CRØSSED HEARTS is the band that should be on everyone’s radar right now! This two piece, featuring Mikey Lince (Ex-Vocalist of Heavensake & Ex-Host of To All The Crowded Rooms Podcast)
and Julian Carbone (Ex-Guitarist of Pointless, Last Words, Commencement), isn’t afraid to push the limits with their music. Considered a mostly “screamo” band, CRØSSED HEARTS does a fantastic job of sticking to those traditional “screamo” roots while keeping up with pace of today’s scene! With three singles released and a brand new one dropping this Friday (1/20/23), this band is ready to take over the music scene!
CRØSSED HEARTS released their debut single, “Isolate” back in early August. This song turned me into an instant fan! The second the song starts you are hit with an overwhelming nostalgic feeling of that classic screamo/emo style of the early and mid 2000’s. You can instantly feel the raw emotion that went into the recording of this track. The fast paced drumming and nasty vocals are going to have fans going crazy every time this comes on their playlist. A little over a month later, CRØSSED HEARTS proved they weren’t just some one-hit wonder with the release of their powerful follow up single, “Tell Me“. This song is two minutes of intensity! The vocals mixed with the heavy instrumentals make you want to start throwing haymakers! I just hope we get lucky enough to see them play it live one day! Two weeks back, CRØSSED HEARTS dropped their third single, “isntitobvious“. This song really allowed the band to show off their musical diversity, incorporating emo rap vocals and more upbeat instrumentals while still showing off their screamo roots!
I was lucky enough to be able to interview Mikey Lince during the release of the band’s first single, “Isolate“. Check out the interview below and the music video for “Isolate“!
Dan: Where did the name Crossed Hearts come from?
Mikey: The name comes from an old screamo blog called Cross My Heart With A Knife. We loved the name but didn’t want to steal it. So we shortened it to CRØSSED HEARTS. We added the slash in the O to differentiate ourselves and pay homage to UnderØath.
Dan: What made you decide to start the project?
Mikey: We were both out of the scene for a couple years after leaving our previous bands. We became roommates and started jamming and talking about similar artists we enjoy listening to. We both loved scene music, but also were getting really into emo rap, hyperpop, and the idea of recording at home. We started playing around on the DAW and getting ideas down. Now we are going full force with our songwriting.
Dan: What are some musical acts that have inspired the band?
Mikey: If I Die First, SYSC, Kaonashi, Belmont, Static Dress, Hawthorne Heights, Attack Attack, These Hearts, Lil Lotus, I Set My Friends On Fire, 93FEETOFSMOKE, Fats’e
Dan: How do you find inspiration when writing your music?
Mikey: We are constantly listening to music and looking for new music. We will text each other songs that we are listening to and talk about specific parts we like and why we like them. When we lived together, we spent hours watching music videos, covering songs on acoustic guitar, and talking about aesthetics and genres we liked.
Dan: What is the process for Crossed Hearts when writing music? Is it a collaborative effort or more focused on an individual member?
Mikey: We don’t write our music like a traditional band. Most bands get into a practice space and hash out parts. We write as we go. Julian will plug into his DAW and write something on guitar. Mikey sits in and pitches ideas. Julian types in the midi drums because we don’t have a drummer. After the instrumental is near completion, we will hum out vocal melodies. Then we decide on a theme of a song and try to create lyrics that fit into the vocal melody. Adding in harmonies and screams are also a huge part of our music. We use production as part of the music creation too. Production can completely transform a song. We work with DreamRats (producer) to add synths, glitches, and soundscaping and Pete Zen for mixing and mastering.
Dan: “Isolate” is an amazing song. It brings me back to the gold era of screamo music with a modern twist. How do you manage trying to stick to those traditional “screamo” roots while keeping up with pace of today’s scene?
Mikey: Thank you! We listen to a lot of music ranging from the golden era of emo to a lot of current artists. We often talk about missing emo bands with a Drive-thru records sound, or a 2000’s emo rock sound like Hawthorne Heights. We really wanted to incorporate a part of that into the sound. We combined that with 2010s style super scene production, and a modern hyperpop computer-y aspect.
Dan: What is the inspiration behind “Isolate”?
Mikey: We made “Isolate” before we even knew if we would release anything. When we started working together, we went crazy with it and started making tracks constantly. It was our first rock track that we were really stoked on, and felt we really did something new and different on. It’s a mix of a lot of our influences and also our unique personal styles. Lyrically, its about not being able maintain friendships or navigate social interactions and feeling isolated.
Dan: Tell us about the music video for “Isolate”! How did you get linked up with GhostKiller Entertainment?
Mikey: The music video was created on a very low budget. We filmed it in Julian’s parent’s garage and backyard. Stylistically, it was inspired by Asking Alexandria’s Final Episode music video and VHS distortion from current artists featured on Astari’s YouTube channel. Mikey edited the music video. Ghostkiller entertainment offers promotion services to be featured on their YouTube channel. We felt like their audience would love our music. It made sense for us being a new band with a small following to debut our first music video on their channel.
Dan: Is Crossed Hearts affiliated with any type of music group?
Mikey: We are currently independent.
Dan: Any tours, shows, future releases planned?
Mikey: No tours or shows planned at the moment. For now, we are an internet project. We have a lot of music in the vault. We will be dropping singles consistently.
Dan: Where do you see Crossed Hearts 1 year from now?
Mikey: We will have a catalogue of music, better visuals, more collabs, better songs, and a bigger following.
Dan: If you had to choose a dream show or tour lineup for Crossed Hearts to be on, what would it be?
Mikey: Kaonashi, If I Die First, SYSC, CRØSSED HEARTS
Dan: After Hours is all about support local and up-and-coming/new bands! Are there any new/local bands that you guys listen to currently? Any you would want to play a show with?
Mikey: Kaonashi is the greatest band of all time.
CRØSSED HEARTS has proven they’re a force to be reckoned with. Their raw, genuine talent shines through the first three tracks released and I can’t wait to hear the next one! Make sure you keep up to date with CRØSSED HEARTS on all their socials and listen to the first three singles on our Spotify Playlist!