Born and raised in Manila, Rome Gomez, better known as No Rome, is a London-based Filipino musician. The 24-year-old artist debuted with the single “Narcissist,” which features vocals and production from Dirty Hit Records labelmates Matty Healy and George Daniel of The 1975. “Narcissist” is a single off No Rome’s EP “RIP Indo Hisashi,” which was released in August 2018.
In 2019, No Rome released his second and self-produced EP, “Crying in the Prettiest Places” with the returning track, “Cashmoney.” Across the six tracks of “Crying in the Prettiest Places,” No Rome showcases as much sonic playfulness as he does raw lyrical honesty with unique results.
Born in a tough neighborhood, Rome grew up keeping one eye over his shoulder. But he refused to live in fear of bullies. As an emo kid who’d wear skinny jeans and tight T-shirts, he started learning self-defense to protect himself. For a while he’d get into fights, but then his dad started teaching Rome the basics of music production software at 12 years old.
“Making music made me get so obsessed with it,” he says. “I was super into hip-hop and obsessed with J Dilla and Nujabes.”
By his mid-teens, Rome had moved on to shoegaze bands, eventually finding a niche in “shoegaze R&B” that he continues to explore. His early Soundcloud demos picked up attention from the likes of Ryan Hemsworth, members of Brockhampton, and — eventually — friend Matt Healy.
It follows, then, that “Crying in the Prettiest Places” is vividly strewn with sonic curveballs. Take opening screamo-pop anthem “5 Ways To Bleach Your Hair,” or EP highlight “Stoned in the Valley” – a breezy skatepark anthem that hybridizes millennium-era pop-punk sounds with a modern emo-rap.
No Rome recently made his Coachella debut alongside the 1975 and even was touted as the first Filipino artist to ever perform in the biggest annual music and arts festival. He will perform at Market! Market! Activity Center on October 6, 6 p.m.
