LOVE SICK, LONG ISLAND, NY 
On August 30th of this year there was a free Long Island Hardcore showcase show at the Massapequa VFW. Nine bands played, most of them would be considered new to very new. The turnout was insane as an entire train station parking lot that is always completely empty on the weekends was completely packed. One of the bands showcased on that night was Love Sick who had put out their “I Am No One Now” EP just a few weeks earlier. It turns out that three of Love Sick’s five members are also in the band Koyo. Koyo guitarist Harold Griffin takes on vocal duties in Love Sick while Koyo singer Joey Chiaramonte plays bass and TJ Rotolico sticks with his regular guitar duties. Love Sick is rounded out by Ginno (ex-Absence Of Mine) on drums and Daniel Strauss on guitar. “I Am No One Now” is an absolute infectious 9 minute release that leans heavily on 90’s New York style hardcore with a ton of bounce and is without a doubt one of my favorite releases of 2025. We got Harold to answer a few questions about the newly found Love Sick in this November, 2025 interview.
Lead photo by: Carl Gunhouse, Graphics by: Welly Artcore
IE: What’s up Harold? Where are you right now and what do you think you would be doing right now if you weren’t answering these questions?
Harold: What’s up, thanks for sending these over. I’m in Toronto right now waiting for the Koyo show to start watching the Islanders play the Red Wings on my laptop in the green room. If I could be anywhere else I’d be at the Islanders game.
IE: Love Sick’s only release and what I assume was your first show at the Massapequa VFW a few weeks back seemed to come from out of nowhere. How long has this unit (all 5 of you) been practicing and writing together? Once you all got into a room together did things come together quickly or is this maybe a thing where one of you had riffs and ideas stashed in your head for a while and needed a full lineup to make it happen?
Harold: We actually opened a show last November… it was Discontent’s record release with Final Resting Place, Crush Your Soul, Azshara, and there was that surprise sorta 25 Ta Life set. When we started writing it was really just me, Joey and TJ (also in Koyo) at the practice space we shared with my friend Alex from Discontent. We had very little music at that point but Alex heard the demos and asked if we’d open. I guess that means we have been writing for Love Sick for over a year now, but the three of us have been writing music for Koyo together for years and naturally some other ideas pop in and out during that process. Some of that was definitely very early Love Sick. Once we asked Ginno to play drums it felt like everything clicked immediately… he is an insanely intuitive drummer that’s way too good to not be in a band. We all hang out when we’re home all the time anyway so practicing and writing was really natural and easy.
LOVE SICK @ MASSAPEQUA VFW, LONG ISLAND NY. AUGUST 30, 2025.
PHOTOS BY: CARL GUNHOUSE & MIKE PERAGINE
IE: Can you talk about that VFW show a few weeks back in Massapequa out on Long Island?
Harold: Honestly, I was stoked we were even considered for that. Since Koyo has gotten busier touring, we’ve been pretty absent from local shows. But while we’ve been gone the community has really flourished and so many dope bands have been playing and putting out records. To be included in that dope crop of bands was really cool and something we’re all grateful for. The reaction was dope, crowd was fun, it just felt really good to play.
IE: After listening to the EP a bunch I still found it hard to find comparisons and say “Love Sick sounds like this band or that band…” Who would you say this band leans on as far as what influences your sound and if it isn’t necessarily a band what style would you say it leans on?
Harold: The mission statement was just “fast emotional hardcore music” without a ton of intention. I will say though I’m psyched when we get compared to American Nightmare and Strife since those are two of my favorite bands. We wanted to just write intuitively and put out whatever felt right.
IE: Who came up with the name Love Sick and is there any specific meaning behind it? When I first heard the name it didn’t strike me as a typical hardcore band type of name but it definitely stands out…
Harold: I love Crown of Thornz so we pulled it from their song. We all thought it fit the vibe and the lyrics really well. I’m a lover boy.
IE: Can you talk about the title to your EP… “I Am No One Now” and also how the cover art came to be…
Harold: The title comes from a lyric I wrote in the song “Big Light”. I just thought it was a cool sounding excerpt. That song is about having panic attacks, and that line specifically is about depersonalizing. The title is an Elvis Costello reference from his song “Alison”. I always thought that was such a clever way of describing depression. The cover art was done by our drummer Ginno. I had sent him an archive from an old photographer I really like and told him to pick some photos that stood out. I loved how dreamy and dissociative it feels all while having a human subject, he did an incredible job.
IE: Can you talk about the dynamic of you switching to vocals and Joey to bass for this band? When you have a mic in your hand and are more of the main focus of a live set does it change the live experience for you at all? Maybe you approach or see things at a gig a little differently?
Harold: Honestly it changes a lot. I kinda hate being the singer… there’s no hiding. It’s an incredibly vulnerable thing to write about deeply personal things and then have to say them out loud, let alone in front of others who are (hopefully) listening.
IE: How many months of 2025 did Koyo spend on the road and do you think there is room in your lives to have Love Sick in the fold as well moving forward?
Harold: This was a relatively light year for us but I think we still had/have probably close to 100 shows total. We’re learning that no matter how much we love it, touring really takes a toll as you get older. Not only are we fucking up our health and finances, but now I gotta think about things like my parents getting older, my nieces and nephews growing up… shit like that is so hard to be away from for so long. Not to be over dramatic but that’s the type of shit I think about now. That’s kinda what I wrote “Harpo’s Blues” about. I am watching myself become the absent male presence from my family’s lives and it’s hard. That said, I’m not sure exactly how much touring we can add to our schedule right now.
LOVE SICK @ THE WILLIAMS CENTER, RUTHERFORD, NJ. DECEMBER 20, 2025. PHOTO BY: JC PHOTO MEDIA
IE: Has there been any progress at all since the EP came out in August? Do all or some of you regularly meet up to jam or write new songs?
Harold: We are all incredibly close friends who don’t go more than a couple days without hanging out when we’re home, but we really don’t think about writing music most of the time. We will definitely write and record more when it feels right but we don’t want to force anything.
IE: Besides yourself who are the other members of Love Sick and can we wrap this up by you giving an interesting fact about each one of them? Thanks for your time…
Harold: Joey on bass was the 2nd ever customer at Druthers Coffee in Stony Brook, NY. TJ on guitar owns over 10 green chore jackets. I somehow have around 30 of Daniel’s (also on guitar) prints and paintings in my apartment. Ginno on drums always has a Yerba Mate in his hand. And lastly for me, I am a Mets and Islanders season ticket holder and am usually at a game if I’m home.
