We last spoke to Impulsive Hearts nearly a year ago after they had released a benefit EP for Resilience Chicago. Their new record Cry All The Time, may sound like a bummer, though it’s anything but as the power of positivity shows through with every chord. With their release show canceled due to the current situation, we thought they’d like to come back to CCS and talk about the album, songwriting, the plight of being a musician in these trying days, and childhood summers. Our own Tina Mead sent some questions to band leader Danielle Sines to get the low down on Cry All The Time.

DS : Danielle Sines

I listened to your album driving around today. It was sunny and I rolled the windows down, even though it was a little chilly, your music succeeded in evoking the feeling of summer. I could equally imagine walking to the beach with your music in my headphones. What would you say is the key element bringing that sound to life in the dead of winter?

DS: I write music to escape depression, so when I'm writing or recording I do everything possible to help foster that escape. I want drums to be loud and fast, I want the melody to seem happy, I want to set the scene that will help us all escape to that beach together. I'm doing that intentionally because when I'm playing these songs live I want to be having fun too. If I'm playing all my sad jams back to back I feel depressed. I cry! So I want to run away from that as quickly as I can, and the music helps.

Where did you grow up? What were your summers like?

DS: I grew up in a rural area outside of Flint, MI. My parents are pretty hermit like, they built a house in the woods in the late 70’s where my sister and I were later raised. We didn't have cable TV growing up for a long time, so I missed out on all those MTV 90’s years, and instead spent tons of time outside playing in the woods.
Our summers were idyllic, honestly. There's something magical about Michigan summers. We'd spend the whole day on the lake, at a small cabin that my grandfather used as a hunting spot in the winter. My mother would drive the boat, blaring Phil Collins or Roxette as she pulled us water skiing all summer long.

This is your second album. What about making Cry All the Time was different from Sorry in the Summer?

DS: Oh man, everything was different. With Sorry in the Summer, my friends and I recorded it at my parents’ house and in my Chicago apartment over the course of three years. I recorded the entire record with two mics! The drums were recorded at Superior Street using two mics and a laptop that housed the demos I had made to a very loud click track.  Then, we just added layers - guitars, vocals, keys, saxophone, accordion - you name it - to get the sound we wanted. After that, I edited and mixed everything for the record while I was recovering from an ACL tear. It was insane.

With Cry All The Time I wanted to record in a studio. I couldn't emotionally take another stab at being both the recording engineer and artist. So, after I confided all of my dreams for the next record to Madison Moore (of Absolutely Not) she suggested that I work with her partner Brian Fox at Altered States for my next record. Madison wanted to learn how to record music as well, so she was a sort of intern during the process, which made it really fun. We took a little trip to Benton Harbor, MI to record at Key Club, where they have a baby grand piano and tons of fun toys. We worked all weekend, stayed up all night recording, until the entire band was like "DANIELLE GO TO BED," but I couldn't. I get manic during recording and my mind just can't shut off. After that weekend, we went back to Chicago where we added more and more at Altered States. We started recording April 2018 and finished sometime in September 2019. 

Where do you get your song inspiration? Are the lyrics connected to personal experiences?

DS: I sing little songs to myself all the time, sometimes I record them on my voice memo app on my phone to review later. Usually songs are deeply personal to me, but I typically don't really think about the lyrics that I'm singing, or really know what their meanings are until well after the song is complete. Songs are usually ways for me to process my emotions and feelings about a wide range of subjects. “ALIEN” was written after Trump's election as I was sitting in my home studio, mad at myself for not speaking up or out sooner, feeling like i could have done more. “boxing day” was written when I was really mad at my partner and instead of getting in a fight, I wrote a song about it. But songs and lyrics also evolve over time, now I think about “boxing day” much more politically because of the lyrics referencing war.

Is there a lyric that is particularly evocative for you?

DS: At the end of “FOOL” off Cry All The Time, there's this part at the end that builds lyrically and was written and demoed right after my grandmother passed. As I was recording the demo at home I started singing the end vocals which sort of scream/sing the lines "come haunt me",  which is me pleading with the universe to be able to see her again in some sort of fashion.

Some songs are overtly sad in tone and lyrics, but a lot of your songs are sneaky, like “Fool.” They have irresistibly bouncy rhythms, but heartbreak in the words. Is there a song by someone else that has served as stylistic inspiration?

DS: Smokey Robinson is a master at this. Lyrically "Tracks of My Tears" is my favorite, because it seems so sweet but really he's singing that high pitched "I'm Sad!" It kills me every time. Sonically, the track "Tears of a Clown" has that fast, upbeat feel - fun flutes! shuffle beat drums! disguised depression! It's perfect.

Is there a song from the album that is a favorite to perform live?

DS: "CAN I ASK YOU?" has really grown on me. During practice, we've really made this song fun to play live. Fallon (Mcdermott) is singing the harmonies in the song like a boss, Jess (Lemaster) is holding down the low end, and Adele (Nicholas) is adding these awesome guitar lines. I feel like we are band of such strong powerful women and it comes across in this fun, sexy way? Like a 2020 version of the girls from the Robert Palmer video? That's how I feel when we play that song together, like a bunch of bad asses with slicked back 80’s hair not taking shit from anyone.

What is the impact of your record release show being cancelled?

DS: Obviously it's a bummer to be a musician releasing music or touring right now . We're trying to make the most of it. We want people to be safe, we want to keep the death toll down. We re-vamped our merch and have awesome "cry all the time" sweatshirts that our bassist hand screen-printed. We're getting on podcasts (bad songwriters podcast is out now!) and working on a way to live stream our record-release concert, and I'm working on the demos for the next record, which is kind of fun for the time being.

How can your fans support you in lieu of coming out to the show?

DS: Buy a record! They are beautiful, bright blue, and pressed here at Smashed Plastic in Chicago! We're donating a portion of vinyl sales to Girls Rock! Chicago: an amazing music education programs for girls and transgender & gender expansive youth.
Buy our merch! Tell your friends! Like us on social media! Share our music videos to your bored friends!

What do you think makes the Chicago music scene one of the best in the country (we are admittedly biased)?

DS: Our live venues! Being able to see a show at The Hideout, the Empty Bottle, or a DIY space seems like a beautiful dream right now, so let's not forget that when we get to the other side of this. And support local businesses and employees impacted by this if you are able to. We are going to need one another. This is a time for us to come together to help one another.