Interview: Haven’t Heard Of Alt-Pop Artist Caroline Romano? ‘It Doesn’t Matter,’ We’ll Introduce You!

Ever since we saw her on tour with Smallpools and Grayscale this past spring, we’ve been absolutely obsessed with alt-pop artist, Caroline Romano. We immediately went home and did a deep dive into her discography and fell even more in love with her music. We’re so excited because we have an exclusive interview with Caroline Romano where we get to know more about the 22 year old musician, talk about her past tour experience, and more. Let’s jump right in!

Hello and welcome to The Honey POP! We’re so excited to have you! For our readers who may be unfamiliar with your music, could you introduce yourself? 
Hi! Thank you so much for having me! My name is Caroline Romano, I’m 22 years old, and I’m an artist and songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Which artists and/or genres influence your music? 
I feel like this is an ever fluctuating answer, but some staple influences of mine are artist2s like Holly Humberstone, Twenty-One Pilots, Noah Kahan, Charlotte Sands, and Taylor Swift. I love anything very lyric-centered over weird guitar or drum sounds. 

Was there a pivotal point in your life where you knew that you wanted to make a career out of music? Or is it something that has always been on your dreamboard of life? 
Music has always been one of the most important aspects of my life. Even as a little kid, I remember finding so much comfort listening to CDs in my mom’s minivan on the way to kindergarten in the morning. It’s always where I’ve felt most like myself. I think a really pivotal moment for me though was the first time I came to Nashville when I was thirteen. I had started writing songs about a year earlier, and I wanted to play some open mic nights around the city. I remember getting on stage at this tiny college bar as a 7th grader, singing a song I wrote in my bedroom to a room full of strangers, and just feeling so at peace. It’s one of the only moments in my life where I’ve felt so incredibly sure about something that it was undeniable. I know from that first show that music was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I couldn’t live without it. 

You’ve released a ton of amazing music over the last few years. What’s your writing and recording process like? 
The writing and recording process looks a little different each time, which is partly what I love about it. I’m a very lyrics driven person, so that’s typically where it always begins with me. I’ll have a line or an overall idea, or even just an emotion I want to start writing about. Whether that’s to a guitar by myself in my bedroom or to a track with a producer varies from situation to situation. I love writing both ways though, I think it’s cool how much writing to track vs just to an instrument influences the overall song. I typically record vocals in one of my friends’ studios, which are always in their homes. I really love that environment, feeling like we’re all just hanging out and tracking at the same time. 

You just released a new single, ‘Doesn’t Matter,’ which we absolutely love. Do you have a favorite lyric from it? 
Thank you!! I think my favorite lyric is “I won’t ask if you kissed her, it doesn’t matter – – where you go on the weekend” just because of the double meaning it’s sort of showcasing for the entire song. 

The Night Shift Tour with Smallpools and Grayscale is your first time on tour. Congrats! What’s been your favorite part about touring? 
Thank you so much!! I had the absolute time of my life on tour. Live performance has always been just so important to me. It’s where I feel the most like myself, and where I feel like I get to connect with people the most. I’d say my favorite part of touring is just getting to do what I love every night, with a band that I love, and meet so many new people and see so many new places. 

What’s your favorite memory from the tour?
I’d say my favorite memory from the tour happened in LA when we played the El Rey theater. I was really nervous just because it was such a big show, but I go out there and on the first song I hear people singing back the words. It was just such a cool experience to see people I’d never even met or played in front of before know every word to one of my songs. I got pretty emotional, haha. 

What was choosing the setlist like? Were there any songs you wanted to play that didn’t make the setlist? 
Choosing the set list was SO hard! I’m someone who wants to fit everything I possibly can into a 25 minute set, so I really struggled to choose. Some of my favorite songs that I often play live like “Guts” and “St. George” didn’t make the cut just from a tempo/timing standpoint and I was pretty devastated about that. But I think the set we ended up with was great, as it moved quickly but still told a story. It was a good mix of released and unreleased music as well.

Speaking of wrapping up your first tour, if you could tour with any two artists, who would you choose and why?
This is a very hard question haha, but I’d have to say it would be Taylor Swift and Noah Kahan. Those have been probably the two most influential artists in my life, both personally and professionally. Their music has truly changed my life, and to get to tour with either of them would be an absolute dream come true. 

Last question! We are all about the power of manifestation at THP. If you could speak one thing into existence for yourself, what would it be?
I’m going to say selling out a headline tour by myself! I believe it’s going to happen someday, and I’m working towards it every day 🙂

We’d like to thank Caroline Romano for taking the time to chat with us! Did you also see her this past tour or did we just introduce you to your new favorite artist? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, Instagram, or by tweeting us @thehoneypop!

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CAROLINE ROMANO:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | TIKTOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE

Want more exclusive interviews? We got you, honey!