Caroline Romano Is Your Next Favorite Pop Star

By: Josh Kitchen / May 3, 2024

Photo by Kelsey Runge

Nashville based Alt-pop singer-songwriter Carolina Romano is having a moment. Her latest single, "Doesn't Matter" is out today, and last night at the El Rey in Los Angeles, she played played a high-energy, emotional, and fun as hell set opening for Smallpools and Grayscale. "My name is Caroline Romano and this is my first tour ever," she announced at the beginning of her set. You wouldn't believe after seeing the show I saw.

Romano's music is equal parts Oliva Rodrigo and Evanescence, with the adolescent and young adult angsty lyrics mixed with the hard-edged anthemic ballads from of your favorite alt-rock bands. Before every other song, she would intro them by telling the audience the sadness level they were about to feel. "This one is sadder than that one, or "the next one is medium sad." Sad as the songs may be, Romano gave the crowd at The El Rey a joyous and passionate performance that is sure to have made new fans of everyone there.

Before the show, I talked with Caroline about touring for the first time, the honest and vulnerable nature of her songs, and the concerts that mean the most to her. Caroline Romano is your next favorite pop star.

You were born and raised in Mississippi. Can you tell me a little about how you find yourself on your first tour supporting Smallpools and Grayscale, with a stop at The El Rey?

I asked my parents to take me to Nashville for the first time when I was 13, just because I knew I loved songwriting. It was like my method of escapism and in Mississippi. I knew that that's kind of where I needed to go for that. So I started going up there when I was thirteen and started writing and meeting people. I ended up in the same rooms with some really great people, which brought me to writing more songs with artists and different songwriters. Now I'm here at 22 getting to open up for these guys, which is super sick.

How have the shows been?

They've been great and super fun, but very different than any shows I've played before. So, I'm having a good time. I've never played L.A. before like in a big room. So I'm stoked for that for sure.

Talk a little bit about your show, I noticed that you've been doing a cover of "Everywhere" by Fleetwood Mac with Smallpools.

The "Everywhere" cover was actually super accidental. Smallpools DM'ed me like a month ago and they were like, do you want to do this with us? And I didn't read it! I didn't see it until we landed were a few hours out from soundcheck. So it's cool. I get to go up and sing that with them every night, and I love that song, obviously. It's a really cool interactive crowd moment. But for me, I play a 25 minute set right before Grayscale. I really just try to focus on telling you a brief synopsis of my story and who I am in those 25 minutes. It's very high energy, almost a bipolar kind of energy, because that's a lot of the kind of music I play, and it's is very extreme. I just try to convey that as quickly and as effectively as possible.

It's been so incredible to have a ton of audiences for an opening act coming up to me after at the merch table and tagging me in their videos. It's been really kind and mind-blowing. So I'm very grateful for that.

Can you talk a little about your latest single, "Used by You" and what that song means to you?

"Used by You" is probably one of the most vulnerable songs that I've released. Every song I write is vulnerable, but that one's just like, so unforgiving. And it paints me in such an unforgiving light. I was really kind of like, this isn't a good message - but it's a true message. And you know, people feel that way sometimes. So I thought it was important to release it because it's literally just about a situationship thing I had happen a few months ago. I was just like, this is probably the realest way I can say this. And that's what I wanted to do. The response to that has been shockingly accepting and people have been like, "Oh my God, I've

done this and I feel this way!" And that's been really helping me because I'm just like, okay, I'm not just the worst person ever for letting this happen.

Pop music has always been such a great way for people to connect and kind of feel seen and heard. Who are some of your pop or musical influences?

I'm going through a huge Julia Wolf kick. I love Julia Wolf. I think she's incredible. For "Used By You" I went back to bands like Evanescence and some of some of the older, darker sounding bands, but I also love some of the more elements in "Used by You." I'm a big Holly Humberstone fan, and I always go back to her production sounds. And Lorde! Those are kind of the main three girls that I've been listening to.

What's next for you?

So I'm putting out another song on Friday, which I'm super stoked about. And then, I'm working on another EP for later this year. I'm a big project based person and I love telling stories, and I'm stoked to have another little part of that bigger story that I get to tell this year. For the EP, we're looking at end of the summer for that kind of vibe.

Can you talk about a live music experience that really meant a lot to you?

I have so many, but the first concert I ever saw was Taylor Swift in 2013 on the Red Tour. I remember just feeling like nothing had ever woken me up that much and made me feel so like, glad to be a human being, and just be in a room where I remember even as a child, thinking that everyone's singing along and just it was an incredible. That was what really made me feel like okay, this is something I want to do. I want to have this and feel this way all the time.

A concert I went to recently was last summer when I went to a Charlotte Sands concert on the roof of a hotel in Nashville. Just the way that she brought a small group of people together where everyone was creaming the words to these angsty songs was a really cool moment. It made me feel like a thirteen year old back in my room. It's just cool to see that happen. Even the few shows that I've played and seeing people singing back to me. Like, these are people who I've never really met before, but we are bonding over this experience. It's crazy.

What's something you'd want to leave with that kind of sums up Caroline Romano?

My life motto is oddities and prodigies go hand in hand. I think if you're like, weird, and it's so weird, just be like, you know, but like, if you feel like you're, like, haven't quite found your place in the world yet. Like, there is a place for that. And I think that that's what's gonna make you different and unique and special. And the things that I've disliked most about myself are like, found strangest or most, like hard to deal with, but myself have ended up being things that have helped me most in life. So I kind of just leave people with that, you know, beyond all of that beyond.

“Doesn’t Matter,” is out today on all streaming platforms.