I have lived in Louisville, Kentucky for almost 12 years. I can not think of a time that I have not seen Neriah Romero around. He is inspiring, encouraging, accepting, and a varied contributor to many communities here.
Though his most recent two releases are from the bands Sidestep and Basic Needs, he's also played in such bands as Prime and Crossed Off. I spoke with Neriah to learn more about him and why he does what he does.
For over a decade now, I have seen you wearing many different hats, and none of them demand recognition or attention. I have watched you collecting money, creating flyers, setting up PA systems, dancing, playing guitar, booking shows, singing, delivering pizza, printing shirts, 'getting up' with hand styles, sweeping floors and taking out trash. Where does your commitment to your community stem from?
Church mostly, say what you want about organized religion, and when you get to a certain point it quite clearly becomes a distortion of what it's supposed to be, but my parents are pastors of a church that I've seen as little as 10 people at and at the most maybe 70. I grew up with the understanding that community isn't the spotlight. Its that "parts make up the whole.." thing or whatever.
It would be nothing to watch my parents preach, take out trash, sweep, mop, advise people and anything else that needed to be done all of that in a single sunday. That's how I learned what community was so I just kept it going forward.
What project or accomplishment or community effort do you think you were/are most excited to share with your parents as a testament to your upbringing and a nod to your appreciation for them?
Honestly, I'll probably just send them this interview so they can see it written down somewhere. Maybe I should do a better job of it but I don't really like, tell them what's going on. My siblings will pop up catch one of my comedy shows or like show up to a big show I throw and go and report back to my mom and dad like "yo neriah has it lit out here" but my parents are a bit older and very much detached.
It's kind of hard for me to explain the weight of something like getting to book BIB or actually how insane the Basic Needs record release show was. I've stopped trying to communicate that because it's such a specific "those who know, know" type of thing.
Well, if you're going to show them this interview, do they know all your lyrics and stand-up are specifically how persecuted you felt as their child, and that you would have been a pastor if they ever let you speak?
That's not actually my parents thats way more on organized religion as a whole honestly. I definitely didn't feel persecuted as their child, my parents are orators and artist, they encouraged me, and my siblings, to think deeply and challenge ourselves. Organized religion on the other hand to me is the persecution you hear me push against.
That system, way of thinking, ideology and lifestyle is something I take issue with always. and even then I really like to think I approach all of it from a place of hurt love. Like because of my parents and their view of church and god I've seen the best parts of it. And because of my experiences in mega churches and Christian school I've seen the worst. Personally I think I critique so harshly because I have seen what it can be.
[Laughs] Wait wait, that was sarcastic, so sorry to confuse you. Great answer, and thank you, but I just wanted you to get a rise out of your parents when they read this.
[Laughs]. I took it like a real conversation. I was like, "Damn Bricks is getting deep!"
We always go deep, but that was ridiculous.
[Laughs] If my mom reads the word persecuted she will not even read the rest before she calls me to ask if shes a bad mother.
That's what I'm talking about, give me her number so I can tell her she's a bad mother. Please don't give me her number, because then I'll have to follow through. You mention a "those who know, know" type of thing, yet your ability to be an ingredient and mix into many recipes, without overpowering the taste, seems to be a conscious personality trait of yours. You appear to be welcoming, and able to articulate, and be "professional" to find common ground.
What projects and contributions and community efforts are YOU most proud of? What Neriah creations or collaborations do you think are easier to promote to a person that may not be "in the know"?
I'm proud of anything that feels like the next step or evolution or challenge. "Can my band write a DC-inspired melodic hardcore record and, with purely our energy, convince metalcore kids to connect to it?" "Can me and June throw a comedy show in the middle of the day and get people to come to it and laugh like they're in a dark comedy club" the challenge is the fulfilling part, its the fun part.
I think if I had to show someone one thing to describe what I do,it would be that Spinellis return show at Baxter Ave. Booked and announced the week of, 400+ kids showed up, punks and core kids playing together, everyone dancing, Brian Spinellis, so slammed he's gotta hop behind the counter to take orders. Everything was just firing on all cylinders. It was dope. Being the facilitator of that kind of chaos by sending out 7 text messages and making an Instagram post felt insane.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face within your creativity or community? How do you sustain such a drive, physically, financially, emotionally?
The only challenge I have currently is myself. Working against my own self sabotage, my own stubbornness, working to push through what I think is great to try to become even greater. Generally speaking, most opponents can be outlasted. It's your own mind that becomes the fight. Complacency becomes the fight.
