Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from and what made you want to start a career in music?
Teddy Rankin: I’m from Erie, Pennsylvania, and I grew up in a musical household. My dad still plays covers at bars and restaurants around town. I learned a ton from him and started writing my own songs in high school.
Brian Kinney: I grew up in Mill Village; a little borough outside Erie. There’s not much to do, but everyone’s friendly and it’s relaxing. I always felt connected with music growing up, but it kind of bewildered me in a way. I guess I wanted to know where songs came from, so I learned a bit of guitar because it seemed the most accessible instrument for me.
Aaron Mook: Similarly, I grew up in a small town called Waterford where the three of us attended junior high and high school, just outside of Erie. I don’t know about a career in music, but I’ve always loved performing in some sense. I think I was more used to acting and making people laugh until I decided I wanted to try my hand at music sometime in middle school, when I formed my first band. I’ve been in several since and I still don’t think of it as a career by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems to get a bit more real with every project.
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
BK: I learned guitar in high school by playing covers with friends, including Aaron. I started writing my own songs once I was comfortable with playing and singing.
AM: Yeah, no real training unless you count playing trumpet in concert band. I’ve always been a singer, but never a technically skilled one. Playing those cover songs with Brian and other friends put the fire under me to try writing my own music. It took years, and a decade later, I’m not much better at playing piano, but I can play just enough of what’s necessary to put a demo together for these guys to spruce up.
TR: I sang in choir in school and made it to states, but that’s a really different set of skills. I learned bass and guitar from my dad and mostly learned to sing by harmonizing with my favorite artists while driving. Every time we work on a project, together or independently, we learn and get better.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘Crooner’?
BK: I think I learned how to write songs by listening to indie artists like Kevin Divine, Iron & Wine, and Bon Iver. But growing up, my parents had diverse musical tastes. My Dad liked Black Sabbath, Neil Young, and Rush, while Mom liked Prince, Nat King Cole, and Al Green. So I had a pretty good variety of sounds to absorb.
AM: Like Brian mentioned, our first musical influences were indie artists and a lot of emo bands that are probably canceled now. As for our strongest influences, though? I think Teddy brings the pop sensibility and structure of what he listens to and really lets Brian and I put our twist on it. In addition to some holdovers from my scene days (Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie), I now take a lot of influence from artists I feel are doing something original with their songwriting and production: Porches, Alex G, and Japanese Breakfast to name a few.
TR: From an early age, I’ve loved the Beatles and Paul McCartney’s solo stuff. That still has an influence on my tastes even though It’s not what I listen to on a daily basis. The songs on my sister’s old iPod were very formative, introducing me to some of my favorite artists like Bright Eyes and Phoenix. As for the name, I think it evokes nostalgia. Despite sounding nothing like Sinatra, we value the essence of timeless songwriting.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘Flow Deep’. Is there a story behind it?
BK: “Flow Deep” was the first track I wrote. The idea came to me at a time when I was feeling out of place and it was hard for me to connect with people. I started creating a concept about some sort of cryptid fish living alone in someone’s secluded pond or lake. The property’s owner cares for the fish and swims with it, but the fish feels jealous that the human can leave and live their life while it has to wait for the next visit. It’s a pretty sad song, but I’m really happy I wrote it.
AM: Honestly, Brian had sent me that song (alongside a few others) with the intention of putting it out as a solo thing, and I immediately added a keyboard part and sent it back. I don’t think he liked it, and honestly, it was pretty intrusive of me, but I’m glad he trusted us enough to let us turn it into a Crooner song, because it feels integral to the album.
TR: When Brian showed us that song, we fell in love with it and it set the tone for a lot of the album. We had loosely discussed a style we were going for and he unintentionally defined it. The version on the record is fairly minimalist compared to some of our other songs, but we wanted it to maintain that magic from the stripped-down recording we first heard.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
BK: I hope so! We like our process to be natural and spontaneous. We didn’t even really plan to make Heaven in a Hurry until the songs started piling up and a concept started to reveal itself.
TR: I don’t think we’re capable of not working together for very long, so I’d guess we’ll start something else soon, but not until we all feel ready. We talked about releasing some demos from the HIAH sessions, which would be a cool way for people to hear how. the songs started and where they ended up.
