After Romeo is the latest pop phenomenon, made popular by Music Choice’s brand new, on-demand pilot program, “Hit or Miss”. They’ve been making waves recently with their nationwide Bully Proof Tour, during which they’ve played to around four hundred thousand teens just like you and, unlike your average boy band, they have decided to go it alone without a record deal. YA Mag caught up with After Romeo recently to find out how it feels to be breaking the mould.
YA Mag: What inspired the name After Romeo?
After Romeo: We wanted a name that people would be familiar with and recognize…so we thought of Romeo & Juliet; one of the most famous love stories worldwide. We looked at how dedicated Romeo was to Juliet and took a vow to be as dedicated to our fans as he was to her. We want our fans to feel the love from us just like we feel it from them.
YA: Can you tell us the story of how you guys were put together and your first impressions of one another?
AR: Unlike the other groups out there we weren’t put together. The 5 of us organically came together.
Jayk and myself (Drew) are from Vegas. We moved to LA to pursue our musical dreams. We always had pick up basketball games at our house and one day our friend brought TC over to play. We clicked really well and started hanging out.
He had just moved to LA from Georgia so we showed him around. A few months later his childhood friend Blake moved from Georgia as well. TC intro-ed us and we decided we would make a group…one thing was missing…a 5th harmony vocalist. I (Drew) was speaking at a performing arts school in LA about song writing and I saw Devin; he literally was the only boy in the school. All the girls kept flirting with him and I knew he was what we were missing. Him and his mom met up with the rest of us for dinner and the rest is history.
YA: You’ve been described as independent, which presumably means that you don’t have a record deal. Is the pursuit of a traditional record deal your number one motivation right now? If not, what is?
AR: We are going the Macklemore route independently. We have creative control this way and it is just easier all around. All of our accomplishments are because of us and the amazing team we have created around us. There’s not 1000 people working for us around the clock and there’s no millions of dollars a day being wasted. It’s all hard work dedication and love of the music.
We have a major label deal with Sony Japan for our asian territory tours, but other than that we have kept it us.
YA: Jake and Drew, what was it like growing up singing in inner city Las Vegas? Were you singing to old ladies whilst they worked the slot machines? Paint us a picture.
AR: Las Vegas isn’t as crazy as you would think haha. Drew and myself (Jayk) grew up in Henderson. It’s normal out there; schools, shopping malls, families, grocery stores, parks it’s a traditional city we just happen to have 24 hour entertainment 15 minutes away. We played football and basketball a lot. We actually met at the Galleria Mall when we were like 10.
YA: Which member is to After Romeo, what Harry Styles is to One Direction? Be honest!
AR: That’s a hard question we all bring our own individual thing to After Romeo and different girls like different guys so it’s hard to say. Blake has similar hair to Harry Styles though if that counts for anything. hahahahahahh
YA: What are your favorite parts of being in a boy band?
AR: Boy singing group not boyband! haha jk =) =) hmmmmmm meeting so many awesome people. Loud screaming girls =) =) friends you can always hang out with that are going through the same thing you are. That is probably the best part. Your other friends don’t get it 100% they get mad you never have time to hang out and they don’t understand why you’re up until 5am every night haha.
YA: Can you tell us about about the Hit or Miss program on Music Choice that you guys inspired?
AR: It was inspired by the amount of our Bromeos+Juliets that hit up Music Choice via social media. I guess they received so many messaged that they created a whole new program just because of us. It’s pretty amazing and we feel so honored to have such great fans that support us so much and it’s an honor to have such a great company like Music Choice supporting us as well.
YA: You are also currently headlining the Bully Proof mall tour which is hitting various malls this summer. Have you any of you personally experienced bullying?
AR: 5 guys who grew up singing and dancing…you can imagine how that went in school. We want kids to see that you can get passed it and do something amazing with your life. On our tour we all share different stories of how we were bullied growing up and what steps we took to overcome the bullying.
YA: If you could perform with any group or singer, past or present, who would it be and why?
AR: Devin – Lana Del Rey, she’s hot.
Jayk – Justin Timberlake, he is the reason I began singing it would be so cool to be on stage with him.
Drew – Elvis, my dad is an Elvis impersonator so I grew up listening to Elvis and that would be so awesome!!!
TC – Chris Brown, I’ve watched him dance since I can remember. I love his style and his stage performance. I think I would learn so much.
Blake – Lady Gaga, she is crazy and I am a head case =) Seems to go together.
YA: Where do you guys see yourselves in 5 years?
AR: We would love to do an arena tour or stadium tour. Of course get some awards. Honestly if we get to do music and can take care of ourselves and our families/parents then that’s all we need. You know let mom and dad retired since they supported all of us all these years. Hopefully we will have helped change millions of lives by helping to inspire/create new government enforced laws and regulations about bullying.
YA: This one’s for any of you: which five songs are playing on you iPod right now?
AR: – Blake-
1. Krewella “Ring of Fire”
2. Lady Gaga “Swine”
3. Zedd “Spectrum”
4. Empire of the Sun “Alive”
5. Skrillex “All Is Fair In Love and Bro Step”
Jayk-
1. Mariah Carey “Fantasy”
2. Dan + Shay “Where It All Began” the album
3. Hunter Hayes “Storyline” the album
4. Justin Timberlake “Not A Bad Thing”
5. N Sync “Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays”
Drew-
1. Jason Derulo “Trumpets”
2. Ariana Grande “Problem”
3. Jesse McCartney “In Technicolor” the entire album my fav record in awhile
4.Magic! “Rude”
5. MKTO “Classic”
TC-
1. Iggy Azalea “Fancy”
2. Chris Brown “New Flame” feat Usher and Rick Ross
3. Chris Brown “Loyal”
4. Becky G “Shower”
5. Steve Aoki “Delirious”
Devin
1. Lana Del Rey “Ultraviolence” album
2. The Neighbourhood “Honest”
3. The Neighbourhood “W.D.T.W.F.M?”
4. The XX “Stars”
5. Bon Iver “Wash”