Inside the Fire: Broken Romeo’s “Chaos Habitual” and the Allure of Destruction
Punk Head: The song wrestles with habit and self-destruction. Do you see it as personal, social, or both?
Broken Romeo: I think it’s both. “Chaos Habitual” started from a personal place — that loop you get stuck in where the thing that ruins you is also what defines you. But the more we worked on it, the more it felt like a reflection of the world right now. We’re surrounded by constant noise, distraction, addiction — not just to substances, but to outrage, validation, and chaos itself. It’s about how destruction becomes routine, both personally and socially. Hence the title — Chaos Habitual.
Punk Head: When you write about chaos, are you trying to exorcise it — or embrace it?
Broken Romeo: Probably a bit of both. Writing about chaos is like staring into the fire — part of you wants to put it out, but part of you can’t look away. For me, it’s not about glorifying destruction, it’s about acknowledging it — giving it a voice so it doesn’t own you. Sometimes the only way to deal with chaos is to let it speak through the music, and maybe find a little beauty and allure inside the wreckage.
Punk Head: You’ve said this single is part of a larger film project. How does visual storytelling expand or challenge how you express these themes?
Broken Romeo: The visuals let us expand the universe of the songs. “Chaos Habitual” isn’t just about sound — it’s about atmosphere, emotion, and imagery. The short films give life to the characters that live inside the music — the Chaos Girl, the broken saints, the haunted places. It’s like connecting the dots between the spiritual and the self-destructive. Visually, we can make the chaos tangible — storms, neon, shadows — things that you feel as much as you hear. It’s another way to tell the story without saying a word.
”Chaos Habitual” and the short film series are part of the same world — they show the human side of chaos, temptation, and consequence. It’s like painting with sound and light at the same time. The challenge is keeping it authentic — making sure the visuals don’t just decorate the music, but deepen the story.
Punk Head: Was there a particular moment in the studio — a riff, a lyric, a take — that captured what this track was supposed to be?
Broken Romeo: Yeah, “Chaos Habitual” was born in the studio more than anywhere else. We had the bones of it worked out in rehearsal, but it didn’t fully click until Ari started laying down that bass line in the verse. It wasn’t what we’d planned — it had this gritty, almost menacing groove that pulled the whole track into focus. Suddenly everything locked in — the attitude, the tension, the pulse. That was the moment it became “Chaos Habitual.”
Punk Head: There’s a kind of apocalyptic energy pulsing through your work — chaos as an everyday condition. What do you think rock still has to say about that?
Broken Romeo: Rock music has always been the voice that cuts through the noise. It’s about truth, tension, and release — all the stuff people are afraid to say out loud. The world feels pretty apocalyptic right now, and I think rock still has the guts to stare that down. It’s not about pretending things are fine; it’s about owning the chaos, confronting it, and maybe finding something honest in the wreckage. That’s where the power still lives...at least I hope it does.
Punk Head: In an era where everything feels fragmented and fleeting, do you see your music as rebellion, reflection, or therapy?
Broken Romeo: Maybe it’s all three. The world feels fractured, attention is currency, and everything disappears as fast as it arrives. Making music — real music — is rebellion in itself now. It’s also reflection, because you can’t write honestly without staring into your own mess — which is humbling. And yeah, maybe it’s therapy too, but not the soft kind. It’s the kind where you bleed a little and hope what comes out means something to someone else before it fades into the noise. Every song feels like an offspring — a piece of you that has to survive out there on its own.
“Chaos Habitual” is coming out on November 25th, 2025.
