‘Good, Cool, Catchy Songs’: Romcom Victims Expands Distinct Musical Frontier with New Video & Single, ‘Alaska’

(EDITOR’S NOTE — The popular Buffalo band Romcom Victims has created such an indelible and distinct sound that it doesn’t take long for its music to leave a profound impression. And, since the release of its first single in 2023, the group has gone on to become one of the Buffalo scene’s most embraced indie bands. Today, Romcom Victims is out with its latest single, ‘Alaska,’ (which you can listen to HERE) along with an accompanying video for the song. Recently, the band was kind enough to set some time aside and speak with 1120 Press about its latest release, the making of the new video, the treasure trove of completed songs the band has in its chamber and its place in the Buffalo scene. We thank Romcom Victims for its time and we’re happy to bring you our conversation here. Also, be sure to see the band’s new video for ‘Alaska’ at the bottom of this page. Romcom Victims is comprised of: Nathaniel Weise (guitar), Alex Squier (bass), Bella Celeste (vocals), and Joey Porth (drums). Nathan is also known across the scene to musicians as owner of Sycamore Sounds recording studio, where he is a producer and engineer. — All black-and-white photos by Clyde Oliver — Follow Clyde’s Insta HERE.)

1120 PRESS: Thank you for speaking with us and congrats on everything the band has happening! To start with, let’s talk about the new single, ‘Alaska,’ that dropped today. And, was there a reason why Valentine's Day was set as the drop date?

NATHAN: We were really flying by the seat of our pants on this whole thing. We knew we wanted to do this song as early as the fall. We were like: ‘we need to do a single, and it should be Alaska.’ And then it was like, ‘should we make a video?’ We kind of fell down this avalanche of, ‘okay, now we have a director, we are making a video, there's a whole crew, and we've got all this going on.’ By the time things were coalescing, we were looking at the calendar, and it was like, ‘Oh, Valentine's Day: That’s got a lot of swagger! We should pick that.”

BELLA: The song is just kind of an example of when you're invested so much in someone, you would potentially drop everything to go where they are or be with them. I think that's stupid, but I also wrote a song about it, so it's kind of like a weird approach to writing lyrics, which is kind of how I do a lot of it. It's just like a feeling, and then I write a story behind it that might have some personal connection to my life, or it may not. It just kind of depends on where the lyrics take it.

1120: You said you felt like Alaska was the single to release. How much material do you guys have out there that's written and ready to be put out?

NATHAN: Stuff that's written? It's obscene, honestly. We’re sitting on a pile of treasure… There's, like, four numbers in our set that we don't have recorded, and then there's like 15 songs that we have that are basically done, or half done, and we would just need a day together to work out what we want to do with them. We're pretty collaborative… But yeah, we've got a lot of material.

1120: So, how do you feel about the way the single came out?

BELLA: It was actually one of my — not least favorite, but, you know, you have songs that you don't always love to perform or sing. But as we recorded it and made this video, it's definitely turned into something that I'm like, ‘oh, this is probably one of my top (songs)…’

NATHAN: Yeah, I'm really happy with how it came out texturally, and performance-wise everybody just fucking crushed it.

JOEY: The way that we record stuff … we go in Nathan's basement, and then Nathan goes, ‘okay, let's do this, like, nine times.’ (laughs) That song is pretty particularly demanding on the drums, so I remember by the end thinking, ‘It'd be really gratifying if we got a good take.’ I feel like we had good takes throughout the whole thing… but it was exhausting, for sure.

LEX: Nathan got a Fender Rhodes and I got to use it, so that was enough to make me happy with it.

Behind the scenes of video shoot

1120: Let’s turn our attention to the video. What was the concept? How did you guys arrive at it?

NATHAN: Great question and I can talk about this for 12 hours. I won't, but I can.

