We were lucky to catch up with Tyler Fiore & Ryan Alexander recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tyler Fiore & Ryan Alexander, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Tyler: I think the most meaningful project I’ve worked on is the one we’re currently in the process of creating. Our last album “Urgency” was written and recorded during the peak of COVID-19 lockdowns. Our first two albums were created while we lived together living the bachelor life and most were tracks we didn’t get to work together on. So it’s been fun to make something together start to finish again, not living the bachelor life, or during a lockdown.

Ryan: Probably the Urgency album. It was our first project start to finish we did together, as far as full albums go. It also happened during COVID, and was definitely an outlet to cure the boredom and stay busy. You go through a lot of emotions going through something like that, and while our songs don’t necessarily reflect the emotions we were going through, I feel like they were more upbeat with a positive outlook, which is helpful when it’s easy to feel down with everything going on.

Tyler Fiore & Ryan Alexander, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We are Toxic Hearts, a pop/rock band from Phoenix, Arizona. We’re most proud of the music we create. It sets us apart from other bands because we fuse pop music, with rock and electronic. Tyler Fiore, an Arizona native, has not only made waves in his home state but all across the world. He’s featured on numerous successful EDM tracks, most of which getting hundreds of thousands to millions of views and plays across all platforms. He started releasing solo music in 2010 and in 2011, awarded Pop Artist of the year at the Phoenix Music Awards. He also caught the eye of Phoenix locals when he founded The Light Collection, a pop-rock band with an electronic influence, who released an album called “Kill the Lights”. In 2015, Tyler wrote and recorded his solo double-album entitled Ambitions and Addictions. Released in the spring of 2016 independently, it caught the attention of several reputable EDM blogs. On this album, he worked with some of the best industry’s up and coming dj’s and producers.

Ryan Alexander hails from the midwest. A North Dakota native, Ryan made his way through the pop-punk seen in the Mid 2000’s. He got his musical start when he co-founded the pop-punk band Mapatazy. After graduating high-school in 2004, Ryan attended McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota. While attending there, he received a degree in Musical Production and Engineering. While attending college, he continued to dive into the pop-punk scene and joined the band Just Go Forward. After some time off, and a few musical projects, Ryan moved to Indianapolis in 2012. Here, he was very busy musically. It started when he co-founded Square Social Circle and indie/folk band. From there, he joined the pop-punk band Hometown Hero, where they won a few awards on an independent radio station in England. From there, he joined the metal band Divisions, as their bass player. He wasn’t done yet in Indy, from there he co-founded the pop-punk band Anthem High with friend Alex Murphy. It’s this friendship that would lead him to Arizona where he would eventually become the guitar player for the Light Collection. It is here where he got acquainted with Tyler and the rest is history.

After 3 albums, they’re now making a “comeback” of sorts after a COVID forced hiatus. Their new sound is promised to be upbeat and fun for the summer.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Ryan: Just having all these thoughts racing through your head, and finding a way to communicate them to the world. In a way it’s like you’re not holding anything in. Different people relate differently to the exact same words. So, the feelings behind a certain song that helps us get through something might help someone else in a completely different way. So I’d say the most rewarding aspect is bringing people together even though they’re going through two completely different things. Everyone’s going through something, so whatever we can do to make it easier is a big reward.

Tyler: We’ve had some career highlights the last couple years. We’ve had music featured in a Lifetime movie, most recently a movie on Starz and had 2 of our songs featured on Charli D’Amelio’s YouTube channel. But nothing compares to seeing my son (age 4 who my husband and I recently adopted) being one of our biggest fans. I hate listening to my own music in the car but it’s very rewarding to see him react to new music and ask to listen to “Toxic Hears” when I pick him up from school. It’s cringe sometimes but I love witnessing it first hand and hoping our music makes others just as happy.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Tyler: Right now, we’re just trying to get back out there. The ultimate goal is to ramp back up to where we were pre-pandemic. We haven’t performed much in the last two years for obvious reasons. So we’re really looking forward to performing again, making new music and getting our name back out there. Getting one of our songs old or new to go viral on TikTok would be nice too.

Ryan: It’s just an artistic outlet, I would love to be able to tour and travel the world. It’s something that’s always seemed appealing to me. Ultimately though, as long as I have something to express I’m going to keep making music.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toxicheartsmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Vg371_9R_nRPF7-Gs_nOg

Image Credits
Professional pics (2 included) credit go to: Garrett Cook