ROMEO

“The human touch must prevail in modern productions.”

“Keeping the production a little raw helps in freezing the magic of the moment.”

“Love and romanticism are incredibly powerful feelings.”

“We want to bring a little hope and reflections of day to day situations.”

“It’s like lying on a river and letting yourself be carried by the current.”

“We don’t aim for absolute perfection but for something that people can relate to.”

“Where is it coming from? Has it always been there? That’s a Deja Vu!”

“We are soulful rebels!”

With ‘Deja Vu Letters‘, Italian hard rock group Romeo delivers a debut album that feels timeless without becoming trapped in nostalgia.
Blending the warmth of classic late ’70s and early ’80s rock with deeply personal emotions, cinematic storytelling, and an unmistakably human touch, the band creates a record that values atmosphere and authenticity over sterile perfection.
In this interview with Max Colliva (vocals, guitar), Rudy B. (bass), and Andrea Zanolli (guitar), conducted by Fok ’bs’, Romeo speaks about instinctive songwriting, emotional honesty, Tom Petty, modern music culture, and why imperfection still matters in rock music today.
‘Deja Vu Letters‘ feels deeply nostalgic without sounding trapped in the past.
At what point does inspiration from classic hard rock become dangerous territory for a young band?
Max: “We think taking inspiration from the classic hard rock doesn’t prevent innovation. Of course we have our idols, but we don’t want to be photocopies of them. We try to express the society we live in today with our feelings, which sure are a bit nostalgic, but who really likes the present?”
You described the songwriting process as almost instinctive, as if the songs already existed before you wrote them.
Did that spontaneity ever scare you creatively – like you were following something you couldn’t fully control?
Max: “We can’t say we were on some kind of trip or something like that! But our brains kind of synchronized while we were creating new songs. Everything felt natural and flowed well, and we kept this spontaneity as if it had always been there!”
There’s a very human looseness to the album that many modern rock productions avoid.
Was keeping imperfections part of preserving the emotional honesty of the record?
Max: “Well, with all AI and stuff going around today, we think the human touch must prevail in modern productions as well for a better and different sound. If you think about it, art should always communicate something, and keeping the production a little raw helps in freezing the magic of the moment.”
Your music carries both romanticism and melancholy, but without becoming overly dramatic.
What attracts you to that emotional balance?
Max: “Love and romanticism are incredibly powerful feelings. The same is melancholy. However, our sound doesn’t want to convey sadness, on the contrary, we want to bring a little hope and reflections of day to day situations.”
Hard rock is often associated with rebellion, excess, and swagger.
‘Deja Vu Letters‘ sometimes feels more vulnerable than rebellious.
Was that intentional?
Max: “Yes, our songs are a bit more introspective and talk about real life troubles which we’ve got to dance through. We are soulful rebels!”
Songs like ‘Frankfurt Lights‘ and ‘True Confessions‘ feel cinematic, almost like snapshots from half-remembered nights.
Do you think visually when writing music?
Max: “Yes absolutely! For instance ‘Frankfurt Lights’ was initially composed in Frankfurt, Germany, inspired by the incredible skyline of the city seen from a rooftop window on a starry night, and by its sense of decadence.”
You clearly love the sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s, but what do you think modern rock music has lost emotionally since that era?
Rudy: “There are lots of new bands that put their heart into what they’re doing. We don’t think the problem is within the music itself but how people perceive it. The music industry today is so saturated, now also with AI music, and our generation is not as interested in live music as older generations were. That makes the connection between musicians and listeners gradually weaker over time. Nowadays people have everything they want, so much that they are addicted and don’t feel like listening to something new. We can’t blame them though.”
The album title suggests memory, repetition, and emotional echoes.
What does ‘deja vu‘ actually mean to Romeo beyond the literal definition?
Andrea: “If we go beyond the literal meaning of the word, we see ‘deja vu’ as something that strikes your mind while you’re writing new stuff. You come up with a good riff, you play it and it feels totally natural, as if you’ve always had it in your hands. Where is it coming from? Has it always been there? That’s a ‘Deja Vu’!”
Covering ‘I Need To Know‘ is an interesting choice because it fits the mood of the album surprisingly well.
What drew you specifically to that song?
Andrea: “We’ve always been Tom Petty’s number 1 fans, so the idea of covering one of his early singles had always been something we had thought about. Then we went into the studio to record the album and decided to play ‘I Need to Know’, straight from his second album. The song came out so well that we all agreed to include it on the LP as a tribute to one of our biggest influences.”
Many young bands try to modernize classic rock by making it heavier or more polished.
Romeo seem more interested in preserving atmosphere and feeling.
Was that a conscious artistic choice?
Andrea: “The choice is not entirely consious, we let the song guide us throughout the writing process. There was never any direction or production choice made in advance. It’s like lying on a river and letting yourself be carried by the current.”
The record sounds intimate despite its big hooks and guitars.
When writing lyrics, do you think more in terms of storytelling or emotional fragments?
Andrea: “We ended up writing with both in mind. In that sense, ‘Deja Vu Letters’ is an heterogeneous album. On one hand songs such as ‘Frankfurt Lights’ focus on the storytelling side, on the other there are tracks like ‘Romeo (A Loyal Borderline)’ which we can consider more like emotional fragments.”
There’s a warmth throughout the album that almost feels anti-digital.
Do you think listeners today are craving something more imperfect and alive again?
Rudy: “We wanted to be honest with ourselves and in our live performances. We don’t aim for absolute perfection but for something that people can relate to, and that helps create an easier connection with the listeners. So if you’re a rock music listener, then the answer is definitely yes.”
‘Deja Vu Letters‘ is a debut album, but it already sounds emotionally reflective – almost like looking back on something lost.
Do you think Romeo are chasing an era, a feeling, or something more personal than that?
Andrea: “We’re just chasing the right inspiration! Ahah. Aside from that, of course, we want to convey our deepest feelings through the songs we write and our influences tend to give us this ‘vintage aura’, but there’s really nothing more to it. Just music, feelings and inspiration.”
With ‘Deja Vu Letters‘, Romeo proves that classic hard rock can still feel vital, emotional, and deeply human without simply recreating the past.
Their approach is not about imitation, but about channeling timeless influences through personal experiences, instinctive songwriting, and genuine emotional connection.
Whether exploring romance, melancholy, cinematic memories, or modern disconnection, the band keeps its focus firmly on atmosphere and authenticity.
As Max, Rudy, and Andrea make clear throughout this conversation, Romeo are not chasing nostalgia alone.
They are chasing feeling, and that may be exactly what modern rock music needs most right now.
by Fok ‘bs‘