Rome in Silver (Vinny Pisciotta) is a constantly evolving musician and trailblazer who doesn’t shy away from experimentation. His distinctive style and sound never fail to breathe new life into the limitless potentialities of electronic music.

Before Rome in Silver took the Levitron Stage on the third day of the Electronic Zoo Festival, the artist talked with WSN. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

WSN: Have you ever been to Electric Zoo?

Rome in Silver: No, but it’s definitely on the bucket list.

WSN: I wanted to ask a little bit about your recent collaborations with Biicla. How did that all start? How did you get connected, and what was that process of making songs together like?

Rome in Silver: I got in touch with Biicla because he reached out for me to do a remix, so I remixed one of his songs a few years ago. He’s from Russia, so he came out here and we just hung out and the chemistry was really good. He stayed with me for a few weeks and we wrote a bunch of music, and we’re working on a bunch more. We’ve already dropped three songs together, and I did a remix for him. We’ve also got some shows planned, and we wanna do an EP together.

WSN: Do you prefer working in person with an artist and spending that time together?

Rome in Silver: I would say so. I don’t collaborate with a lot of people, but when I do, I have to really be for the person. It’s hard for me to just get into a session with someone I don’t really know and try to make something work. As opposed to Biicla, we kind of just became good friends first, and then we wrote a bunch of music. He’s really just a friend at this point.

WSN: You can really hear how well you guys work together reflected in the tracks. My other question is more about your aesthetic. You have such a specific, very vibrant and vivid sonic presence in your music that can also be found in your cover art. How are you able to translate and interpret a lot of that and present it in a visual way? How do you describe your aesthetic and develop it?

Rome in Silver: First of all, it definitely comes down to the people I work with, and especially for the artwork and all that, it took a while for me to find someone who can translate the music into visuals. I found my designer, Diego Rodriguez (Paranoidme), and we’ve been working together for a while. I love his work and he knows what I like now, so he kind of brings everything together.

WSN: I agree. They’re a perfect complement to the songs. I also feel like you do a lot of storytelling and not often with words, but just the sounds you are able to produce and create. I was wondering if you have any particular themes you’re interested in exploring and working with? Is there a throughline in your pieces that you often find yourself going back to? 

Rome in Silver: I wouldn’t say there’s necessarily themes, but my inspiration definitely comes from my environment. I’ve moved around quite a bit in the last five years or so. I’ve lived in a nice area in Orange County surrounded by the beach, and the sounds there and all that was reflected in the music. For a lot of the songs that I write, I’ll go out to Palm Springs and stay there because I grew up in that area and it just gives me inspiration. I just think that everything I make, especially when there’s no words and it’s just an instrumental song, is definitely dependent on my immediate environment. 

WSN: Last question. Do you have any other artists who are playing today that you’re looking forward to seeing?

Rome in Silver: sumthin sumthin before me, and we’re doing that afterparty [together]. Everyone on the stage I’m playing at should be pretty good — INZO, obviously, and CloZee too. CloZee, it’s always a pleasure seeing her. She’s always crushing it, and she’s done a lot for me, so I really owe her a lot.

Contact Michelle Zhou at [email protected].