State of Constance: Hopeless Romantic
Today our musical venture takes us back to Long Island, New York. There we find another gem of a DIY band called Hopeless Romantic and they just dropped their new EP Constance. The EP comes almost a year after their 3 track single You Were. Starting off as a two piece, founding member Ryan Daniels teamed up with Dave Carroll (Few Faces) and in the backyard of their community theater they would jam and that led to the start of this hopeful band. From there they wrote their first song, came out with an EP, added a few more members (Shane Hahnel and Jared Grossman) and even played their first few shows back in 2021.
The new 5 track EP has a very indie/emo vibe to it and with some of the bands influences being The Front Bottoms and Modern Baseball, well it is one you will have a hard time not keeping on repeat.
To school us on all things Hopeless Romantic, frontman Ryan Daniels was awesome enough to answer a few questions pertaining to how HR came to be, influential bands and the DIY process! Enjoy the in depth interview below!
Now for those of us that may not know how HR came to be, can you give us a little story time of how long you’ve been a band, when you started making music, etc..
Absolutely! So Hopeless Romantic started in the backyard of a little community theatre when me (Ryan) and my buddy Dave Carroll (now of Few Faces) would bring our guitars and jam out in between performances. I grew up in the Long Island theatre community doing shows and basically living at the theater (shoutout to Cultural Arts Playhouse in Syosset!) and music came super naturally to me. I had been writing songs for a few years when I met Dave and we instantly gelled and started the band. We wrote our first song "Love Bites" and recorded it in June of 2018. From there we put out an EP called "Cherry Pit (In My Stomach) and got to play some cool live shows with acts like Heart to Gold, Another One Down, and Highwind before we ended up parting ways and my brother Shane joined on drums, with my good friend Jared Grossman filling out the lineup on bass.
Who would you say are your biggest musical influences? Any that specifically inspired you to start creating music of your own?
So many to choose from. I'd definitely say the biggest influences on my songwriting specifically would be acts like MCR, The Front Bottoms, Modern Baseball, Joyce Manor, as well as more laid back musicians like Alex G, Elliot Smith, Valley Maker and contemporary and classic musical theatre composers. I'm constantly inspired by artists that are able to break down complex feelings and moods so eloquently and then further transform them into something that people from all different walks of life can relate to in some way. I love books and reading as well so I'm huge on metaphors and playing with words to make them sit in a different way than they normally might.
Now with the new EP, was there a particular track or tracks you are most proud of? And since you are a DIY band, is the process a bit more rewarding when you’re basically writing, producing and mixing it all yourself??
We are so excited to finally have new music out for the first time since 2020! We created this whole record in just two weeks at our home studio on Long Island and honestly I couldn't be happier with how it came out. We went in with the intention of making something that felt true to us without being overly polished and I definitely think we achieved that. I am going to school in the fall for composition and production, so engineering is definitely a big passion of mine and getting to spread my wings on this project was definitely a super rewarding experience. While I definitely can't choose a favorite track, I think people are going to love the single, "Sunken Eyes and Big Plans" and also the track "Splintering (All Tied Up)"
Now even though you may have been in diapers at the time, since a lot of iconic albums are turning 20 this year, is there a band or bands in particular that do have an album turning 20 that had a major impact/influence on you growing up?
While I may have only been 1 at the time, I for sure have to show love to Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard which is an emo/alt rock STAPLE, no question. Years later, growing up, my babysitter had "Only One" on in the car one afternoon and I made her play it probably about 20 times over after that. Definitely one of my first introductions into this realm of music and had me on the coffee table pretending to be Ryan Key for months on end. Also, Bring Me To Life by Evanescence will be 20 so that's awesome.
Be sure to keep your eyes and ears on these Strong Island Sad Bois. They are far from hopeless and have created some fantastic tunes that are sure to hit your feels and trigger the hopeless romantic in all of us. Please give the new EP a listen, share with homies and be sure to follow them on all the social platforms to stay up to date on all things Hopeless Romantic 💔.
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