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Breaking the Mask

A talk with DeathbyRomy.

DeathbyRomy’s Hollywood Forever, an album based on raw, cinematic confessional steeped in heartbreak, trauma, and self-reclamation. Raised amid the sun-drenched illusions and hard realities of Los Angeles, Romy channels the city’s beauty and brutality through an uncompromising lens, revealing the many versions of herself that have survived and evolved. From confronting toxic industry figures to honoring her roots and wrestling with life, death, and rebirth, this record stands as both a love letter to LA and a defiant middle finger to the forces that tried to break her. Unmasking the woman behind the music with fearless honesty and fierce vulnerability, Romy opens up about the stories behind the songs, the battles fought in creative control, and the armour and transformation of fashion.

“Hollywood Forever” feels like a cinematic confessional. What emotions or memories were the most difficult or the most liberating to translate into music for this record?

I love this take. This album allowed me to process a lot of trauma I experienced in my first few years in this industry. I had pushed past it all to focus on my career and its success. The most difficult thing was probably playing the manager character, who is based on a few terrible men I’ve encountered in this industry. The most liberating thing has been performing KOBK. A big fuck you to those men. Especially one.

You’ve described the album as a love letter to LA. What does that love look like now: softer, angrier, more forgiving?

My love for this city and its hard working people and dreamers is endless. My heart is broken for LA right now…..not sure if the recent deployment of the military and ICE is what you were referring to but it’s a hard time in the city right now.

Los Angeles is often seen as a city of illusion, sun-soaked but surface-deep, a place where beauty can feel performative and identity curated. But “Hollywood Forever” feels like it rips through that facade. How did growing up there shape the version of you we hear on this record? And how do you hold space for what LA really is beneath all the gloss?

This city really did raise me. I dropped out of school after ninth grade and ran around like an adult pretty early, working normal jobs and getting myself in any studio I could….found myself around a lot of adults a bit too early and got myself in a lot of mess and trouble that I’m not sure kids in smaller towns even have access to but, I’m grateful for everything I’ve ever been through as it’s all shaped a ridiculously strong and ferocious woman out of me. I know LAs true beauty, and thankfully I know how to see it through the things that try to bury its light.

Your album conjures the language of heaven, hell, and something that almost feels like the afterlife. Are those ideas spiritual to you, or are they more emotional metaphors, states of mind, heartbreak, rebirth? What does the afterlife mean to someone who’s lived through so many versions of herself?

My relationship with life and death is something that has always deeply inspired my music and art. These concepts are both spiritual and literal to me. I don’t really think we go anywhere after this, which is why I am doing my best to do as much as I can now. I refuse to not take absolutely everything I can from this life and to give as much as my body will allow me.

There’s a rawness in “Hollywood Forever” that feels almost diaristic. Were there any songs you hesitated to release because they felt too revealing or because you weren’t sure how people would receive them?

I love to challenge myself and my honesty and ability to self reflect when writing my music. I think I owe honesty and rawness to myself and to my fans. Bitchfamous most probably the most difficult to release because it’s based on one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through and the chorus is not just meant to be some edgy lyrics, but I really did fuck up and cheat on the person I love more than anything.

This is your most expansive body of work so far. What did “creative control” actually look like behind the scenes? Were there moments where you had to fight to keep something in or take something out?

Thankfully, I didn’t have to fight anyone on anything. I am an independent artist and I A&R my entire project myself with the help of my manager who is also my best friend. I did everything I wanted to do with this project and thankfully, I have the support of my incredible friends and team around me to see out my vision.

Was there a sound or genre you consciously leaned into or away from for this record? How did you carve out a sonic space that still feels so uniquely yours?

I really tried to lean more into the pop space with this one… I’m not sure if that’s obvious because I’m a fucking distortion and bass addict and I’m not sure how much of that is actually in pop music but I did really try lol.

⁠How does the Little Dreamer video expand on the song’s meaning for you? Are there symbols or moments in the video that hold particular significance?

This song is meant to be my mother’s always going in my head telling me to never give up. She was always supportive of me doing whatever I wanted, which is incredibly rare. Without her well wishes I probably wouldn’t have gotten the Head-start I got on my project when I dropped out that a lot of people cannot afford. This video actually mirrors, something very real and painful that happened to me when I was first discovered. Though it was not at a strip club, it was online-it was by someone who later revealed themselves for having had obviously prayed on me for selfish reasons.

Bone bra -Kenah Joel
Bone bra -Kenah Joel, Tights – LEAK NYC, Boots – New Rock
Tights – LEAK NYC

You’ve walked for Balenciaga, Elena Velez, and modelled for some intense, gritty fashion houses. How does fashion function in your world: as armour, as expression, as transformation?

Self expression has always been vital for me. I was very adventurous with my choices on how I chose to dress myself from a very early age and the way I presented myself has always been incredibly important to me. Armor is a perfect word for it… An accessory to a necessary identity. Getting to transform into and play this “Manager” character for all of the videos and for the album cover felt both scary and transformative and incredibly powerful.

⁠Does the tour’s visual direction echo the aesthetic of the album and videos, or are you building something new for the stage?

Yes, it did! The tour looks were inspired by tabloid era Y2K Hollywood, we were a lot more color than usual, which was a nod to my younger self pre jadedness you could say. The visuals included a lot of the iconic graphics we created for the project and bits and pieces from all of the videos as well as more nods to that very iconic and messy era of Hollywood.

Your music inhabits the space between beauty and brutality, how do you reconcile those two opposing forces within yourself?

I accept and love both equally. I believe everyone showed, and that is a big part of what I try to push and champion in my projects visual and sonic world.

Many artists talk about ‘losing themselves’ in their work, what does ‘finding yourself’ look like for you?

It looks like total honesty and vulnerability. Bearing it all , fearless of judgement, willing to fail. I challenge and push myself every opportunity I get ….stagnancy is the true death and misery can’t catch you if you’re always going at self improvement and exploration.

When you look in the mirror after a show or a shoot, who do you see staring back and how does that person differ from the one writing songs in her bedroom?

I see me, a fighter. Me at my bravest and most vulnerable. Both girls are the same.

⁠If you could remove one filter or mask from the public perception of you, what would it be and what would you show instead?

I’d like to stop being called goth. But I also don’t mind as I think it helps some people relate to me to do so lol. I’d like to stop being boxed into any one thing but that’s a bit unrealistic.

How do you hold space for darkness in your life without letting it consume your light?

I refuse to turn away from or be ignorant to the pain of the world, be it my own personal one or our world as a whole. But I also know how to count my blessings. The endless love I’m surrounded with is my life’s greatest treasure. I chose everyday to love. Myself, my boyfriend, my friends and family….even my enemies. 🤍

If you could have a conversation with your younger self, before the fame, the heartbreak, the music, what would you say to her now?

I’d tell her she’s gonna be ok, and that one day she’d have the most beautiful tribe of friends so she doesn’t need to worry about the fact that most kids in school didn’t get her.

Leather dress- Victor, Boots – New Rock
Leather dress- Victor, Boots – New Rock
Leather dress- Victor

Breaking the Mask / DeathbyRomy

Credits:

Artist: DeathbyRomy / @deathbyromy
Photography: Eliza Jouin / @ejouin
Styling: Kenah Jónel / @kenahjonel
Hair: Hazel Real
Interview: Irina Klisarova / @its.irka.bitch
Editor: Anca Macavei / @ancamacavei

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