Invade Rome
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Invade Rome

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | SELF

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | SELF
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"Play the name game with Invade Rome"

Name changes are a pain in the ass—all the legal requirements and John Hancocks you need are enough to consider leaving well enough alone. Fortunately, when a band goes through the process, it’s a little easier. Take Milwaukee’s Invade Rome, the band formerly known as popular club act Freshwater Collins. After briefly calling it quits earlier this decade, the group reconvened with two new members in 2003 and evolved into a classic rock juggernaut reminiscent of Kings Of Leon and The Black Keys. Now Invade Rome has a new record, Light Eyed & Villainous, to go with the new name. In advance of a CD release show Saturday at The Cactus Club, singer-guitarist Chris Vos talked to Decider about finding a mind-blowingly awesome moniker.

Decider: So, why the name change?

Chris Vos: I was the one who basically said, “Guys, I won’t put out another album under that name, because our sound has changed.” We were driving back from a gig in Madison when it happened, and they all looked at me. There was a mixture of “Thank God, somebody said it,” and also “Are you crazy? We’re supposed to press a record in two weeks!” But, I was like, “If we don’t do this today, we’re never gonna do it.” If we’re ultimately going to go face-first into the side of the mountain, at least we did it on our terms and in the end, it’s our band. I feel like the other guys have earned a right to be there from the beginning. Those guys have been through a lot with my brother and I, and they’ve earned it: the right to have their own band name and their own concept.

D: How did you end up with Invade Rome?

CV: Naming a band has gotten a lot more complicated than I remember. We must have gone through a ton of names, none of which I’m going to mention here, because they’re pretty embarrassing. Let’s just say I was almost kicked out of my band a few times. We narrowed the list down to five, and Invade Rome was one that I had come up with that I never thought would fly, but I loved it, and it just ended up being the one that we needed when the record was already pressed. We liked the sound of it. I hate to be “un-artsy” about it, but I just liked the concept of it—it just leaves a lot to be interpreted.

D: What’s been the reaction so far?

CV: The reaction has been positive, and that’s cool. It’s the most true to ourselves that we’ve ever been. We don’t have any sort of mold to fit; we’re creating it. I’m not ashamed of our past, but we kind of set a marker. It’s allowed the band to write the way we want to, without any thought of “Does this fit, does this not fit?” Right now, I believe this is the most excited about music I’ve been in a long time, and I’ve been doing this for a long time. Back then it was just turning the amp up and playing. I’ve seen enough to know what is really worth getting excited about, and what isn’t.

D: How do you want people to see you now?

CV: The only goal of our band, at this point, is to put out a good record and to play a good show. That’s the mission statement. Good, by what we consider good, and if other people get it, great; if not, whatever. We have no delusions of grandeur, here. We just want to play good music. If I had any control over that, I would just say that I want them to realize that we’re happy doing what we’re doing. We’re doing this because it’s what we want to, so whether you like it or hate, it, it’s us, and in the end, the only other thing I want them to realize is to please bring ear protection, because we’re extremely loud.

By Erin Wolf - The Onion/Decider


"A flair for big moments: Invade Rome"



For concert-goers seeking a ground-shaking experience to celebrate the Fourth of July at Summerfest, look no further than Milwaukee's own Invade Rome, which plays on the Cascio Interstate Groove Garage stage.

"We're the band that likes to push it to the limit with volume," says drummer Justin Krol. "Our sound's between that fine line between where it's awesome and painful. We want to explode out of the PA."

Joined onstage by brothers Chris and Brian Vos, Krol and Invade Rome have made a name for themselves with a flair for big sounding moments. Big guitars and drum sounds are the norm with this band.

"Our sound is definitely gritty and big," says Krol of the power trio's psychedelic tinged music. "We have our quiet moments also but we like our big moments to be very, very big."

Inspired by '90s-era Flaming Lips music mentality where the drums are as big as possible, the band takes every detail into account and are true experimenters with what they can do with drum and guitar sounds.