I'm in (the Buffalo punk band) Velvet Bethany, I play bass in that band, and Velvet Bethany was playing this gig at Mohawk. I'm standing outside with (Velvet Bethany founder and frontwoman) Allison Mitchell’s boyfriend, Mike Thompson, who is a cinematographer. He's really a genius kind of guy. A total sweetheart; kind of like a teddy bear of a man. We're outside and I'm like, ‘Michael, we have this song. We’re gonna make a little video out of it. You know, point-and-shoot on the cell phone,’ and he's like, ‘That's so cool. What's the premise?’ And I said, ‘We just remodeled my house because my ceiling fell down. So, we've got this empty bungalow that's got no furniture in it, and the walls are painted all white everywhere. That's a cool fucking look for a video… I had this idea of a magical remote control coming through the mail slot, and then Bella's sitting forlorn, kind of depressed about the Alaska situation at hand. She’s kind of playing like a caricaturized version of herself.’ Mike was like, ‘Well, what if you did this, and this and this…?’ He's a film guy, and he's got all these ideas, and so I said: ‘okay, we're hiring you.’

I had seen how he works because I was in the Forbidden Fruit music video that he directed for Velvet Bethany. This whole thing was very impromptu. We were talking, and it was like, ‘we have the budget for this. We own the studio in which we play and record. So, we can take our imaginary recording overhead that we've been so fortunate enough to not have to pay and put it into making great visual assets.’ It’s just been really fun, and Mike was just fantastic to work.

1120: Can you talk about what the experience was like making the video and

being actors for a day?

LEX: We did kind of play characters. Everyone but Bella. I think the idea was to be kind of scarily happy, like happy automatons. I think we even wanted to try and be, and look, like animatronics, like Chuck E. Cheese-style. That was a weird experience. Also, the fact that we were, like, playing the (song’s musical) parts — that was interesting.

NATHAN: Bella probably has a lot to say about what it was like, because she's actually, a real, genuine character in this.

BELLA: It’s pretty interesting. Nathan always talks about (me) being the front person in the band and it's something I've never been comfortable with, but I love making art with these guys and the people that it's brought into my life. I've pushed myself to get out of that comfort zone, and I think maybe this music video is a reflection of that. It didn't feel as uncomfortable as the first time I went on stage with these guys. It was fun. I liked being in a character, so I didn't have to think about the cameras and stuff like that.

1120: Joey, when opportunities like this video arise, what is that like for a drummer? As someone who, when they’re on stage and positioned behind everyone else, did you see this as a chance to throw yourself out there?

JOEY: You know, I really like that element of performing with the drums. I know that my face is pretty expressive. I can make some weird faces. I definitely do that in the video at least a couple times… This felt, for me, like a way to showcase the theme of all of us being a unit behind Bella. Bella's up there doing her thing and then, you know, me and Lex and Nathan are kind of looking at each other, making goofy faces. It was a very fun experience for me.

1120: How do you think the band has evolved – musically or otherwise – since your formation and the release of your first single Lizzie McGuire in 2023?

LEX: I think we're a lot more collaborative than we used to be. Previously, I think it was mostly, Nathan would propose a song, and then Bella would write the lyrics, and then me and Joey would come up with, like, bass and drums… And now I feel like we're getting more into arrangement stuff… like, we're working on back-up vocal parts, and we're playing different instruments

NATHAN: Yeah, I would totally agree with that. There was an element where me and Bella had started, and we had gone through, I would say, maybe three or four different people, just trying to get somebody consistent. And, you know, when we started, there was definitely this bank of songs we had, and that sort of set a standard. Once we started moving past that, and wanting new material, like Lex said, it has been much more collaborative. We just put together a song we're really excited about when Joey was visiting (from college) for the holidays, where, like, I had a verse, and it was a very good verse. I was very happy about it. But it's all I had… And, you know, then Lex came up with a section, and Joey came up with a section … kind of like how The Talking Heads would write. They used to put prompts on index cards … and Joey's really good at this, coming in with games or prompts in the writing context to get a concept.

