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The Frantic Romantic

What are your names and what instruments do you play? Ryan – Vocals, Guitar. Chris – Guitar. Mark – Bass. Brad – Drums. How did you come up with your band name? Ryan: Chris, Brad, our friend Jordan and I spent a few weeks emailing back and forth lists of names and this one was on Chris’ list. It stood out and was in line with a song we used to play called Just Tonite – which was a story about a hopeless romantic trying to pull off a one night stand. The Frantic Romantic seemed an apt title for the song but we decided to use it for the band. We really wanted to find a name that didn’t have any implications and something we could make our own. Over time we think the name has really fit our music. .

Which venue in San Diego is your favorite and why?

The Ken. We’ve had a lot of good memories there. We just had an EP release show at the Ken last month and it was one of the best shows we’ve had. It’s a perfect venue for where we are right now. The separation of the bar and live room is a real plus. If someone is in the live room, they are there for the music. It’s a real challenge to get people out from the bar during the show, but if you can make it happen that says a lot about your band’s performance. If anything, you have to love a bar that has a myspace profile for their bathroom. We love the Casbah as well, but who doesn’t?

In the next 5 yrs where do you each see the band?

Ryan: Touring, touring. It’s never boring.
Chris: Playing Top of the Pops on the BBC.
Mark: My playing goals are to bring each persons sound together and form OUR sound. I think we are really hitting our stride right now and hope to continue being in a band where I can just play my own style and incorporate my own ideas that compliment the rest of the group.
Brad: Playing larger venues, touring and continuing to produce albums.

Who are your favorite bands/biggest influences on the music you write?

Ryan: When Chris and I first started playing, we were both really into garage rock revival music like The Strokes and The White Stripes. I have been infatuated with Brit-pop over the past few years, and bands like Franz, The Cribs, Fratellis, Arctic Monkeys, etc, have been a huge influence on my writing.
Chris: Anything that I'm listening to; be it The Strokes or The Beatles. 
Mark: I am a classically trained orchestral bass player as well as jazz. It’s hard for me to drop names because I listen to everything.  But if I must: Jaco Pastorius (where I get my melodic playing style from), Pat Metheney, Gene Krupa, Ray Brown, Alfonzo Johnson, all of James Brown and Michael Jacksons records. 
Brad: I'm a big fan of 90s music. It's what I grew up on and it's what I learned to play drums on so anything in that area; or anything that's technical and makes me feel like I need to learn drums all over again is usually a big influence.

What CD’s are in your each of your cars right now?

Ryan: Cribs, Kooks, Justice.
Chris: Arctic Monkeys, Cribs, The Modlin's new CD.
Mark: Killers, Daft Punk, Foreigner.
Brad: Athlete, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Live.

How do you describe your sound?

We put “sex wrapped in money” on myspace for this, but if our parents asked, we’d probably say Two-Guitar Indie Rock. The music is definitely “rock”, but there are lots of pop elements to it.

How do you feel about the local San Diego music scene?

We love the local scene. There are a lot of excellent venues in good neighborhoods, and the community is full of great musicians and fans. What’s great about San Diego is bands will support other bands regardless of whether or not they have the same sound or are in the same genre. Everyone we know seems to be working towards the greater goal of making it and willing to help one another out. Plus people in San Diego seem to like to dance, and we think that’s the tops.

What is the biggest thing about the band that you want to improve?

We are all transplants so our biggest hurdle is gaining a fan base. We don’t have our friends from high school or home towns that we can count on coming out to every gig, so we’ve really had to start from scratch. We also really want to work on putting on a “show” as opposed to just playing our music. Transitions and set lists are really important to a performance and we’re constantly changing things in order to make a better live experience.

Any last words?

Our debut EP Say What You Wanted To Say is available at our shows and online at myspace.com/thefranticromantic or franticromanticband.com. Next shows: Feb 24th at Casbah (LOCAL 94/9 Broadcast/Free show!) and March 22nd at The Alibi. And…thank you sandiegopunk for the support!

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