Roman Candle: “I didn’t want to leave any room for interpretation – I’m angry, and you’re going to know exactly why”

“I think every person has some kind of angriness somewhere in them,” says Piper Ferrari. “It’s just a very human thing to feel.”

That Piper’s lyrics deal in, as she puts it, “feminine rage”, won’t be surprising for anyone who’s heard Roman Candle’s blistering and breathless screamo, which recalls the genre’s early ’00s purple patch. What’s striking is how the amiable and articulate 26-year-old vocalist has learned to take command of it.

“I didn’t want to leave any room for interpretation,” she reveals of the songs on Roman Candle’s debut album, Unadulterated, released today. “I just wanted it to be like, ‘No, I’m angry about this, and you’re gonna know exactly what I’m talking about.’”

Piper traces much of that anger back to a past relationship that spiralled into something deeply toxic, which eventually forced her to confront patterns she’d long normalised.

“When the relationship finally ended, it was horrific,” she explains. “She broke into my house. I had to get a restraining order. We got into a physical altercation. Once that was finally over, then I started dating my new partner, I was like, ‘Wow, I can never do that again.’

“I think part of the reason that I was in that situation is that’s what I saw growing up,” she adds. “I saw it with my mom, I saw it with my aunt, I saw it with my grandma. Allowing people to treat you bad, because you don’t know any better and you don’t know how to break the cycle.

“Breaking the cycle, I think, is something I’ve finally done, but it was hard to get there.”

That sense of clarity feels hard-won for more than one reason. Growing up in Las Vegas – a city more synonymous with excess than art – Piper describes a childhood defined by contradiction.

“People see Vegas and it’s like adult Disneyland,” she says. “But when you grow up there, there’s not a lot to do as a kid.”

As such, boredom became a catalyst. “It wasn’t like I grew up thinking, ‘I want to be a musician,’” Piper admits. “I didn’t even think that was an option until I started doing it.

“Having people sing your lyrics back to you and seeing people dance, especially when you grew up watching it, then to be the person doing it, is such an addictive feeling. I wanted those moments so bad on this album. So, we refined [the songs] a little bit, made things a little simpler, a little catchier, to try to get more of those moments.”

And Unadulterated may channel past turmoil, finding stability and support away from the stage has allowed Piper to compartmentalise rather than be consumed.

“Anger is definitely not a feeling that I feel all the time, but the band is a place to put that,” she says.

Finding this balance feels central to Roman Candle’s future. As new audiences connect with their music, Piper remains focused on turning something internal into something communal.

“I want people to relate to it however they can,” she enthuses. “I’m just happy that they’re listening!”

Unadulterated is out now via Sumerian

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