
