Last month, British pop-rock band The 1975 returned to Philippine shores in a one-night concert in front of a sold-out crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Despite the monsoon rains, a plethora of young fans braved the inclement weather to sing along with heir favorite songs like “People,” “Give Yourself a Try,” and “TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME.”
But amid the sea of screaming Pinoy fans, one Filipino artist stood out, owning the stage before ushering in the big act of the night in front of all his “kababayans.”
“I used to play shows here like in small bars, in small clubs. This is like just the bigger version of all that” said Guendoline Rome Viray Gomez a.k.a. No Rome in the music industry.
Before heading to the concert stage at the MoA Arena in Pasay, reporters had the chance to chat with the up-and-coming London-based Filipino artist.
He shared how he got to tour the world with The 1975, his biggest (and hottest) gig yet, and who he wishes to collab with other artists in the local music scene.
No Rome made headlines in 2019 when he played at the Coachella Music Festival as his brand of ever-expanding techno-pop style has turned heads to this Manila-born global artist.
“Three words. Coachella was fun, scary and also, damn hot!” he said in the intimate interview about his biggest break yet, saying that even though he tours the world stage, he still gets nervous whenever he performs.
“Yes I still get anxiety before I play. But I think it’s important though, when you get scared, you still care, it still excites you,” he said.
No Rome and the 1975 are both currently signed to Dirty Hit, and the 22-year-old collaborated with his co-artists in the label to come up with “Narcissist,” which has since raked up 7.8 million views on YouTube as of this writing.
The song comes off of No Rome’s third EP RIP Indo Hisashi in 2018. For 2019 he comes out with another Extended Play Crying in the Prettiest Place.
“I make situational pop music, so whatever the situation is at the moment, I would write a song about it,” he said.
Sharing that sometimes he would see a movie and be inspired by the visuals and the score. “So I go, ‘woah’ I want to write something about that,” No Rome shared who started his formal music career back in 2011.
But take note, music has been his whole life.
“I would just write songs when I was younger. For me it was my form of expression,” he said. “I’d be home just playing the guitar and just writing songs.”
Touring with The 1975, however, has been a whole new learning process and self-discovery.
“It’s been a great experience. I learned a lot from them and vice versa. It’s more like a nice creative space because we kind of like know each other’s sound and they also help me develop mine.”
Asked which Filipino artist, this time, he wants to collab with, his answer was immediate: Nadine Lustre.
“Locally, I would love to work with Nadine Lustre. She’s got a good voice. She gives me kinda like Ariana vibes. But I only met her once, and it was ages ago.”
After he opened The 1975’s second concert Manila though, his fans can still get a glimpse of this young talent when he does his own show this coming October 6, 2019 at Market! Market!.
Looking back, No Rome sets his feet firmly to the ground and writes music that will express and not impress.
“When I was playing in small clubs, I just really wanna make music, playing in these big shows is just a bonus,” he said.
“Ultimately, I just wanna contribute something to music. Something that lasts forever.”