"We do a lot of studio tricks with that kind of stuff where we try to maximize how big and how fuzzy we can get these tones," says Krol. "Lots of saturation and we carry that all the way through. We like really fuzzy, really big and very crazy types of tones."

Add to that a unique singer in Chris who helps puts the band in a league of their own. For Ryan Matteson, editor of the popular Muzzle of Bees blog, Chris's voice put him under its spell the first time he saw him a number of years ago.

"I first saw Chris play the slide guitar while I was in college at UWM sometime around 2000-2001," says Matteson. "He was using a cigarette lighter as a slide and his voice sounded as if it could forge the signature of the sun."

At that time, Chris and his brother fronted a band started in the late '90s called Freshwater Collins, a band known also for making their own impression on the music scene. After Krol joined their band in 2002, they released an album three years later and then nothing new came out for some time.

Even with the album in 2005 they notice their sound was changing. Slowly, they drifted away from the original Freshwater Collins sound. When it came to record a new album recently, which ended up entitled "Light Eyed and Villainous," their music had taken a new shape. One day, they decided it was time for a new name. Invade Rome won out.

"We hadn't been Freshwater Collins mentally for quite a while," says Krol. "We decided that it would be smarter for us at this point, if we're really in this for the long haul, to change that now and kind of be able to start over."

He added that any time you have a band as big as Freshwater Collins "it's really hard to persuade anyone that you're capable of doing anything differently." With the name change, Krol says it gives the band more of an opportunity to do something different.

The band has flourished with their new moniker with audiences latching onto their unique sound on their album. These people include fellow Milwaukee musicians who couldn't see the local scene without them. For Maritime's Dan Hinz, Invade Rome is "truly inspiring to me a musician" and described them the "love child between ACDC and The Strokes."

"What really draws you in are these huge, driving, almost hypnotic rock riffs that make you want to grab anything around you that resembles a guitar and pretend you're Chris Vos for a few minutes," says Hinz.

These sounds have attracted a wide range of music listeners. Matteson notices whenever he's at a Invade Rome's show there's quite a diverse selection of music tastes.

"They're truly a musical chameleon that appeals to a large range of musical fans," says Matteson. "You can be standing next to a long-time fan of The Who, a fan of Widespread Panic, a heavy metal fan, a couple bikers, college guys and gals, as well as people who are into all the latest indie bands."

Krol says that the band's work ethic has led the band to continually write new songs, many of which found their way on their latest album. Knowing a good song comes as pretty intuitive for them. Typically those written quickly are the keepers.

"When you hit that lottery ticket when everyone's into it right away, I think it's the universe telling you that this song is worthy of the album," says Krol.

The band doesn't stop there - they work closely from start to finish to make sure their album is exactly how they want.

"We're in on every step of the process," says Krol. "I feel that's the best way we can put out our products."

Working with people in tune with their vision for their sound, the album saw the band having a blast and turning on all cylinders. Likely working at storied Smart Studios in Madison rubbed off as they worked producer Beau Sorenson (known for his work with Death Cab for Cutie). Sorenson understood with the band's desire to record on analog tapes and get the best sound.

Once they completed what they could do, the sent the album for remastering to Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering in Arizona. Seibel is known for remastering the Hendrix tapes. As Krol says, he's "well versed in big sounds" and able to further maximize their sound.

Invade Rome, without wasting much time, have taken their music to the road with fiery force. They've shared tour dates with bands such as the Secret Machines, Dead Confederate, as well as invitations to major festival performances alongside The Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, and Kings of Leon.

"We play a lot of dates in the past and we've have years where we've had 150 plus shows in one year," says Krol. "We just don't turn it down. If there's an opportunity to play more we'll take it because it's part of our work ethic."

This barrage of performances includes their recent performance at South by Southwest in Texas where in a 24-hour period they played three shows. Matteson says that every show the band gives it their all.

"They leave every drop of themselves on that stage," says Matteson. "Their live shows are almost like revivals, I always leave inspired and wishing other bands put the same energy into their live performances."

