Today we’d like to introduce you to Mr. Kerosene.
Hi Mr. Kerosene, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started singing when I was in 8th grade but didn’t really find who I was as a singer until maybe 19 years old. The big realization came to me in the form of one very important artist named David Bowie. Prior to Bowie, I was listening to strictly Rock music, in the vein of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Soundgarden, and Stone Temple Pilots. All bands I still love… but Bowie showed me the escapism element of it all. The idea that you could change your name and change yourself, and essentially hide from your own life. As a young man, it was something I needed desperately at the time because quite simply… I hated myself.
Around the same time, I read the book Fahrenheit 451, and on the first page there’s a line that reads “with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world” in reference to burning books. Something about that stuck with me, feeling like this combustible force all the time with my temper, trying to hold it back constantly. Anyway, I ended writing a song called “Mr. Kerosene,” and then by 2009, dawned it as a stage name.
I’ve been making and playing music for about twenty years, and it’s never been about being famous or even being good at it. It’s saved me from some dark places and it continues to.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Every step of being in a band is potential heartbreak. With that said, it’s always been hard work with some very special moments along the way. Being able to turn on your car stereo and hear your song on the radio is a very special moment. Ruben, our guitarist, having done a tour through Hot Topic, was a special moment for him. Our current band, Frantic Romantic, receiving a lot of love from Latin America and from our friends over at SoundwavesTV, that has been a series of special moments for us.
The struggle comes in longevity, always. Something I habitually internalize is the sadness I feel for when a member leaves or a project ends because any musician will tell you that that’s often the end of a friendship as well. By 2013, I was done with bands for that very reason. A very close friendship of mine was ultimately compromised over band BS, and I didn’t want to feel that pain again.
Ruben, knowing this had happened, reached out to me to join what was then called Skyway View (and later renamed Frantic Romantic), and words can’t express how thankful I am for him doing that. Seven years later, and him and I are still great friends and great collaborators. I think we both have an understanding of the expectations, and that’s really important. Frantic Romantic has, hands down, been my favorite band to be in.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Frantic Romantic had a humble beginning, followed by a sharp acceleration of our knowledge and self-awareness. Almost like that black rectangle from “2001: A Space Odyssey” showed up one day and us, as a band, started realizing some really big things. 2018 and 2019 were good to us because we essentially rebranded and relaunched. Covid obviously put a big dent in our momentum, but we’ve been planning for a year, and the future is exciting.
I’d argue that Frantic Romantic has two big things going for us. Most importantly, we write music that’s different, and we’re always looking for what’s unexplored, for us and for local music in general. Ruben, Ziek and I would agree that the last thing we’d ever want to do is rest on our laurels. We are in the process of recording a new album, and we are working with a very high-level producer, who we don’t want to announce until the time is right.
We realize that we need to view our band like an audience member would. We need to give people the same intrigue that we get when we invest in music we love. Wardrobe is a huge thing that many bands either overlook or revile. Music videos tend to be too much work for musicians as well, but once we found that it was easy and fairly inexpensive, not to mention fun, to put ourselves all dressed up on screen, it changed the game for us.
We are known as that New New Wave band with a ton of music videos. We are the music video band, and I feel that it has set us apart.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We are always open to collaborations. Recently we collaborated with a band called The Pill Is You from Quito, Ecuador on a song called “Rise.” It was an awesome experience, and we plan to do more collaborations in the future. Interested? Simply email us: franticromanticmusic@gmail.com
Contact Info:
- Email: franticromanticmusic@gmail.com
- Website: https://franticromanticmusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/franticromanticmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FranticRomanticMusic408
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUDDqhHf79wndvEAn6Xh_nA
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/37JwEPN7bdLP5dpr778hTW?si=o0KsIiX1RWmOZcpLq8f6kg
Image Credits:
Photos by Stevie Loveless, Devin Begley, Bernardo Coronel Photography and Nate Scovill
