Q&A: Andy Tongren Steps Into the Spotlight with “Franconia”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
THERE’S A RARE LOVE THAT GOES BEYOND PEOPLE — it anchors itself in landscapes, moments, and memories that never quite leave you. On his new single “Franconia,” Andy Tongren taps into that feeling with an indie folk anthem that captures the sudden pull of a place or person that feels destined, and the way that pull can transform into something timeless.
Layered with soaring melodies and indie instrumentation, “Franconia” captures that rare rush of feeling both rooted and untethered, as if anything is possible when the right person (or place) pulls you in. “Franconia is about falling in love—with a person, a place, or both all at once,” Tongren says. “It’s the sudden, undeniable pull that feels destined. Over time, Franconia becomes more than just a place—it becomes a state of mind, a memory, a metaphor for how certain people and places leave their mark on you.”
“Franconia” is the latest solo release from Tongren, whose fans first came to know his voice as a frontman of Young Rising Sons. The band’s explosive 2014 debut single “High” catapulted them onto the national stage, landing a deal with Interscope Records and launching tours alongside acts like The 1975, Bleachers, Halsey and Weezer.
Now stepping forward on his own, Tongren’s writing from a place of renewed creative clarity and “Franconia” feels like the natural next step in that evolution.
LUNA: Welcome back and thank you for talking to Luna again. It's super exciting to have you back since the last time we talked about your single “So Good.” I would love to catch up and see how life has been treating you and what have you been up to since the last time we talked.
ANDY: Everything's been great with this new solo endeavor. I've been in music forever, and this is my first time stepping outside of the band, which is a little scary and exciting and sort of all of the things. It's been neat to find this other side creatively of myself and tap into that. My first show for it was at a venue called Berlin in New York two weeks ago. It was great to feel it all come to life.
LUNA: What inspires you to push boundaries within your sound? Are there any specific experiences, artists, or moments that have encouraged you to explore new musical territories?
ANDY: That's a good question. I look back at the music I came up with my parents. My mom specifically loved The Beach Boys. The way they approach music is so unique. I draw a lot of inspiration from early music just in terms of pushing boundaries and doing things a little bit differently, and finding creative ways to utilize the instruments and tools that we have in the studio and think about things a little differently. The exciting thing about this new project is that it's a lot of organic elements, and the imperfections make the songs that much more unique. I feel like our ears are so trained to hear everything perfectly now, so if things are a little bit off the grid, a little bit untuned, I try to leave them that way because I think there's some specialness in the raw nature of that.
LUNA: You just released your newest single “Franconia” and I love how poetry-driven it is. What is the inspiration behind the single and what themes and emotions do you explore?
ANDY: I have played in a band for as long as I can remember now and we've done a lot of touring. I've always been drawn to the northeast area like Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. It's so beautiful. I feel like there is a weird spiritual connection there. I don't remember which tour it was, but there was one tour specifically where we were just driving, and I saw a road sign that said Franconia. I thought it sounded like a girl’s name. I wrote it down in my notes and it lived there for years. When I started this new project, I was going through some notes, and I saw that there's something special about this music that feels really natural and organic-driven. For me, a sort of connection with wilderness, felt like it was a cool line to use Franconia, and toe that line of a person or a place, and how you can fall in love with one the same way that you can fall in love with the other.
LUNA: I would love to touch more on the creative process behind “Franconia.” How did the song evolve from the initial idea to its final version?
ANDY: It was pretty quick. I think it was all written within one day. I write a lot with my friends, Jackson Hoffman, Shep Goodman and Aaron Acccetta. It was a concept that had been sitting in the back of my brain for a while, and it was like a little bit of a Hail Mary. It connected when we started writing it, and it was a melody and the chorus was something that I had heard in my head, and it was stuck in my head, and I didn't know what it was, but we fleshed it out. It was one of the songs that came pretty easy. I think usually those are the best ones.
LUNA: Coming from Young Rising Sons, where collaboration was central, what’s been the most rewarding—and maybe most challenging—part of creating on your own?
ANDY: That's a good question. I'm fortunate to still have some great collaborators for this new project. We've got a good little team creatively that we can really bounce ideas off each other and they understand the project. It's neat having something that is such a clean slate. Young Rising Sons has been around for a long time, and we've put out a lot of music, and it lives in a very specific world. With this new project, it's been exciting to figure out what that new world is and dial it in. But also at the same time, that's been a little challenging to figure out exactly where it lives, but it feels like it comes naturally and easy. This music is stuff that I've listened to for as long as I can remember, so it feels natural to me.
LUNA: Do you feel your approach to songwriting has changed now that you're building this more personal, solo catalog?
ANDY: There’s a lot of over analysis with songwriting and letting things be. That is a line that I like to ride. I try not to over analyze too much if a thing is a thing. Sometimes, we need to let it be what it is, rather than force something that's not there. That's been the learning lesson with this new project, is to just let it be what it is and be okay with that.
LUNA: What’s fueling your fire right now—musically or personally—that’s pushing you into this next chapter?
ANDY: Playing the songs live was a really cool experience. I started playing music in the first place because I love to play shows. When I got into music, primarily in high school, I played in a pop-punk band, and we toured a little bit and loved to play shows. So my entire life, I just love to play. That’s been one of the main drivers, and also these songs feel like an extension of me, which has been really neat to explore. Finding the connection with that has been really rewarding.
LUNA: What excites you most about this new chapter in your career and what are you hoping listeners can take away from this era?
ANDY: The unknown. I have no idea what it's going to entail, but I think the core of it is this hopefulness and optimism. For example, “So Good” came from a little bit of a dark place, like I was living in the basement of a Bushwick apartment, and it was winter and cold and dreary, and I just wanted to try and tap into something that felt good. I would hope that people can listen to it, and whether they're in a good place or a bad place, they can just feel a sense of hope and that if they are in a bad place, things can get better.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
ANDY: It's exciting. I think the climate of music has changed so much since I started, and it's a lot to wrap one's head around. Artists need to wear a lot of different hats and be a content creator now, but if you look at it like it's a tool, it's exciting. That's how I've been trying to look at it, which has been helpful. The rest of the year, my goal is to just keep writing and playing shows. We have a lot of more music lined up and ready to go.