The band hopes to spread their music around the world and get some albums released there. Regardless if they have a show or not, the band members enjoy every time they have to practice.

Hinz says everyone in the band is really easy to get along with and all know what they want in their music.

"They're all straight shooters," says Hinz. "When you know them well enough they treat you like family. It's a beautiful thing."

The band is likely using some of their practice time on fine tuning an EP that will likely be out this fall. It likely will continue the sound of their first album but as Krol says it'll be a little darker this time. Not wanting to fall into past habits, they don't want to leave a big gap in albums again.

"We don't want to leave any space between albums any more because we tend to leave too much space and it's hard for any connection to be made," says Krol.

So far, they've certainly made a loud and big connection to the Milwaukee music scene.

"They're woven into the musical fabric and community," says Matteson. "They're musical risk takers, who move in the direction they want and that's really respectable to me."

- Milwaukee Magazine/OnMilwaukee.com


"Get to Know: Invade Rome"

There are very few bands that are operating in the true genre of rock and roll. Sure, there’s a deluge of bands that play indie rock, prog rock, art rock, and whatever new subgenres of rock and roll us critics come up with every day. But how many bands play that solid rock and roll sound that bands like Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones innovated? Very few, if you don’t count cover bands. Classic rock is called “classic” for a reason I guess. Invade Rome can’t be called anything but rock and roll. There’s no new subgenre you can lump these gentlemen in to. The four members of Invade Rome have played together for over five years though not always under this specific band name. Before that the band was Freshwater Collins and a staple in the Milwaukee scene, but they decided to shed their jam band/stoner rock roots for a new progressive path.

Under their new moniker Invade Rome, they spent a year and a half developing their raw rock sound in a Madison studio for their debut album. Light Eyed & Villainous was released January 6th independently and produced by Beau Sorenson, who had previously worked with Sparklehorse, Death Cab for Cutie, and Tegan and Sara. However Light Eyes & Villainous is nothing like the works of Sorenson’s previous projects, neither is it like Freshwater Collins. This is a reemergence of what it was to be rock and roll. Light Eyed & Villainous is filled with that blues-inspired beats and rough but seductive lyrics that make classic rock young again. They’ve forgone their ten minute jam sessions for tight five second guitar riffs. Even their lighter tracks like “Mae West” and “Trust Another Lover” have that charged energy that must make this band a sight to see live. It shows that this band knows what they’re doing, despite the drastic change in their style.

The album opener “Pretty Demons” is the song on Light Eyed & Villainous that has to get the bar crowd going. Even when I listen to it at home I start head-banging and dancing like a fiend. I even considered ripping off my shirt and throwing it towards my computer in lieu of their stage (yet again, in the privacy of my home). I don’t know what makes me think these inappropriate things. It could be the ripping guitars, the saucy, gruff voice of Chris Vos, the driving drum beat of Justin Krol, lyrics like “Make love like a true sensation.” Or it could be that inner rock girl inside of me striving to bust my ladies free. Either way, it might be dangerous for me to go to an Invade Rome show. - Heave Media, INC


"On the road with Invade Rome: Light Eyed and Villainous album release weekend"

As if setting out with a new name to support their new album wasn't difficult enough, the Milwaukee-based rock quartet Invade Rome had mother nature to deal with too during an extremely cold three-night, three-city mini tour in support of their latest release Light Eyed and Villainous.

Formerly known as Freshwater Collins and a mainstay in the Milwaukee music scene, the group, which consists of the brothers Chris and Brian Vos on guitar and bass, Josh Tovar on guitar and Justin Krol on drums, changed their name after 13 years under the former title, in an effort to shed the jam band tag that had become affixed to their name after various festival appearances and other awkward billings over the years and to drive their more modern, more concise and louder rock sound home to a new audience.

