Life & Work with Young Romantics

Today we’d like to introduce you to Young Romantics.

Hi Young Romantics, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
After transferring to Western Kentucky University in early 2017, the second semester of freshman year for Griffin Fletcher (vocals) and Matt Porter (drums), Matt began making beats as a means of coping with the recent move from his hometown (Louisville, KY). One day choosing to write a beat as opposed to attending class, Matt shared the idea with Griffin on a whim.

Having been high school friends whose hopes for musical collaboration never came to fruition while in high school, Griffin liked the beat and immediately began writing lyrics and vocal melodies in his head after first listening during a midday workout. He knew Matt had a microphone and said they should try recording his vocal ideas to it as soon as possible. Without anywhere to record, the duo was forced to track vocals in Matt’s Honda Accord while parked in one of WKU’s more discreet on-campus lots. They did so over various late-night sessions and soon after released the song to SoundCloud under the name “The Young Romantics.”

Inspired by how easily the song came together, they decided to continue writing while simultaneously attending classes, eventually releasing a self-titled EP in November 2017 to SoundCloud. Not interested in performing live with just beat tracks and vocals, the two decided to try writing new material on ukulele and guitar, which resulted in the creation and release of their second EP, “Someday,” in January 2018. Now venturing into stringed instrumentation, the band began contacting coffee houses and small venues for show opportunities, which resulted in some minor acoustic gigs around the Cincinnati area.

Keen on every chance to perform, the two drove back and forth from Bowling Green to Cincinnati (Roughly six hours roundtrip) on a number of school and work nights. After being offered an “Earth Day” show on WKU’s campus in April 2018 under the impression there would be a full band performance, Griffin convinced fellow dormmate, Mitchell Manuel, to practice guitar with the duo in a local storage unit he and Matt were renting as a practice spot for Matt’s drum kit. The band performed at the show as a three-piece after only a handful of rehearsals, and Mitchell just so happened to stick around, months later recruiting grad student Gerek Patrick to play bass with the group for its first local bar gig in November 2018.

Despite a disastrous soundcheck (the band’s first-ever) and a parking mistake that resulted in two of the members’ cars being towed, Gerek said he wanted in. The band began writing original material and met with local producer Max Erskine in December 2018 to start tracking its debut EP, “In Case You Feel the Same,” which was released to major streaming platforms in August 2019. Finally getting a number of shows under its belt, including performances at Bowling Green mecca Tidball’s as well as Nashville venue The Basement East, the band started writing for its sophomore EP in late 2019.

This was halted in early 2020, as Gerek accepted a full-time job in Houston and chose to leave the band. The group began reaching out to local bassists soon after and came across musician Gabriel Rogers in March via a mutual friend. After playing just a single gig together, the band sparked a conversation with Erskine regarding recording sessions for its second EP, “In Case You Don’t,” which ultimately was tracked over 10+ full-day sessions at Erskine’s home-made studio in Scottsville, KY, from roughly June to October 2020. It was during this time the band started taking its social media and overall presence more seriously, investing in more frequent posting and varied content creation.

This led to recording music videos for the first and second singles off its sophomore release, “Cliché” and “STRANGER,” respectively, as well as contacting over 200 U.S. College radio stations, media outlets, and record labels prior to (and after) the album’s release. Each entity was shared a private link to the album along with the band’s website, EPKs, and radio one sheet. The band released its new EP in August 2021 and is currently promoting it via show dates across KY and into Nashville.

It is in the process of discussing the creation and recording of its debut LP at Thunder Sound Studio in Franklin, KY, as well as gearing up to sell its first-ever line of official band merch. The band hopes to schedule its first national tour during summer 2022.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Given the fact this band is the first of all of its members, everything has been learned on the fly. Matt and Griffin began the project as essentially two kids with a dream to play music regardless of whether or not their parents approved or anyone else cared, and that perspective has maintained across the now four years they’ve spent making music together, only altering in that said perspective is now shared among not just two people but four.

The biggest struggles have been keeping momentum to write, record, work full-time jobs and go to school, maintain healthy friendships and promote and book content when it seems the world has other plans (e.g. Matt and Griffin trying to book shows while having nothing to offer but acoustic guitar and voice, Gerek suddenly leaving the band just months before the outbreak of the COVID pandemic). We truly feel blessed to have a select few who support us, and we’re even more grateful to be not just bandmates but great and loving friends. We often describe the band as a family and believe that fully.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We believe our live performances are what most distinguish us from similar groups. Griffin and Mitchell are particularly emotional writers and performers, which has drawn numerous comparisons to the Red Hot Chili Peppers since we first began playing live as a full band in late 2018.

Perhaps one of our biggest accomplishments is the sixth track off our second EP, “Citrine,” which features saxophone playing by 83-year-old musician Al Lopez, who used to play with Frank Zappa in California during the mid-1960s, due to the fact we’ve had multiple people tell us the song made them cry. To know your music affected someone deeply enough to elicit such a response is immense.

Aside from that, we’re incredibly proud of two live performances a friend of ours recently captured at a local house show, which have since gone up fully on our official YouTube channel. It’s rare to see yourself covered in sweat and performing to exhaustion in front of a crowd that appears equally involved and moved by the music.

Those are the kind of moments you feel grateful to have experienced during your lifetime. To see that the moment translated perfectly on your friend’s plain iPhone recording is uniquely beautiful, as well.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
We define success as maintaining the spirit of your work as genuinely as possible. Ultimately, we write and perform and keep the band together as a way to survive and make sense of our lives and the world we find ourselves in. To be able to maintain such creation with people you love in a way you’re proud of is a miracle and what we consistently aim to keep in mind.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://young-romantics.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youngromanticss/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/youngromanticss
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK0dNYugxcD3SJD1yI4kZCw
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/youngromanticss
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6X7OQgcgOeXFKjmDcFEtl4?si=VCsqcziYRECfGMelOagwUg&dl_branch=1

Image Credits
Rachel Coyle Grainy, Chad Van Wyk B&W, Luke Ballesteros, and Young Romantics