I don't even think of it as sustaining at this point. This is what I do. I create, full stop. From the moment I wake up I spend my days thinking of ways to double show attendance, how to make the next record even better, how to destroy at the open mics. This is just how I am. Let hardcore end tomorrow, I'm gonna make a house music album. Let COVID happen again and we're stuck inside, I get to write the sueno album I've been meaning to for 2 years. Let comedy halt for some reason, cool I finally get to lock in my Philly handstyles. There is not sustaining I'm just living.
Your drive reminds me of a quote from Style Wars, something like "we are never gonna stop, people will be writing their names with chocolate milk if we have to." I've always been intrigued by the connection that you and Chris Carswell have. It seems brotherly first, and the art is a by-product. Can you talk about when that started and if you actually set out with a vision? If so, do you have more on the menu that is gonna get served?
Man, Chris is for real my brother. And I don't use that word lightly because I have brothers. There's a thing with really high profile creatives where they have like a counterpart who is equally, alot of times more talented, just in the background more. Like if I'm Kanye being creative and obnoxious, Chris is Virgil, nothing actually gets done without him. We met just doing music stuff, he was in a band that I loved, I was in a new band, we did a split I ended up joining his band and we've been connected ever since.
We are forever bonded by being 2 people who love to work, every time I think I work hard I talk to Chris and he's outworking me by 3 times as much. The first Sidestep songs were recorded in his car on his phone, he mixed them himself. The Basic Needs demo was recorded at his house. He is without a doubt the most crucial part of anything I do.
As far as what's on the menu, I hope that me and Chris create together for the rest of our lives. I hope were in our 40s doing Sidestep 20-year shows. Hes such a talent though honestly I think he's going to get way too big for me, and I kind of want that, like i think Chris is like grammy level talented, nothing would make me happier than people finally seeing that and him just hitting that level that like, I cant even get a hold of him at.
I remember hearing about you and Chris recording in a car, and that feels perfectly balanced to me. You just listed a few of your projects with Chris. I have seen you play in so many different bands, whether they are your own or whether you are filling in. Can you rattle off your best guess at a band résumé before we talk about your most recent/current releases?
Let's see in order it's something like:
- Frailty (hardcore, guitar)
- To Die Alone (2010s-style screamo, guitar)
- Street Sense (emo, singing)
- The Stoic Club (post-hardcore/screamo, guitar)
- Ceiling (rock, guitar and singing)
- Crossed Off (hardcore, vocals)
- Prime (hardcore, vocals)
- Sidestep (dreamy shoegaze, guitarist and singer)
- Basic Needs (hardcore punk, vocals)
Those are all the official ones. Then there was Hogarth which I never recorded for but sang for that band on a ton of ocassions. I was like the 5th member of Transgression in the way where I was like a permanent fill in. And there was Jealous Figure which only played 1 show the first LDB aftershow I threw but I always mention because the record that'll never come out is one of the best things I've ever written.
Can't stop, won't stop. Latest release. Basic Needs. The most confident I have ever seen you with a mic in your hand on stage, and the most powerful and clear I have heard your vocals on a recording. It feels like raw passion. It reminded me of Dive from Massachusetts, and early VOD recordings. It felt like you crossed a threshold on this recording, and your voice is now one with your thoughts and your art. Can you talk about how your voice has become so empowered?
I think of it less as empowered and more so completely freed. I think for a long time I was stuck to what I was supposed to sound like, sing about, what everyone around me was doing. I took a break from being in hardcore bands when Prime broke up in 2020 for over 3 years. In that time period, I started doing comedy and realized the power of being personal.
I came back to doing hardcore with a completely new outlook on it. Sometimes you have to go left to go up. Basic Needs is creative, its interesting musically. Lyrically its tackling heavy concepts in a playful way. I couldn't have figured it out without those steps.
Your Sidestep recordings and live show style is beautiful, and it always makes me crave more of your voice, and wonder if you've ever thought about a project where you sing with full emphasis on your range? "Sing" meaning in the traditional sense of sing, not necessarily the front person of a band.
I think Sidestep is getting there slowly. I think every release I'm doing something different, mixing different, singing different. There are songs that are more based around my voice than others. I'm still getting comfortable singing to be honest. It's a big commitment to me.
If feels like something I'm still very much figuring out. But recently, Chris has been doing the mixing for the Sidestep songs and because of that, the songs have a bigger emphasis on my voice than ever. So to answer your question, yes at some point we'll get there or I'll get there.
READ MORE: Automatic Singer Matt Weider Discusses the Louisville Hardcore Band’s New Discography
I'm glad to have access to it as it unfolds! A lot of your spirit pushes through microphones and instruments. What other outlets do you use to express yourself? It would make perfect sense to me, if you are working on zines, or stickers, or putting together a small record label.