When the band decided to change names, they had already spent more than a year and a half working independently on the album-- from penning the songs, to recording at Smart Studios in Madison with producer Beau Sorenson (who has worked in varying capacities with Death Cab for Cutie, Garbage, Tegan and Sara) and to developing artwork for the album and planning its promotion. All of that planning had to be put on hold for months in order to revisit album art, merch and promo materials and to get the word out about the new name. Heading into the string of album release shows, the vinyl still wasn't in yet, but the band's promotion was running full-steam ahead with numerous radio interview and performance slots and feature coverage through various area media outlets.

Riding along with the band on their way to Chicago on the second day, however, the mood was tentatively optimistic-- one of the coldest nights in the area in reportedly more than ten years kept downtown Madison rather empty the night before, save for a small yet responsive crowd that came to their show, and the mercury hadn't risen much by the time they finished another radio interview in Milwaukee the next morning and headed to the Windy City for an afternoon sound check at the Empty Bottle. The constant cold took a little bit of energy out of everyone, and despite the green room being a comparably balmy 49 degrees, Chris still managed to get a bit of shut-eye during the wait for show time. With fellow Milwaukee rockers Juniper Tar and Chicago's The Names That Spell and Yourself & The Air warming up the stage as openers, and the green room now up to 51 degrees from the additional people, the night began to heat up, and Invade Rome would eventually pound out their new album with bombast, welcome Juniper Tar for a collaborative end to the show, talk with fans and head out of the venue feeling good about the progression of the weekend.

It was but a fleeting moment though, as a tire on the band's trailer went flat just blocks from the venue. Luckily, the band was prepared-- the spare tire buried under guitar cases in the back of the van was almost fully inflated and the torch they carried in the van to unfreeze the trailer hinges worked great at unfreezing the lug nuts from the rim with the flat. In all, the fix only took about a half an hour as they rotated in shifts of two from the relative heat of the van, which ought to be some sort of cold weather record, but by the time van, and trailer, rolled into Milwaukee, the morning sun was being filtered through the start of another snow storm.

Not to be daunted, and with the creature comforts of playing close to home on everyone's mind, the band re-congregated later that night for a strong turnout of family, friends, fellow musicians and fans at the Cactus Club, where Invade Rome turned in their best performance out of the three nights. "Pretty Demons," the opening track off the new album, was particularly fiery, and the psychadelic-tinged "Play In The Band" was particularly ominous. Expanding the set from the previous two nights, the band seemed to give all the energy, and voices, they had left after the hectic and more than ice-cold week. Perhaps as a storied start to a conquest of a magnitude their name implies, the next big thing on the band's horizon is a yet-to-be-determined appearance at South by Southwest in Austin, Tex., where it at least ought to be warm. - Concert Livewire/Pollstar


"Invade Rome – Light Eyed and Villainous"

Milwaukee based Invade Rome have teamed with Death Cab for Cutie producer Beau Sorensen for their latest effort Light Eyed and Villainous. However, their music couldn’t be more different from Ben Gibbard’s typical depressed fare. In fact, I’ve been having a hard time categorizing their music myself. While it’s definitely rock, the comparisons include everything from Muse, Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell, The Strokes and even a touch of Johnny Cash. Nevertheless, the band consistently offers upbeat high energy songs with addicting guitar riffs and powerful drum lines.

With such a high level of energy coming through on the CD it’s no wonder Invade Rome has gained a reputation for putting on some stunning live shows. Tracks like The Phone Call and Play in the Band are relentless, while tracks like Mae West and Pretty Demons show off the groups vocal range. There is really something for everyone. Heavier songs are mixed with ballad type songs and the vocals differ so much from song to song I at times wonder if there are four or five different singers. It all combines into a nice package that flows well despite genre incongruity.

There is no doubt about Invade Rome’s musical chops. They are one of those bands poised to explode into the mainstream. Light Eyed and Villainous is currently available via download a la the In Rainbows pay what you like format, with a $5 minimum. When they get signed, it’s only a matter of time, you can no doubt expect a wider distribution range. I suggest, however, that you pick up their CD now, before they become wildly popular.

