Review Fix Exclusive: Darro Talks ‘You’re Not Insane’ And More

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter and guitarist Darro, who discusses the creative process behind his new track, “You’re Not Insane,” as well as his goals for the rest of the year.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Darro: I got involved in music at a very young age, I was probably 6 or 7. My dad was in a Cambodian wedding band growing up and I would sit at the top of the basement stairs as they practiced. Then when they finished and everyone had left, I would sneak downstairs and start playing on the drums or keyboard, trying to play the music I heard them play. It wasn’t until I was around 12 until I picked up the guitar, but I didn’t get serious until I saw my first Steve Vai concert. That was when I realized that I needed music.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Darro: It’s constantly changing but I almost always write out an instrumental arrangement first, usually stemming from a cool riff or a chord progression I like. Then I try to figure out what that sound “feels like” to me. It could feel like “walking in the streets of Boston” or “extremely tired but I can’t fall asleep.” Once I figure out what the song feels like to me, then I try to put it into words, my songwriting is constantly evolving and most days I like to think I’m getting better. After writing the lyrics, it’s just a lot of production and engineering. I’m a huge control freak so I really fine tune every single aspect, whether it’s voicing or phrasing of the bass lines, or the positioning of a microphone on the amps.

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Darro: There are a lot of things that inspire me, beyond the obvious artists that I look up to (Paramore, John Mayer, Frank Ocean, Steve Vai), I really just want to do well for my family. I went very against the grain for most first generation Asian-Americans. Immigrants and refugees struggle like crazy to raise a family in a foreign country, so you can imagine the reaction I got from my family when I told them I was going to music school. They had worked so hard for me to get an education and go be a doctor or an engineer or something, but instead I decided to go into music. It felt like blasphemy against everything they had worked for, it still does some days. But I knew I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. I’m content with making music for the rest of my life regardless of the pay, but if I can reach any amount of success, it would be nice to have something to show my family for it.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Darro: Paramore meets Foo Fighters with a hint of Steve Vai.

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Darro: Well there’s definitely a lot less guitars in a live show haha. Some of my tracks have like 12 guitar tracks. I always try to give a little something different in my shows, I like to throw in a few “Darro-ized” covers and some mashups too. But most of all I think it’s the energy, both the energy I give out and the energy I receive. Playing a show makes all of the long studio hours worth it.

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2019?

Darro: Music goals: Release another single in the fall, play some shows outside of NYC (Boston, Philly, Baltimore?)

Non-Music: Learn how to surf, teach my dog how to shake hands, catch up on some sleep.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Darro: A music video for “You’re Not Insane” is coming out!

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Darro: I’m playing a show at The Bitter End in NYC on August 9th at 8:30pm!

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 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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