AM: We have a few B-sides, too. I’m confident it’ll come together someday. We’ve talked about the next recording, whatever it may be, so unreleased music may be a good placeholder in the meantime.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
BK: I think, in keeping our lyrics slightly cryptic and metaphorical, we give the listener the opportunity to fantasize and relate the music to their own memories and feelings. For our sound, I just hope that the mood of our music feels nostalgic to people. That’s really important to us.
TR: We’re very conscious about lyrical cohesiveness throughout the album. There are consistent themes and references to other songs woven into the fabric. Sonically, we had a lot of fun blending organic and synthetic sounds on this record. We chose our instrumental tones carefully to sculpt an emotion. I’m not sure how to succinctly define our sound, but “nostalgia pop” seems to work. Truthfully, it’s just whatever music we happen to be loving individually at the time of writing and trying to find a way to mix those sounds into something unique.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
BK: I definitely feel satisfied with HIAH compared to other albums I’ve made. There are always things you feel you could have done better, but I’m proud of how strong this one feels. I love the process of making music for Crooner, especially because we often work on it independently and without time restraints.
TR: We’ve all been writing music in different projects for probably a decade now, so we understand that “making it big” just isn’t the goal for us. We keep making music together because we love making music together – that stays the same whether anyone else listens to it or not. I’m getting so much out of it because I get to be creative and spend time with my friends.
AM: There’s a sense of accomplishment every time we finish something together, like the spark is still there, we can still create something that excites us. There’s a song on the record called “Time Capsule” that captures our collective feelings towards doing this. As Teddy said, even if no one else hears the record, some day, I’ll be gone and the art that I created will be a way for me to stick around.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do you usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
BK: Usually, one of us will record a demo and show it to the band. Then, we will talk about how it adds to the feel and concept of the project over the span of days or weeks. Once we have an idea of if/where it fits in the scheme of things, we re-record it in the studio and begin to flesh it out instrumentally. Sometimes the song is completely different from the demo; other times, it stays about the same.
TR: We have a lot of mutual respect for each other’s tastes and musical visions, so this collaboration between us tends to grow the songs into something totally new, even to us.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
BK: In music, I’ve had many blunders with songs being deleted and parts going missing and having to rebuild songs, but nothing too drastic. In life, I’d say the hardest thing I’ve had to do was ask for help with mental health. I hid my feelings of anxiety and depression from everyone for most of my life and I felt like I was going to implode before starting the first album. A great friend of mine suggested I try therapy, and it changed my life.
AM: …And then Brian suggested that therapist to me, and it changed my life as well. I think we’ve all dealt with similar struggles, and to be honest, we’re not special in that regard. A lot of people experience anxiety, depression, even some suicidal thoughts that feuled some of the songwriting on our first record, We’re Gonna Live Forever. The only thing we’re lucky enough to have, aside from each other, are musical collaborators that are just as interested in transposing those feelings into songs that can help us, and hopefully others, work through those issues.
TR: I’m a cancer survivor, so that’s obviously up there. I’ve also had struggles with mental health, but making music has always been helpful. Musically, I think the most difficult thing is listening to my older work and realizing how little I knew. Someday, I’ll look at this and probably feel the same, but that means I’m growing.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud, or significant point in your life or music career so far?
BK: Finishing this album is a good one! So far, it’s the best I’ve felt about releasing something. I’m just proud of myself anytime I follow through with something difficult, especially if I find a new piece of myself in the process. So I hope to be proud of myself and my work for as long as I am able to create.
AM: Yep. Finishing the first album was a huge milestone, and now that this one’s out there…I mean, numbers don’t matter, but when four times as many people listen to your record within a month of release as they did the last one, that’s objectively awesome. It’s not about sales or anything. It means the songs are connecting. It’s a huge confidence booster and makes us all excited to discover what’s next for us.
TR: I’ve got a lot to be grateful for. I recently got engaged, I’m close to graduating college, and I had the opportunity to play my original songs for hundreds of people this summer. Things are going really well and I’m proud of myself for that because it takes work and I didn’t always think it was possible. A big part of that is the love and support I receive from my Crooner family, Aaron and Brian.
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