Green Mind Gigs Presents DRUG STORE ROMEOS

When Drug Store Romeos first got together they would spend long weekends writing songs together in their teenage bedrooms. It was a joyous period and one they never wanted to leave. In many ways they haven’t. The bedroom days came soon after the group formed following Charlie Henderson and drummer Jonny Gilbert pinning an ad on the wall at their college looking for a bassist. Sarah Downie replied and, despite not playing bass, was welcomed into the fold. Not only did the time spent in their bedrooms result in new music, mainly pulled from long, zig-zagging jam sessions, the three also became friends while shut away from the rest of the world. Holed up in the commuter town of Fleet, a commuter town perhaps best known for those who have passed through it rather than making a home there, they’d trade stories, share obsessions, and pull up beloved YouTube clips. A band and new friendships formed in real time. Naturally, by the time they came to record their debut album, all three members of the band were keen to hold onto that wide-eyed energy for as long as possible.

“We always wanted to create our own world,” Sarah explains, “and I think we did.” When the band moved to London they’d still feel part of the bubble they formed at home in Fleet. “As a three we have this force field around us,” Sarah remembers of a time spent buoyed by the tight bonds she’d formed back home. This feeling of otherworldliness is apparent in Drug Store Romeos’ music, a hypnotic and delicate mix of dream pop and synth-led exploration. Their songs have always had a spacey quality to them, romantic yet a little alien. On debut album The World Within Our Bedrooms they wanted to shake things up more than ever, add more weight to their featherlite production and begin looking out through the curtains. Suddenly the walls of the bedroom were looking less protective and more like something to push beyond. “The new songs reflect a more mature side of our personality,” Charlie says when comparing the album to early single Now You’re Moving. “The emotional experiences of being a young adult are all in there.”