NEW EP: '' REACTOR '' OUT 26th SEPTEMBER 2025

Who Are ‘As Rome Burns’ ?

We’re a 4-piece alternative rock band based in London, and soon to be your new favourite band.

For Someone That Is Yet To Discover You, How Would You Describe Your Music ?

Imagine if Nirvana and Joy Division had a baby, but it was raised by Idles and Rage Against the Machine and occasionally nannied by Queens of the Stone Age – that’s our sound in a nutshell. A little punky, angry and emotional lyrics, and something you can move to.

What Inspires You As A Band ?

Any music that makes you feel something. We have diverse musical influences within the band ranging from jazz fusion to extreme metal and most things in between. As Rome Burns seems to be the intersection of our tastes and an outlet for our energy. We’re inspired by making music that causes an emotional response or you can dance to.

What Is Yor Pre-Show Routine? Who’s the one with the Diva demands ?

We don’t have a routine as such, but we normally have to remind our drummer, Alex, that we’re playing a show on the day and send him the details again. Once we’ve finished our soundcheck we usually watch the bands playing before us and support them as much as we can. The closest thing we have to diva behaviour is our singer, Pete, insisting on eating something that’s “filling but not too bloating” and not drinking anything gassy. Sushi and a Guinness seem to be the perfect combination for him.

Where Do You Feel You Fit Into The Music Landscape ?

Popular music is crying out for a someone to distil all the anger that people are feeling into something with edge and authenticity. That’s our aim, and we make it sound massive.

Do You Think That There More Advantages To You Being An Unsigned Band, You’re In Charge Of Your Own Destiny And Not Under Pressure Of A Label.

Having complete creative freedom and no pressure of deadlines enforced by a label is definitely a positive, but it’s really tough out there as an unsigned band at the moment. There are limited opportunities that you really have to fight for, and the ever-increasing cost of rehearsing, recording, and maintaining instruments; all while in a cost-of-living crisis, is really tough. Aside from that, it’s unbelievably fun making the music we love with our mates.

Is There A Story Behind The New EP 'Reactor' ?

We’re living in a ridiculously turbulent period of political and social change. Multiple nations embracing populism and the far right, people feeling left behind, unheard and angry, struggling to survive let alone thrive. Reactor is our way of screaming through everything that’s happening around us to trigger a response – any response – to the madness we’re seeing.

What Would You Say Is Your Greatest Strength As A Band?

Aside from slotting into a niche that we firmly believe exists in the music industry, our music translates perfectly into a live setting. Our songs easily support high energy performances, with pounding drums, lyrics delivered with raw emotion, and our lead guitarist, David, normally completely sweating through whatever clothes he’s wearing. We’re biased, but it’s definitely worth checking out.

What Would You Say Is Your Greatest Weakness As A Band?

Probably that our bassist, Sam, is too tall. When he carries his bass over his shoulder, he knocks it into any hanging ceiling lights in the building. I’m scared that one day he’ll break his bass, or he breaks the light and we’ll get invoiced for it.

What Can Fans Expect From Your New EP ‘‘Reactor’’

Three songs to melt your mind and warm your heart. There are fuzzed-out guitars, funky basslines, an angry singer, and at one point we repeatedly smack a metal bin like a budget version of Slipknot. It was an exciting and cathartic process to make, and that energy certainly comes out in the finished product.

https://linktr.ee/asromeburns

What Music Artist/Band Would You Say Have Influenced Your Work?

There are too many to mention! We’ve listed some band influences on earlier questions, but individually: Bruce Springsteen is Pete’s biggest inspiration (a big reason for him buying a Telecaster), Sam’s basslines have a lot of Chili’s influence, David is a metalhead who wishes he was in Metallica, and Alex listens to a lot of quite intense techno and drum and bass.

Who Would You Most Like To Collaborate With Artistically ?

Nile Rodgers. The man has his fingerprints all over popular music from the last 50 years so hopefully we’d get some of that popularity! Plus it would be so much fun making a funky, disco-inspired alt-punk record.

What Was Your Worst Performance ?

One of our early gigs was a horror show. We had little to no soundcheck, and once we started playing we realised we couldn’t hear ourselves at all, but the sound engineer had wandered off and didn’t come back for the rest of the night. David also broke a string just before a big solo, and because his guitar at the time had a Floyd Rose floating bridge it caused all his other strings to go completely out of tune. Some of the friends and family we had at the show haven’t come back since.

What Is Your Creative Process When Making Music ?

We’ve written songs in a few different ways. Usually Pete brings us the skeleton of something he’s been working on, often already with lyrics written, and we’ll spend a number of sessions workshopping the ideas, writing all our other parts and changing the structure around. Other times we’ll have extended jams based on a simple riff or a few chords and slowly morph them into something we can all a proper song. I Am Your Enemy is a great example of this last process, which ultimately grew from playing around with contrasting dynamics around two chords that Pete loved playing through his ambient pedal.

What Are Your Top Ten Desert Island Tracks ?