INTERVIEW: Caroline Romano on her debut album 'Oddities and Prodigies': "Sometimes it’s the darkest moments of our lives, or the weirdest things about ourselves that make us special."
Image: Justin Key
Nashville based singer-songwriter Caroline Romano has recently released her debut album Oddities and Prodigies.
Moving between rock-pop, pop-punk and tender stripped back ballads Romano has a remarkable ability to authentically portray the highs of lows of growing up, moving from a teenager into adulthood, and like many other artists of her generation is able to, with great beauty, feeling and poetry, express feelings that just a few years ago didn’t have a name or weren't taken seriously. “This album is everything I know in 16 songs,” she says.
This however is by no means a teen angst album and there is always a thread of hope and growth expressed in the lyrics and Romano’s mesmerising, emotive vocals. “Running down the street with tears in my eyes / But I'm alright / Because I'm alive / And I love it” she sings on the title track which more or less sums up the ethos of the album - the bad and good come as a package.
Romano first released music in 2016 aged just 16 with the single ‘Masterpiece’ and has steadily gathered critical acclaim since. In 2020, she scored a global hit with ‘I Still Remember’ (ft R3HAB) gaining streams in the millions and making the top 20 on Billboard’s Dance chart.
Romano is a standout in the current crop of young singer-songwriters making a mark with intensely personal, authentic and relatable music and she is someone to add to your playlists now. We recently caught up with her to find out more about her career and the creation of Oddities and Prodigies.
Hi Caroline! Thanks so much for taking the time to fill in this Q&A. How are things in your world right now?Hello! Thanks so much for having me! Things are pretty good. Life is busy, and there’s a lot going on in the world right now, but I’m focusing on what I can to positively impact the people and places I can. I just released my first album, so I’m super excited about that. It’s definitely kept me pretty busy lately !
On that note, congratulations on the release of your debut album Oddities and Prodigies, it is such a brilliant collection of music. How does it feel to have it out there in the world for everyone to discover?
Thank you! It’s honestly crazy to think that everyone can listen to these songs now. I’ve been working on this album for so long, and I’m so used to being one of the only people to hear them. I’m so happy and truthfully, very proud, of how it turned out. I guess this is the exciting part. Now I get to hear what other people hear in my music.
Your music, and in particular your lyrics, manage to perfectly capture both the anxieties and the pain and pleasure of growing up, and how the two can often be indistinguishable. The title track sums this up ambiguity perfectly: “you’ll find me running down the street / With tears in my eyes / But I’m alright / Because I’m alive / And I love it” and it is a theme that reoccurs throughout the album. What was the overall message you wanted to project with the album?
I think the overall message of Oddities and Prodigies as an album is the idea that sometimes it’s the darkest moments of our lives, or the weirdest things about ourselves that make us special. It’s about the fact that it’s okay not to be okay. Growing up is often painted as this glorious teenage montage, but it’s really not. It’s hard and confusing, and if you’re anything like me, filled with a lot of awkwardness and self-hatred. I hope Oddities and Prodigies gives a sense of hope and understanding to those with sad eyes and impossible plans. It’s my version of growing up in today's age.
Can you talk to me a little about how you pulled the album together, how it was made?
I started writing some of the songs off Oddities and Prodigies in the Fall/Winter of 2020, but I didn’t decide that I wanted to write and release a full length album until the summer of 2021. The majority of the album was written in Nashville, either by myself alone in my apartment, or with my two friends and co-writers Michael and Chuckie Aiello in their studio. I recorded the album in my producer, Will McBeath’s house, which was really cool. It was basically like we just got to hang out and record music in the process. The process took about six months from start to finish, not counting the songs I’d already written before last summer.
One of my favorite tracks is ‘I Wish I Had It On Film’ which is just so beautifully melancholic. Can you talk me a little through the inspiration behind this track?
That means a lot, as it’s one of my favorites too. ‘I Wish I Had It On Film’ is a really personal song, and it's the first one I wrote after realising that, sort of the only relationship I’d ever been in, was over. I cried through writing the whole thing, which only took about 20 minutes. I wrote it in my childhood bedroom over Christmas break, on the last day I ever spoke to him over the phone. I just couldn’t believe that there wasn’t going to be any more memories made with him. I started going over all the little things I remembered about that past summer and how pretty it was to me. I basically just wrote those memories down, with the idea that it might be a way to never forget them. Sonically, I was really inspired by Taylor Swift’s Folklore album, particularly the song ‘August’. It’s so simple, and sonically, it’s not that sad. However, I can’t help but cry every time I listen to it. That’s what I wanted for ‘I Wish I Had It On Film’.
Your music expertly spans different genres from pop-punk to piano ballads. Do you think genre is becoming less and less relevant for young artists?
I definitely think that genre is losing its relevance, especially for young artists. I think we live in an age where music is easier to make than ever, and putting labels on artists just really doesn’t work anymore. Even major artists, such as Taylor Swift, have shown how the power of good songwriting can overcome the idea of genre any day.
If we take things all the way back to the beginning, what role did music play in your life when you were growing up?
Music has always been the way through which I’ve seen and talked about the world. I don’t know if it’s because I was a shy and anxious kid, or if it's just because I loved it, but I’ve always communicated through music. I would make up little songs when I was really young and perform them for my parents. Even then, I think it was the only time I was ever truly myself. It still is. I got my first guitar for Christmas when I was around five. It was blue and it had flower stickers on it. The rest is history.
As mentioned earlier, your lyrics are really strong and so well constructed, they are almost poetic. Have words always been an important part of your life?
Words, or the art of writing them, are one of the most important things in my life. They are among my greatest loves. From books to poetry to song lyrics, I don’t know what I’d be without the chance to write it all down. Whatever it is, be it tragic or beautiful or apathetic, writing is the most powerful way to capture it. I think that’s why we cherish love letters so much. There’s something about seeing the pretty words on paper, or hearing them in a song. I would be lost without words. I wouldn’t be me without writing.
How did you career progress to where you are now? Was music something you knew you would always do, or did it come about more through chance?
I think I always knew music was what I wanted to do. At least, I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t know that. I asked my parents to take me to Nashville for my thirteenth birthday to play the songs I’d written around open mic nights in the city. That’s where I really fell in love with performing. It’s when I decided that I could do this, and I would do this. I’ve been working towards those dreams ever since.
For so long the music industry has been a difficult space for women to exist in mostly because it has been run by older, white, straight men for decades. What are your thoughts on gender equality and sexism in the music industry?
I think the industry has definitely taken strides towards a greater show of gender equality, but the music industry is still a hard place for women to exist. The criticism still seems to be harsher towards women. There’s less forgiveness. I hate how focused on appearance the industry still is. I hate the term “shelf life” that still gets thrown around when referring to women in the industry. I think some things are improving, but I don’t think it's easy for women in music. I know it’s not.
Debut album Oddities and Prodigies is out now, what else is coming up for Caroline Romano in 2022?
Believe it or not, there will be more music in 2022. I definitely want to let Oddities and Prodigies breathe for a minute, but I’m already working on the next batch of releases. I’m hoping to play more live shows in 2022 as well. I’d love to go on tour, so fingers crossed that will happen!
Oddities and Prodigies is out now. You can download and stream here.
To keep up with all things Caroline Romano, you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter.