Light Eyed and Villainous - The Umbilical Chord


"What’s in a name? Ask Invade Rome"

Last fall, Milwaukee groove-rock vets Freshwater Collins decided to move forward under a different name, calling the band Invade Rome. The gestation period of any idea always has aspects of difficulty looming. One might then presume that the process becomes almost infinitely harder when you are developing a new band name for your band that has used the inaugural decade of the millennium to create a “happening” around its music. Invade Rome let Fan-belt sit in on their practice to talk about new beginnings and the end of you.

F-b: Was it a natural transition that brought about the band’s decision to change its name?

Josh Tovar (guitar): I would say it went back to around 2005 when we first discussed changing the band name. That’s kind of where it started. We talked about doing it for a long time but it never came together.

Chris Vos (vox, guitars): When we did our newest record (Light Eyed and Villainous) we knew that the sound had changed. It just wasn’t the same. It was at that point that we decided that if we were going to do (the name change) we had to just do it. At this point Justin (Krol, drummer) and Josh have just as much time logged as my brother and I had with the previous band members. The name change helped it to feel like all of us were equal because we try to keep it as equal as possible.

F-b: Were any of you nervous about the new name?

Josh: I was just more relieved than anything.

Chris: I wasn’t nervous. I was happy. I’ve never believed in anything as much as I believed in changing our name.

Justin: The last straw was the night of the Secret Machines show in Madison on October 17th. The whole ride up we were talking about how we were just going to announce the name change on stage that night. We didn’t end up doing it, but on Halloween the name change was finalized to Invade Rome.

F-b: Was putting the song “The End of You” at the end of the album a metaphor for the change?

Chris: No, it actually just happened like that. That song had been considered the last song on the record before we decided to change the name officially.

F-b: What were the top 5 band names that were too radical to make the cut?

1. Eagle Scream
2. Pyramid of Falcons
3. The Cheeseburgers
4. Hail in the Hallways
5. Buffalo Torch

Chris: The bottom line of this list is that naming your band is fucking hard.

Brian Vos (bass): Picking a name for our band was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I mean, everybody spends time sitting in bars thinking up band names but it is another thing entirely to put the name out there on the line and say that you are going to stand under it.

F-b: What is success for Invade Rome?

Chris: Being able to stay in the game and put out music that we enjoy.

Invade Rome plays a No Buck Show with The Parlor Mob at Turner Hall on Thursday April 16th. The show starts at 8 pm and yes it is completely free of charge to attend.

Tags: Invade Rome, The Parlor Mob, Turner Hall - Fan-Belt.com


"Invade Rome: Milwaukee psych-rock vets start over"



Chris Vos admits the timing of his epiphany wasn't ideal. Vos' band, Freshwater Collins, had just spent the last year and a half writing and prepping their new album, saving up the cash to record it at Madison's Smart Studios with producer Beau Sorenson, who has worked on recent albums by Death Cab for Cutie, and to perfect its artwork and packaging.With just two weeks until the album was to go to press, the band was driving home from a show opening for the Secret Machines when Vos shared his revelation with his band mates: "Guys, we're changing the name of the band."

"When we'd finally finished recording and I heard the album, I realized that it sounded nothing like Freshwater Collins," Vos recalls. "It was the work of a completely different band."

In truth, it had been years since Freshwater Collins had sounded like Freshwater Collins-or at least the Freshwater Collins that most remember. That band spent the better part of the decade as one of Milwaukee's most visible bands. With their swampy but nimble funk-rock, they found a ready audience in the then-burgeoning jam scene, sharing bills with genre titans like Gov't Mule, Big Wu and the Jerry Garcia Band. But even long after the group outgrew their early sound, taking a particularly un-jammy turn toward the loud and heavy four years ago when Vos and his brother Brian recruited a new guitarist (Josh Tovar) and drummer (Justin Krol), their reputation as a jam band persisted.

