Romi's odyssey is a testament to talent, passion and pure grit. Born in the Ukrainian village of Sambir, she spent her childhood studying piano, singing in choirs and otherwise absorbing the music, culture and languages of both parents - however performing on stage was what truly energized her.
Her parents divorced and eventually Romi's mother herself a classically trained pianist ultimately made the difficult decision to relocate to the U.S. with her 10-year-old daughter. They traveled to Chicago, which has a substantial population of Eastern European émigrés. But the land of opportunity looked rather forbidding through Romi's eyes.
Thanks to good grades and her mother's tireless canvassing, Romi was admitted to the Franklin Fine Arts Center magnet school. Soon she was showing off her impressive pipes at Ukrainian cultural events, working intensively with vocal coaches and learning operatic techniques.
Romi kept up the operatic warbling until she was 14. Then, she met local musician and songwriter Roman Tykhovskyy, of the alternative rock band Ephyra; he immediately divined Romi's potential as a rock singer. "Roman saw something in me, talent and a hunger and drive star quality," Romi recalls, with obvious gratitude. "He said he thought I would go far."
Unsure about the best way to bring their tracks to the marketplace, they approached Chicago's Rosehip Records and found a great match. Thus she began working on "Rock Ur World" for Rosehip with producers Andy Gallas and Nick Monson of Lowercase Productions. "Andy and Nick challenged me to express myself more directly in the studio and to open up my sound," she explains. "It was a real growing process for my vocal abilities."
The resulting tracks remind Romi of the effervescent, electronica-laced pop-rock of Gwen Stefani, Pink and Avril Lavigne. In addition to the radio-ready "Letting Go," the team created such confections as likely first European single "VIP," the new-wave "So Sweet" and the club banger "Rock Ur World" (with both single and remix versions, naturally), among others.
With the record completed, she immediately began preparing for a world tour, slated to include stops in Eastern Europe and Japan. "I see myself as an international artist," she says. "I speak English, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish and Spanish, which I learned from my Peruvian roommate and I'm ready to meet the whole world."
For more information about Romi visit RomiLovel.com
About Rosehip RecordsBased in Chicago and founded in 2005 by Goran Rajsic (CEO), Rosehip Records operates out of a 7,000 sq. ft. facility which houses six recording studios, a video editing suite, a new media marketing division, a sound stage and executive offices. The in-house staff includes a General Manager, Production Director, experienced Producers and Engineers representing a total staff of 25 individuals. Rosehip Records and its diverse roster of artists are distributed in the U.S. by EMI Music Group.
