An Interview With the Pop Boy Band, AFTER ROMEO About Touring, Greatest Musical Inspirations, The Making Of Their Videos And More!

Meet the boy band, After Romeo! They formed in 2013 and includes members Blake English, Drew Ryan Scott, Jayk Purdy, and TC Carter.

• They do all of their own songwriting, styling, and choreography. They were recently selected for iHeart Media’s Artist Integration Program across all Top-40 stations. Then, they were chosen by Kellogg’s for 2015 Back-to-School On-pack promotion.

Last year, they created they created the Bully Proof Tour 2014 and they visited 400 schools and 35 malls and spoke at peer-to-peer assemblies about bullying epidemic.

Learn more about After Romeo in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time today! How’s your summer been going? What have been some favorite summer memories?

This was our best summer as After Romeo. We toured the country with a bunch of new groups, that soon became close friends. We got to see fans we hadn’t seen in months, as we’ve been overseas. Plus, we had a week in New York and had a blast taking meetings, eating pizza, buying new gear, and had a sold out show at the Gramercy.

Since forming in 2013, how have the band dynamics grown? How do you think your sound has changed in the last couple of years?  

We’ve seen so many places and faces that when you get into the studio, you’re motivated by those memories. We’re all fans of music and different genres so when it’s time to record or create the live show, we challenge ourselves to integrate our different styles and preferences. We now have a bigger team behind us to help us give fans an even bigger, better show!

What made you all decide to start this group? Where did you come up with your group name? What other names were you considering?

We were all friends, and shared similar goals and dreams. Pop acts are usually assembled by some mastermind and given songs, a name, etc.  We didn’t go that route, and we’re proud of that. Sure, there are casting calls which might have paired a group of perfect singers or dancers, but we have a funky chemistry and history. Before we became a band, we went to school together, played sports together, and some of us even have the same ex-girlfriends! Haha. We have history and that creates a comfort level on stage and in the studio that people can feel.

About our name: We love our fans as much as Romeo loved Juliet. When Romeo died, who else had that level of dedication? That’s what we are – we are After Romeo.

Can you talk about being selected to be Kellogg’s Back-To-School On-Pack promotion? What’s that mean to you as a group?

It was super cool! It was music-related with Monster Headphones and new fans could discover us by being exposed to the group in so many different places. For our fans from Day 1, they see us in the grocery stores and they get pumped. Those are the rewards- watching our fans get excited when they see us grow.

What artists have consistently inspired you all and the group’s sound?

Right now, DIPLO and Jason Derulo. We love Justin Bieber’s new song “What Do You Mean?”.

Who would you love to work with in the future? What would be a dream collaboration?

We want to work with Ester Dean and Bonnie McKee as songwriters, Diplo or Max Martin as producers, and we’d love to have a song with Justin Timberlake, Coldplay, or our friend, Halsey!

Last year. You went on the Bully Proof Tour. What was that experience like for you guys?

We got to share what we personally went through to help kids understand that sticks and stones are B.S. We went through it and it sucked, but we are here to show them that no one has the power to take away your shine. Our talks and relatable stories helped over 250,000 students across the country and we will always continue with that message.

Let’s talk about your newly released video for “Where The People Go”. How creatively involved were you all in the making of that video? What was it like filming it?

We actually had a writing camp for new material and “Where The People Go’ came out of it. Our manager knew of this ideal location to shoot the video, and he said if we were going to do the song justice, we had to go all in. We came up with the 4 worlds (Clockwork Orange, Puppets, Animals, Mad Max) based on our personalities and had a concept like the old Blind Melon video “No Rain”, where misfits and weirdos can all come to one crazy place to have the time of their lives together. This was our “Burning Man”. Filming it was nuts. It was 116 degrees, we had 2 hours sleep, and shot for 18 hours, in make-up with about 100 cast and crew. This place was not the safest place in the world to be either, as the location is a real life artist colony an hour east of Palm Springs. The people that live there have no running water or electricity but they do have guns and green hair. When it was getting dark, our manager said, “It’s time to go.”

Can you explain how you got the dress from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video for your own video?

That was pretty cool. When we started laying out the ideas for the shots, we knew that wardrobe was going to be key. Drew’s world called for a female puppet and she ended up being this beautiful Japanese girl. When we casted her, we couldn’t find the right outfit. The day of the shoot, our manager brings out this dress that was wrapped in a crazy looking garment bag. We all gathered around it when he unzipped the bag, it was like the scene from Pulp Fiction when they opened the briefcase and the light was shining out of it. We were like, Holy S**t!  She put it on and it brought her to life. She transformed and when you watch the video, you can tell how into the moment she was.  We had a piece of history that day in the desert with us.

What’s been a favorite moment with one of your fans?

Actually, we are currently working on a new TV show about our fans and their families.  We can’t talk too much about it yet, but let it be known, we have some of the craziest and motivated fans in the world!

At the end of the day, what do you hope listeners take away from your music?

We want our fans to grow with us. Our music is an extension of who we are and what we hope to be. It doesn’t always have deep meaning or need to be dissected. We just want you to take a ride with us for 3 minutes and hopefully we drop you off with a smile on your face.