Review Fix Exclusive: Tonic’s Emerson Hart Talks New Album

Review Fix chats with Tonic’s lead singer Emerson Hart, who discusses his new solo album, “Beauty in Disrepair,” set for an April 15 release, as well as his creative process, taking care of his voice and his goals for 2014.

One of the most talented singers of the ‘90s, thanks to hits the likes of “If You Could Only See” and “You Wanted More,” Hart still has plenty of ability and creative juice left in his tank.

Review Fix: What was the creative process behind this album?

Emerson Hart: Like most records for me I have to live through something to find the music behind it. Once I find the thread of what I want to say it tends to follow after.

Review Fix: What song do you think people will enjoy the most? Why?

Hart: That’s a hard one as I feel like all the songs on this record has something to offer. Right now I am digging “You know who I am” because it feels so simple.

Review Fix: It’s been over a decade since your first big splash with Tonic. Your voice hadn’t aged at all. How do you take care of it?

Hart: You have to keep singing, rest and staying hydrated is a big part of that but warming up and doing a quick warm down after a show can keep your voice going on tour.

Review Fix: You’ve got a great band behind you for this album, especially on guitar. While your voice is obviously the driving force, how important do you feel the rest of the band is here?

Hart: I loved everyone I worked with on this record. A painting is a combo of many different colors and they all have a role to play in the final work.

Review Fix: What song do you think has the best story behind it? Can you share?

Hart: One of the stories on this record is the song “Hurricane.” I almost destroyed my relationship because of fear and it took a storm to make me realize what I had done. It hit my restart button.

Review Fix: So many of the songs are about love. Is this something that drives you?

Hart: There are many things that drive me creatively but love…both sides of it never stop inspiring me.

Review Fix: How do you want this album to affect people?

Hart: I want people to find a song that is part of their story. Music is about connecting.

Review Fix: What are your goals for this year?

Hart: I look forward to sharing this record with people live. Performing is a big part of my joy when it comes to music.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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