American Ink’s Michael Romano and Nicholas Fauza give WXJM the scoop on the band’s early days, future directions for the group, and their new single “Play Song”.
Composed of Aidan Crotty on vocals and bass, Michael Romano on vocals and guitar, and Nicholas Fauza on drums, this trio has been bringing a west-coast indie punk sound to the Boston music scene for nearly 7 years. Upon first listen, you would think that American Ink’s music was being professionally cultivated in an expensive recording studio with a team of established producers and music engineers. The reality is that Aidan, Michael, and Nick handle all stages of production from writing to recording to producing their songs in Nick’s basement. Having such a strong sound at the stage of independent production, American Ink is bound to take the punk world by storm.
The Band’s Beginnings
Aidan and Michael had been playing music together since middle school, after some time they decided to start an independent project. The pair rotated playing with different people for a while but nothing was sticking. It wasn't until Nicholas joined that the group realized they had something real. They wanted to name their band “American Inc.” but unfortunately the name was already taken so the trio landed on “American Ink” instead.
Green Day and Blink-182 were listed as influences to the band's sound and dynamic as a whole. Since he played a good amount of Blink-182 cover songs when first learning to drum, it is no surprise that Travis Barker has been Nicholas’s favorite drummer and music inspiration. Barker’s influence can be heard in some of the jaw-dropping drum solos featured on American Ink’s tracks. Michael said that his inspirations have been more on the indie side, like Car Seat Headrest and The Frights. Michael even chose to go to the college of William and Mary because Car Seat Headrest founder Will Toledo went there.
Boston’s Sound
Boston has a thriving underground music scene that American Ink has dove head first into. The band has collaborated on shows with other local artists from the area, like Learn To Speak and Makeout Palace. Playing live in the city’s unique venues is one of American Ink’s favorite parts about the scene; their most recent show at The Capitol Theatre took place inside a movie theater. While the band has been growing their presence and cultivating fans on social media, online followers cannot compare to the feedback received from fans at live shows. American Ink feels as though playing live shows helps them get their music in front of the right kinds of fans.
“If this gets in writing anywhere, these guys will immediately know who they are, but the handful of people that are consistently coming to all of our shows and talking to us between sets mean so much more than how ever many thousands of people view our stuff on the internet”
- Michael Romano
Navigating Long Distance
About 4 years after the group's formation, the members were geographically separated as they went off to different colleges. The strain of long-distance is typically enough to slow most bands down, but for American Ink it was just the push they needed to start taking their band to the next level. The band quickly found that being far apart from each other was going to pose a new challenge, but taking their foot off the gas was not an option. The group was able to overcome the distance by arranging weekly zoom meetings, planning ahead in a group calendar, and investing a majority of their vacation breaks working together on their music.
“Play Song”
For their latest project, American Ink has been dropping a series of singles, so be sure to be on the lookout! Michael Romano tells us about the lyrics he wrote for one of their latest releases “Play Song”.
“I have written mostly downtrodden songs like ‘why doesn’t she like me back’, it’s been a long time since I wrote an exuberant song. [Play Song] is about this powerful feeling of knowing they love you back. The unbridled feeling of a new, reciprocated love. I wanted to write something to capture that feeling”.
New Directions
American Ink has been involved in the Boston music scene since their foundation, but the group fears that they haven’t fully “stepped into it”. The band describes the scene in Boston as subjective, meaning it is what you make of it. It can be hard to get your band out there as a local because of the dwindling house show/DIY scene. With Aidan and Michael graduating from university and Nicholas entering his senior year in 2025, the band is planning for new directions in the upcoming year. The group is hoping to temporarily relocate to the North Carolina area so that they all can produce music together again and start playing live shows more consistently. Aidan has taken a liking to Philadelphia for its social media presence and larger collective of DIY music. He hopes to move the band out there and tap into the music scene in Philly following their time in North Carolina, which is exciting news for punk fans on the east coast.
Socials
Web: https://www.americanink.band/
Insta: @weareamericanink
Youtube: American Ink