"I really don't have anything against that scene, but we didn't fit into it," Vos says. "Here we were playing this big, huge, extremely loud rock with a psychedelic twist, and that scene just wasn't into it. That was proven time and time again. We'd get booked at particular festivals, and when we began to play people would literally begin running from the stage."

Too heavy to keep their existing fans, too pigeonholed to make new ones, the band gambled that a complete re-branding was the only way to find the right audience, so this fall they delayed their new album, overhauling all its artwork to reflect their new name. The giant, black letters on the cover that once read FRESHWATER COLLINS now spell INVADE ROME.

The inaugural Invade Rome album, Light Eyed & Villainous, finally saw release last week. Clocking in at just under a half-hour, it's tighter and more visceral than anything the band recorded as Freshwater Collins, a burly, muscular rock 'n' roll album that recalls a more ferocious Kings of Leon, or a hard-charging My Morning Jacket. Vos' bluesy groan remains, but now the music is nervier, the production more modern. The disc's oversized drums could have been ripped from a Dave Fridmann Flaming Lips album.

Though Vos was apprehensive about jettisoning the name he'd been playing under for 13 years, members of Invade Rome were reassured they'd made the right decision weeks later by their like-minded tour-mates Dead Confederate. That Athens, Ga., group had existed stagnantly for years under a different, infinitely less-distinct band name-The Redbelly Band-only to see their career take off when they adopted the new moniker.

"Hearing another band had done the same thing, changing their name, throwing out all their old material and putting out a new record," Vos says, "that gave us a lot of needed encouragement.

"When my brother and I formed Freshwater, we were just kids trying to learn how to write songs," he continues. "But this new record has nothing to do with what we recorded in the past. I wanted it to belong to the four of us, and not be compared to the music we used to make. I felt strongly enough about that that I was willing to start over after 13 years."

Invade Rome plays a 10 p.m. CD-release show at the Cactus Club on Jan. 17 with Juniper Tar.
- Shepherd Express


"Invade Rome"

Invade Rome sounds like a collision of '60s rock, '70s muscle and '80s college faves; its new album, Light Eyed & Villainous, captures the band's live din pretty darn well...

- Time-Out Chicago


"Invade Rome at the Viper Room"

If you're into taking stock of new bands or like us have a slight obsession with saying you saw certain bands way back when, well this could very well be one of them. After all, does anyone remember early Kings of Leon?...Musically and fundamentally the same, but the look, the edge, the draw - completely different. There were some good people out last night cocking their head slightly to the side checking out this band and espcially lead singer Chris Vos. Maybe LAist is about to enter a rock phase? Well, that might be pushing it, but after such a long absence, it was nice not to feel cynical about rock driving home. That has to be worth a major record deal right there."

- The LAist


"Invade Rome @ the Majestic Theater"

Milwaukee cult favorite Invade Rome brings the goods -- in this case, psych-rock with an unusually large drum sound...

- Isthmus / Daily Page


Discography

Light Eyed & Villainous (2009)

Photos

Bio

The three members of Invade Rome have been playing together for the past five years and continue to slay audiences with their unique take on psychedelic rock and roll. Refusing to be pigeonholed as simply "stoner-rock," Invade Rome spent the last year working very hard on over-compressing big drum sounds and saturating the tape machine with extra guitar for their forthcoming record, Light Eyed and Villainous. To help create this sought after wall of sound, Invade Rome enlisted the help of friend and producer/engineer Beau Sorenson (Sparklehorse, Death Cab for Cutie) and set up camp only 70 miles from home at the storied Smart Studios in Madison , WI. Light Eyed is the band's first LP, released on limited edition colored vinyl, CD, and digitally via their very own imprint label, VTK Music. It is now available at Insound (on vinyl and CD) and Bandcamp (name your own price digital in the format of your choice)!

Invade Rome are also building momentum through spirited live performances throughout the country, recently sharing tour dates with ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, the Secret Machines, Dead Confederate, Murder by Death, the Dears and De Novo Dahl, as well as major festival performances alongside The Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, The Go! Team, and Kings of Leon.