Conquering Rome Interview
-Who are all of the band members? And what do they do in the band?
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Fabian Castaneda: Tyler- Guitar, Jonah- Guitar, Jesse- Bass, James- Vocals, Fabian- Drums
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-What's the origin of your band name, Conquering Rome? Have you changed the band's name before?
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James Brown: We came up with the band name after brainstorming one night after practice. We have never changed the name.
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-What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
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James Brown: We're a mix of genres so we just go buy Rock. Punk, Pop Punk, and Post Hardcore work too. We are influenced mostly by punk influenced music from the early 2000's. Say Anything, Thursday, Senses Fail, Bayside, Underoath, Motion City Soundtrack and more.
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-How old were you when you started this band?
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James Brown: I was 21 when this band first started.
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-Do you have a record label? If so, what is it?
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James Brown: No label yet but our most recent release, a split with vb experiment hardcore band Accident Prone is out on Radio Pressed Records.
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-How long have you all known each other? How did you meet? When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
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James Brown: I've known Jonah for a 4 years prolly, we were both in metalcore bands in our local scene. Tyler and Jesse have known each other for more than 6 years. The rest of the band met when we first started. I met Tyler and Jesse through Craig's list and we added Fabian and Jonah through word of mouth.
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-What can you tell me about your instruments? (i.e., Are you subject to brand loyalty or will you play with whatever's available? What made you choose the instruments you have now? Was it cost or was it a style/model/brand/color preference?
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James Brown: Most of what we use amp wise is a mix of choice and convenience. Amp wise Jonah plays through a vox combo amp live which previously belonged to Tyler. Though the idea of using the Vox at first was convenient, it actually works perfectly for what he plays; Vox amps are really good at cutting through a mix. Jesse plays through an Ampeg head and cab which we brought from a local promoter who is a good friend of ours. Tyler uses a vintage Ampeg half stack that isn't being made anymore with a beautiful tone that we also brought from that same promoter. As far as everything else we just go by straight preference. Jonah plays a Gibson SG, Tyler uses a Fender Telecaster, and Jesse uses a Fender Bass. Fabian uses a custom made kit.
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-Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
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James Brown: We have performed at a lot of different venues including The Norva (Norfolk, VA) which is rated one of the top venues in a the country, the Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington D.C., the Canal Club in Richmond, VA, and more. Our favorite venues are ones that enable a good amount of crowd participation, as far as right now I'd have to go with either Club Relevant in Chesapeake, VA or the Wesley House in Norfolk, VA. Least favorite venue to play is Kingdom in Richmond, Virginia. Though I've seen some good shows there, the way they do business with locals and the effort they put into sound quality can be poor sometimes. Our upcoming shows are March 15th in Belmont NC, March 16th in Gloucester VA, and March 17th in Richmond VA.
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-Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list for your shows?
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James Brown: We don't really have a song that we play the most, just depends on the show. Sometimes we even play covers, whatever we are feeling. Also we have set lists that change up almost every show.
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-Who writes your songs? Is it a group effort?
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James Brown: 90 percent of the time I will come to the band with music and they turn it into what they think it should become.
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-What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
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James Brown: The main topics of our songs are hope and love. The lyrics get spiteful at times but the overall intention of every song is to be encouraging. I believe that there is light at the end of every tunnel as cheezy as it may sound ha.
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-Could you briefly describe your music-making process?
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James Brown: The music making process for us is that we write music that defines what we are into or feeling at that period of time, then I evaluate every second of it and make the most fitting lyrics and melodies that I possibly can vocally.
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-What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
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James Brown: Basically we practice whenever we can, usually once a week. We all have busy schedules to work around but when we do practice we stay until whatever objectives are accomplished, usually not lasting any longer than 4 hrs.
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-How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
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James Brown: The more we evolve musically the more we worry about writing awesome songs collectively and not worry about writing awesome parts with solos or breakdowns. The more we grow all we care about is having good songs.
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-What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
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James Brown: The biggest challenge we probably face as a band is probably not getting down on ourselves when we don't reach the next level of success fast enough. It can get frustrating at times when things don't move as fast as we'd like but we have never moved backwords so we should consider ourselves very fortunate. We just have to remind ourselves every once in a while that there are people out there that genuinely believe in us.
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-What's your ultimate direction for your band? Are you seeking fame and fortune?
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James Brown: The ultimate goal for this band is to touch lives and be used as a positive instrument for people to use in their own lives. I can speak for most of the band when I say if it wasn't for each of our favorite bands we would probably lose the motivation to even live. Fame and fortune would be cool but saving lives with out music means so much more to us.
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-What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
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James Brown: Our advice to anyone trying to start a band is to know that success doesn't happen over night and to not get discourage. If it's really what you want don't give up.
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-How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard your music before?
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Jesse Ramsey: If I had to describe our music I'd have to say that it's very melodic with a lot of energy and passion.
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-How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
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Jonah Bedford: You can listen to our music here http://conqueringrome.bandcamp.com/
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-Website links in which other people can find your music, or more information for your band?
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Jonah Bedford: Keep up to date with us on Facebook and Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/conqueringrome and https://twitter.com/conqueringrome
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-Would you ever do an interview like this with us again?
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James Brown: I would do another interview like this via email exchange if it had less questions, this was to lengthy for an email exchange. Any extensive question I feel should be asked verbally, this is almost like punishing an artist haha.
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-Would you like to do more fun/funny questions in another interview?
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James Brown: I don't really mind funny questions.
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-Any last words?

James Brown: As far as last words, if you discover us through this interview and enjoy the music please keep in touch via our social networking cites. We love meeting people. Also check out these bands Accident Prone, Born Hollow, No Substance, Dominion and Greaver.