Caroline Romano: More to the Story

^{Taylor Harrington 10/5/2021 3:07pm EST}

Caroline Romano recently released her double single, “Oddities and Prodigies” (A-side) and “Lonely Interlude” (B-side), and it is not to be missed. Hitting home to Generation Z and beyond, Caroline’s music encompasses both the strife and joy of accepting your own individuality and paving the way for yourself. With influences such as Bo Burnham and YUNGBLUD, Romano’s music tells a story as it pulls in a crowd and can be found everywhere today!

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When did you first get into the music world?

Although music has almost always felt like my entire world, I didn’t really get into the industry until I was about thirteen years old. I begged my parents to take me to Nashville for my thirteenth birthday. I had a handful of songs I’d written, and I brought them and my first little guitar all around the city. I played anywhere and everywhere they’d let me in, from college bars I definitely was too young to be at, to the Bluebird Cafe. I simply fell in love with the idea of making and performing music for the rest of my life. I never really left Nashville after that, and I wrote as much as I could and played for as many people as I could every chance I’d get. I dove headfirst into the music world. It was my first true love. 

Growing up, who were your musical influences?

Taylor Swift, Brian Adams, and Shania Twain were artists I loved and would listen to all the time growing up. My parents always had one of their CDs on in the car. Once I got to middle school, I’d say Taylor Swift was still at the top of the list, along with artists like Twenty One Pilots, Queen, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, and Shawn Mendes. 

What is your writing process? How do you get into the headspace to put your words to paper?

The writing process is different every time, as I have a different reason for writing each song I make. Sometimes I go into writing intentionally, with an idea and with the hope to get a specific sound out of it. However, a lot of the time, especially when I’m writing by myself, I’ll let myself sort of “word-vomit” anything and everything I’m feeling onto paper. I sometimes let my feelings get to the point that if I don’t write it down, I feel like I will actually die. Those tend to be the songs that write themselves, as well as the ones that mean the most to me. To get in the right headspace, I like to drive around the city late at night or go on a really long walk. Killing my time always seems to put me in the right headspace to write good music. I love songwriting because each experience truly is so unique, and I get excited to see how the process of every song will play out. 

Your double single release,  “Oddities and Prodigies” (A-side) and “Lonely Interlude” (B-side), highlights your wide range of storytelling through music and connects so deeply with Gen Z. When did you start working on these tracks?

I had the idea to write “Oddities and Prodigies” in December of 2020. I had fallen for someone I truly believe to be both an oddity and a prodigy, and I thought it an interesting outlook on life as a whole. I like to surround myself with oddities, and I’ve come to realize that a lot of the best people I know are both oddities and prodigies. Because this idea meant so much to me, I wanted to take my time in writing it. I wanted to wait for the right moment, which I rarely do when writing songs. “Oddities and Prodigies” was officially written in May of 2021 with my two friends Michael and Chuckie Aiello. That was the moment, and those were the people I knew I was waiting to write it with. 

I actually wrote “Lonely Interlude” in the fall of 2019. I had just moved out of my parents house, and into my first apartment in Nashville. I had just turned 18, and I was truly and utterly lonely. I didn’t know anyone, but I was completely in love with the idea of being in love. I wrote the song on my bathroom floor late one night in about 30 minutes. It truly was the loneliest of interludes. 

If you could go on tour alongside any other artist, living or past, who would you choose and why?

This is a tough one. I would say Queen, but at the same time, how can anyone tour alongside Queen? At least looking back, seeing all that they were, and who Freddie Mercury was, I feel like no one can tour with Queen except for Queen. It would just be too wonderful to do anything but watch them in all their glory. However, they have had the greatest impact on me, as both a musician and performer. To me, they are what it means to put on a show, and I would have loved to tour alongside them for that reason. 

YUNGBLUD is an artist I hope and pray I will get to tour with one day. His music has truly changed my life in more ways than I can count, and his energy on stage is simply unmatched. I won’t give up on that dream, as it’s one at the top of my list. YUNGBLUD, if you’re reading this, let’s go on tour. 

“Oddities and Prodigies” is an anthem of self-love and proclaiming the joy in your “weird”. What was your inspiration behind this track?

It took me feeling like a total oddity for most of my life to get to the point that I was inspired to write “Oddities and Prodigies”. It took me growing up and meeting the people I admired and connected with the most, and realizing that they were just as weird as I am. The coolest people are the absolute weirdest, most awkward people in this world, and I absolutely love that. I’ve come to realize just how many prodigies there truly are walking around us. People are so cool, and I think we often take that for granted. My whole life, I felt like I was told to change, to be someone else, to be better at fitting in. But the oddest things about me are what’s brought me the most success in my life. They’ve brought me the greatest joys, and the deepest connections. I fully embraced “Oddities and Prodigies” as a life motto, and I truly believe oddities and prodigies go hand in hand. 

In one line of “Oddities and Prodigies” you say, “This isn’t something they teach in school”. If you could give any advice to kids trying to navigate through life right now, what would that be?

It really is the hardest advice to listen to, at least from personal experience, but the greatest piece of advice I can give is to get excited about your life. Right now is not forever. I spent a lot of time in school worried that that was what the rest of my life was going to be like. I still struggle at times with feeling like things will never change for the better. However, that’s simply not true. Things will change, especially once you get out of high school. You’re probably weird, and you’re probably really cool as well. People may not appreciate that now, but someone will. Just give it time. And in the meantime, get excited about being you, about living life. There’s a great big world out there, and I beg you not to change who you are just to try to fit in. School doesn’t teach you how to be yourself, or how to make impossibly stupid plans. My advice is to do both. 

In “Lonely Interlude”, you say the line “When Eleanor Rigby asked ‘Where do all the lonely people go? I think you and I know”. This line hits deep. In your words, where do you think the lonely people go?

I think they walk around grocery stores and dance alone in their bedrooms. I think they stand a certain way at parties and sit on rooftops looking out there for that “something.” I think lonely people have a way of finding each other. It’s that flicker, that split second of a look, an exchange in glances that lets them know they’re one in the same. I think there’s a longing in the things they say, even if they don’t say much at all. Lonely people’s silence is terribly loud. I can’t say if there’s a particular place they go, but I know the spots they frequent and the trails they walk. I go there all the time. But I think, in the end, Eleanor Rigby knew that loneliness must die, just like all things. There is no permanence in it, though it can go on for a terribly long time. I think she knew that loneliness dies when it finds itself in someone else. 

Where would you like to see yourself in five years both personally and professionally?

I would like to see myself making music that a lot of people hear and playing shows for more people than I could ever imagine. I think that will happen. I’d also like to see myself happy. I’d like to see myself at peace, and I’d like to be in love with somebody. I think that will happen as well. 

How can our readers find your music and follow your journey?

You can find my music anywhere music can be streamed (Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, etc…), and you can follow my journey on any social media platform! I’m @carolineromanomusic on Instagram, and Caroline Romano on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. I post a lot of content about my pets and Bo Burnham’s “Inside” special. 

If you could give any advice to an artist trying to make their way in the music industry, what would that be?

Persist. It is not a linear journey, and it is often a terribly hard one at that. However, you only lose your chance at making it when you give up. It’s cheesy, but it’s true. You have to believe in yourself. Some days you may be the only person who does, and that’s alright. Stay true to yourself and the music you want to make. Make what makes you happy, and don’t you dare give up. 

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