Having been raised on a cross-Atlantic musical diet of Gram Parsons, The Waterboys, Belle and Sebastian, Springsteen and Dylan, it will come as no surprise that Romantica’s songwriter/lead singer Ben Kyle thrives on the tension between the lush and the spare, the melodically airy and the lyrically dense. Romantica are paradoxically passionate about traditional kinds of music, both Irish and American, and committed to taking those elements and alchemizing them intosomething particular and unique with, for instance, a dash of mariachi, or a lilt of steel guitar.

Claiming musical roots in Ireland and America, Kyle draws influences from both the town of his birth, Belfast, and his adopted home of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Midwestern landscape is present in his lyrics – vast, open, sometimes lonely but populated with good, common-sense folk. Celtic characteristics are woven through the arrangements as well, creating a blend of rooted-here/looking-there cynicism and hope.

Says Kyle of the band’s name, “I liked the depth of the word, and the multiplicity of meanings. It sounds foreign and familiar. We were trying not to take ourselves too seriously. I think it’s somewhat descriptive of the music we make, with the nostalgic and romantic themes, but I also like that, on first hearing, one might assume we were some sort of new-wave band. And when it comes down to it,we are all romantics.”

Romantica’s 2007 sophomore album, America, has won numerous accolades, including two awards from the International Songwriting Competition. PASTE Magazine gave the album 4 Stars and ranked it #58 on their list of the "TOP 100 ALBUMS of 2007". The Onion, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and City Pages have all called America one of the "Best Local Albums of 2007" and it has been included on several blog “Best of the Decade” lists as well.

Their latest release, Control Alt Country Delete, was written and recorded in one day in Austin, TX on March 23, 2009 when they found themselves with an open day in a studio post SxSW. The result is like a peep hole into the writing and recording process as we listen to songs recorded as they are still being written, the band discussing arrangements as they go and even a fleeting moment of internal tension.

In Feb2011, Ben Kyle released a duet album with Carrie Rodriguez called We Still Love Our Country that has reached #9 on the Americana Radio Charts. Romantica has performed with Ryan Adams, Alejandro Escovedo, The Jayhawks and Sara Watkins (of Nickel Creek), toured with Carrie Rodriguez, showcased at SxSW and The Americana Music Conference and performed at the Calgary Folk Festival. Their music has been added to the in-flight music on Sun Country Airlines flights as part of their MN Music Campaign. Romantica will release their third studio album tentatively titled, God and Love and War, on October 4, 2011.

For further information, please contact: Patrice Fehlen at September Gurl Music,

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What's the Deal: Romantica

S.J. Barlament | 1/07/2008 12:30 pm | Tea in the Yahara

With an album on Paste Magazine's Top 100 of 2007 and comparisons popping up all over the placebetween singer/songwriter Ben Kyle and both Jeff Tweedy and RyanAdams, it probably won't be too long before you'll no longer beable to catch these guys in such a cozy venue.

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What's the deal with your band, anyway?
We were a group of friends in school. Luke and I first playedtogether nearly 10 years ago, but the band didn't form until 2002.I essentially gave up music for a few years to study painting. Ifigured I couldn't do both seriously. I sort of told myself thatonce I finished my degree I could start playing music again... Andthat's when the band formed. We were signed really early (within afew months) to a local indie label. Our violinist quit during thefirst recording, so we asked Jessy Greene to come in and play thestring parts and she's been with us ever since (although she's nottouring with us because she's touring with a slightly bigger bandcalled the Foo Fighters at the moment).

The philosophy of the band is changing, and the more we tour themore it's becoming about the 4 guys on the road (Luke Jacobs, TonyZacccardi, James Orvis and myself), as we develop new material andarrangements during our live shows. But until now it's really beenabout a fluid group of musicians collaborating around the songsthat I write.

On this last album, in addition to the core band, Eric Heywoodcontributed in a big way to the sonic landscape with his gorgeouspedal steel, and a few of the tastier guitar parts were played bysometime-member Peter Rasmussen. My sisters lent some harmonyvocals and long-time friend and collaborator Erik Brandt (UHQ)pitched in some accordion and keys. Most of these people haveplayed with us live at one time or another too, so there is a coreband, but there's been a lot of inspired company along the way.

And the name? What's the deal with that?
There was a Luna album called Romantica. I really likedthe sound of the word, I liked the depth of the word, too, and themultiplicity of meanings. It sounds foreign and familiar. It has agravity and seriousness about it (like the passion and sincerity ofthe Romantic movement), but it also feels light andthere's maybe a hint of jest.

We were trying not to take ourselves too seriously. I think it'ssomewhat descriptive of the music we make, with the nostalgic andromantic themes, but I also liked that, on first hearing, one mightassume we were some sort of new-wave band. The word seemed alive, Iguess. It's poetic and dynamic. And when it comes down to it, weare all romantics.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press says that youspecialize in "delicate acoustic pop that's far more substantialthan an initial listen might suggest." Fairly accurate assessment,or journalistic mumbo-jumbo?
I'm not sure what that means, exactly. It's not as if there'sanything different there on your second listen. Maybe what thewriter is getting at is the tension between the lushness andprettiness of the album sonically and the heavier issues engaged inthe lyrical content. There are definitely a few pretty songs aboutdeath.