JOEY: Yeah, it’s been really fun to do that with one another … When I joined the band, there was a bit of a bank of songs that already existed. So, it was like, I'm learning parts, pretty much. And that's fun, and I can add my own flavor to stuff like that. But I think that there's a couple things … like playing live. I think that's one of our biggest developments. We've gotten really tight, in my opinion, as a live band. Our energy syncs up really well. I particularly want to shout out Bella. I don't think Bella's been in a band prior to this band, and it's just been really impressive to see the growth. And I would also say, in terms of how we've changed, on the production side of things, I think we've gotten a lot clearer. And having a studio at our disposal has been an incredible resource for us and Nathan's really grown so much (as an engineer and producer).

1120: The band, it seems to us, has been, and is, very well received. How are you guys feeling about the Buffalo scene and your place in it?

NATHAN: Yeah, I do feel as though we're well received. I feel like there's a really good crop of music enthusiasts that are coming out and that's been really, really awesome. A lot of kids are really culture hungry.

As far as our place in the scene, I feel like we've carved out a pretty cool niche …I never feel as though when we’re hopping on a bill with any band that we're just covering the same ground. Synergistically, we get along with a lot of other bands. We kind of got a pretty distinct style. And that’s another thing I'll say: Buffalo is a scene with a lot of bands with very distinct styles. You've got the hardcore scene, you've got the punk scene, and you know, those are genre-specific things. But if you go to the indie world, which I'd say we habitate, it's kind of a whiplash. There are all the different styles. We've got excellent musicians in Buffalo. It's a good scene, it's a diverse scene, and I think it's gotten stronger.

LEX: I'd have to agree with that. I feel like, even since this time last year, there are more kids who are excited about music and coming out. I remember us doing gigs, like an Amy's Place gig, and I feel like the first two or three times we played there, our people were there but it was pretty empty otherwise. Then, the last time we played there, it was packed, and there was a new audience who were excited about hearing the music. Nathan had a bunch of, like,15-year-old kids who were really excited about his guitar playing, which was awesome and unforgettable.

BELLA: Yeah, I think the enthusiasm of everyone that has come to our shows has been really positive, and like Nathan said, I think one of the great things is how we are on bills with bands that don't necessarily have the same sound as us, and I think it's a great way to reach other audiences. I feel like we do take a lot from grunge and pop punk, and we have some sort of little drizzles of that in our music, so I think we can mesh well with a good amount of different artists.

NATHAN: Yeah, and I would say as far as Bella’s grunge point goes: The music that's coming up from us, be prepared for some heavier textures, for sure. We’re getting a lot more comfortable with that production-wise. We didn't get to record as much last year as we wanted to. I spent more time recording other artists than I spent, in the production sense, with our band… So, bands are coming into the studio, recording stuff that's heavier than what I'm typically doing, so… we're influenced by other people.

I'm producing these other bands, and their ideas are seeping into my brain. ‘Oh, The Mookies did this. Let's do it that way.’ Or like, I'm recording with Pipe Bomb coming up soon, and I know those guys are gonna bring in some really cool garage-rock textures.

1120: You mentioned your distinct sound, and we would agree, your sound is very distinct. Where do you think that comes from?

JOEY: It happens 100-percent organically. I think it’s a product of all of our inherent traits as musicians. This is the way that Bella writes songs and melodies. This is Nathan's guitar tone. Nathan plays guitar like this. Nathan also has a very particular way of picking the guitar. You know, Lex has very, very melodic bass lines every time. I know how I sound on the drums, I think our goal is just to write good, cool, catchy songs.

1120: So, you have the new single and video, and as you’ve mentioned you have a bunch of material completed or almost done. Does that mean there will be an album or EP coming this year? What can people expect?

NATHAN: I would say they can expect big things. You can interpret that however you want, you know? There's some showmanship! (Laughs)

JOEY: Big things coming…

NATHAN: … that will involve multiple audio music-oriented recordings, and…

BELLA: …music is definitely involved.

1120: So, we can expect big things, but no details just yet?.

LEX: It's all about the metrics, the numbers.

NATHAN: You can expect big things in regard to releases with lots of track counts… But past that, we won't specify what we're talking about.

JOEY: That's a headline right there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EywzJUEgv-s