I write graf. That's my most like just chill actual hobby. I'm too busy to take it super seriously right now but I still love it. Visual art is the hardest for me so I have to really work at it. Theres really nothing better though than waking up on a saturday morning like 6am. Getting a coffee and a bagel and going to a legal wall or back wall and spending 4-5 hours doing a piece and character and just vibing.
Other than that, I did put out a photo zine in 2021 called Creative Violence that was film photos I took of me and friends traveling the country painting. I ran like 40 of them it sold out. That was very fulfilling. I think a label is next for me but I need to get a little more disposable income. Labels that inspire me are those like very small boutique ones.
Like if I did a label I'd be super particular about the bands and I would need to be involved in their production, their album art, their promo photos. The goal would be perfect sonic and aesthetic curation, so I need to get a bit more popular and a bit more money so that I'm notable as well as people trust my taste.
If I had a philanthropy budget, I would grant you that currency and residency. I believe your trustable integrity, and curator skills, will always hit the mark. You now have an LDB records release. Still hardworking Louisville local pride , but a broader reach now. Do you plan on upping your road shows? How has the initial response been from a larger audience in your conversations within Basic Needs?
The conversation around the band regionally has been very interesting. We have a little bit of cool recognition for it regionally and we are definitely getting asked to do more cool things than any of my bands have ever been approached with, so yes we will be on the road a decent amount this year.
A couple of regional fest appearances and support dates for some of our friends bigger bands are locked in and we're doing some other stuff. The general consensus around this band seems to be "I don't know what this band is doing sonically, but whatever it is, they've got it." Which I guess is a nice sentiment.
You are an accomplished player, and experienced in many fields, and yet not a jaded old-timer or a jolly-lifer. Has your positivity been challenged by being in that middle stage and age, of: evolution versus you've seen it all? Do you ever envision producing biological children and/or a viable family community continuation, (religious or not) that can allow folks like you to support all generations and ideas with a strong foundation?
I definitely have been challenged. If I'm honest I probably quit everything once a week. A couple times a year I look at the calendar and what I have planned and in my mind I just run away and start a new life somewhere else. I think its important to feel that. It's okay to feel unacomplished or uninspired. I think it's part of the process. I just don't ever actually quit I just go to sleep, wake up, and go back to work.
I think at some point a family definitely is in the future. Its nerve wracking to think about but at some point I'd for sure like to do it. Right now the new kids in hardcore are my kids though. I'm enjoying teaching them and giving them advice as well as letting them fuck up things on their own. It's rewarding to watch.
What, where, who, inspires you? Musically, comically, artfully, strengthening community?
Joe Budden, Vince Staples, Chris Carswell, San Antonio, Texas, the new Playboi Carti album, Zexor fst, Philadelphia, the movie Mystic River.
Expand upon that Mystic River reference.
It's just a beautiful movie. I think it might be my favorite film if it's not it's in my Top 5. Clint Eastwood did it and I'm generally not too into what he does but this one specifically just speaks to me. My favorite movies are ones that can be compelling without having to come off as massive.
Mystic River is compelling while remaining understated. Its incredibly acted while never over acted. Its beautifully shot but you have to pay attention to notice that. I just think it's perfect. When I think about what I’d want a music video to look like i think about Mystic River.
You are Louisville Representative with pride. It is clear you love your city. What other places in the world do you feel the most at home? Lastly, you have joked about and tagged some accounts as "The Mayor" Have you ever considered a role in that system of politics at any level?
Philadelphia. San Antonio, Texas. The Bay Area, the very brief time I've been there. All those places are very different but really have made an impact on me. And honestly. I'm not sure. Maybe.
Before I found punk I planned to be a lawyer, and then a judge, but then I heard Have Heart. I'm not positive my mom has quite forgiven hardcore for that.
I started calling myself "The Mayor" purely out of spite for multiple situations but I just watched Oliver, singer of the band Boot Camp, run for city counsel and win and I also do believe words have power so who knows. Maybe one day.
I appreciate your time, your energy, and your effort. I'll volunteer for your campaign. For now, how can people connect with you and be a part of your creations? Is there anything else you would like to say or promote?
Follow me on Instagram: @themayoroflouisville
That's where you'll get news on Sidestep, Basic Needs, and my comedy shows.
Go get Basic Needs new record, The World Isn't My Concern, over on LDB. Sidestep has a split coming out with Fleshless Body from Springfield, Missouri, just something fun to do because we're touring together. Go stream that. "Cordless Phone" is one of my favorite Sidestep songs.
Thanks for this, Bricks.
Thanks for that, Neriah.
Tagged: basic needs, sidestep