It's really hard to be objective about your own sound,particularly when you're trying to sound subjective, but if if Ihad to label what we do... I'd probably call it "Irish AmericanaPop." Some of the artists I've listened to a lot on the Americanside are Gram Parsons, Ryan Adams/Whiskeytown, The Jayhawks, Wilco,Springsteen, and Dylan. And on the Irish/Brit side, Van Morrison,The Waterboys, Nick Drake, Belle and Sebastian and a lot of Irishfolk. I think you can definitely hear some of these footprints, andwe definitely take more of traditionalist approach.

Not that we don't value newness, but we don't think it should besought for its own sake. I think we value newness in the form ofParticularity. I think the ideal is to deliver a particular lyricand melody in the most appropriate, beautiful and particular way(by "particular," I mean "the way in which only you woulddo it").

So we do draw from influence, inspiration, heroes and history,but then we seek to coalesce that input and make the song anddelivery as personal as possible. Even though it may be wrapped inhistorical patterns and tried and true forms. I believe if you canbe true enough to the particular, it can transcend itself andbecome universal.

What's the deal with your latest album,America?
Again, I really like the sound of the word "America," especiallypaired with "Romantica." When I burned a really early copy of demosfor the album I titled the playlist "America" on a whim. It was thefirst word that came into my head to collectively describe somecommon subjects and sounds in what we'd recorded so far. When itcame time to find a name for the album, I'd forgotten about thatand came up with some other really crap ideas.

At some point I re-discovered the early title and at first Ithought, "There's no way you could use that"... And then it juststarted really feeling right. So I thought, "Why not?" It reallyfit and, like the band name, felt really dynamic, and pertained sowell to the album musically and thematically. A lot of the contentwas about my move to America; coming to grips with the newcontinent and looking back at my home through this new lens.

The name for the continent was originally taken from theexplorer Amerigo Vespucci, and for me this was definitely a voyageof discovery. It's a huge word, but I thought it was worth therisk, and I hoped that people's better judgmentwould expect the personal experience versus some sort ofover-arching manifesto (which I suppose could have been construed.)And ultimately, I had a chance to call our album "America," and Ithought, "Why the hell not!"

I wrote a lot of the songs while we were recording, so it was afairly immediate process. There was no concept at the beginning,only a vague idea of the direction I wanted the sound to take. Themethod for the album's production was precisely informed by how Ilearned to approach my visual work in art school. Firstly, therewere no rules, and secondly, you try something and then askyourself, "Does it work?" If it does, you keep it; if not, youthrow it. The dexterity of recording technology these days madethis method of working really easy.

The whole process was very different from the first recording,where we worked with a producer (Alex Oana), and I'm not sure wereally new what we wanted in terms of production (our first time inthe studio). This time we decided to record and produce ourselves,so that we would only do exactly what we wanted, and therebydiscover what it was we wanted, more clearly. We built ourown studio and bought our own equipment. We recorded most of thealbum through one mic and one pre-amp, and I learned how toengineer as we went along (with much valuable guidance from AlexOana). Needless to say, we learned a ton and we were really happywith the results.

So America isn't your first album, then,right?
No, our first was called It's Your Weakness that I Want,and I'll spare you the story of how we came upwith that title!

Among other things, America made PasteMagazine's "100 Best of 2007" list. What's the deal withthat?
That was a really great feeling. It's one thingto end up on a series of local music "Best of" lists, but to bestacked in with the 100 best albums worldwide, by a reputablenational publication such as Paste felt like a realaffirmation.

And there were a lot of really great records this year.... Whichmakes it even more crazy. It's so difficult for relatively obscurebands to even get their music listened to by some of the nationalpublications, so to be not only heard but loved and criticallyacclaimed by Paste was a real lift for us this year, andit sort of legitimized the band and opened up some newopportunities.

The Paste review makes comparisons between Romantica -- and you, inparticular -- and both Jeff Tweedy and Ryan Adams. Howdoes it feel to be put up against a couple of the biggest names inpopular music?
Well honestly, that feels really good, considering they aredefinitely two of my guiding lights in music today. (I actually hadthe chance to open for Ryan recently at the State Theater inMinneapolis and he joined me on one of my songs) But maybe morethan the compliment, it was one of the first reviews I read where Ifelt like somebody got it.

You can't read about Romantica without coming across thephrase "Belfast by way of Minneapolis." Care toexplain?
I was born in Belfast, and I was 13 when my family (of 9) moved toMinneapolis to escape the temperate Irish climate for the moreextreme seasons of the Midwest. I think some of the smells andspirits of my homeland are still in my bones and often make theirway into my writing.

And you have a show coming up here in Madison on the10th. What's the deal with that?
We're supporting Poi Dog Pondering on January 10 at the High NoonSaloon. It should be fun. We've never played the High Noon before.The promoter, Tag Evers (True Endeavors), has been abig-hearted supporter of the band and is bringing us in. We've beenat Cafe Montmarte a few times before, and that's always been agreat and very intimate spot.

And what's next for Romantica? Where do you go fromhere? What's the deal?
Well, we'd like to keep making better music. We've a fair bit oftouring the first half of this year in support of America,but we hope to have a new recording finished by the end of theyear.