Interview: Frantic Memories

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?  

I was kind of a loser honestly at 14, but when I went on a week-long trip in the summer of 2019 and discovered my first Indie band, a band called Two Door Cinema Club, all of the sudden I would never be the same! not only did it blow my mind and change my music taste, it changed my life! After that trip I started writing my own songs and that's made all the difference. If I wasn't in this band I would still be a loser 16-year-old, going to High School and doing literally nothing else!

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity? 

I really like dating girls😂, not only is it killer but it also gives us so many song ideas! My relationships never end up going down like a generic love song, which is good because I hate writing generic love songs. They're always surreal and insane enough that we can get songs like Song of November, High School Girls, and Fall into the Pool with Me! 

How long has music been your career? 

Music has been our career for less than a year, we even still have to finish high school! In the 9 months since the release of Fall into the Pool with Me, we've seen Frantic Memories blow up in an amazing way, and we can't wait to see our future with our fans! 

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music? 

We're based in the great state of Utah! It's great because all of the people here are so eager to support local bands, everybody wants to see a new Neon Trees or The Backseat Lovers story happen! It's a very family-friendly and optimistic state, so it's inspired us to make clean and optimistic Indie Rock tunes! 

Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played. 

The best show we've played so far was at the awesome Kilby Court: so many of our fans came all the way from Utah County to Salt Lake, and the energy was insane! We ended up doing a lot of things we hadn't done on stage before, like drum solos and a dance-off with fans, it was hilarious. I even pulled out my recorder and played some sweet solos! 

The scariest😬 show we've played so far was our first show, headlining at a High School festival called The Rock: we had multiple strangers playing instruments for us, and they only had 3 days to learn every single song. We ended up being massively unprepared and the show was kind of a mess, but the audience loved it! They were still one of the most exciting crowds we've ever hung out with!

Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already? 

We love playing local summer music festivals, it seems like every city in the state throws one! One place that we haven't played yet is a festival called ForkFest, that's a fun festival and one we'll hopefully be playing next year! 

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket? 

We would love to actually be the opener for Dayglow! The top-tier ticket would probably be our friends RALLY, then Frantic Memories, then Dayglow! We would of course be headlining Coachella😂 

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into music? 

Dude keep writing songs! Like I know everyone says that and I always brushed it off but seriously I'm not even joking! Get a recording app on your phone and record every melody or guitar riff that comes into your head, then combine a bunch of ideas and make a killer song. It will take a little bit before you're writing songs that are really catchy but that time genuinely comes! You get more and more proficient as you keep recording everything and listening/analyzing your favorite music! 

If you could go back in time and give yourself advice, what would it be? 

I would tell myself not to get bummed when I lost a girlfriend or had to move or anything like that. I would say "Hey Christian, I know it sucks right now but I'm actually really glad that you're suffering cause the song you're about to write slaps" 

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?  

Our song 'Song of November' means a lot to me. I wrote it the month after my heart had first been broken, and it was this emotional, acoustic ballad. It has really deep lyrics because of that; lyrics that are still deep even after I decided to change it from a super acoustic song to a super not-acoustic song! 

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most? 

We love to play The dress is green, it's just such a fast paced and groovy song and it gets the crowd going! Of course Fall into the Pool with Me is always the song that gets requested the most, we always put it last in our set and it kind of scares people sometimes cause they think we're not gonna play it😂 they have to shout for us to play it, and of course you've gotta give the crowd what they want! 

What is the creative process for you, and what inspires you to write your music? 

I listen to a lot of stellar Indie music, and every time I hear something cool or unique, whether it's a vocal effect or drum fill, I remember it. I also write a lot of stellar 5 second long melodies, and I record them all on my phone so I don't forget. I have something like 2300 recordings on there! When a guitar line and vocal melody really stand out, I'll start turning it into a song. I'll write lyrics and bring the ideas to the other guys in the band. We come up with all of the other guitar and drum parts, and I combine our stuff with multiple cool parts from other Indie songs! And boom! You have a quintessential, yet unique, fun Indie song!! 

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music? 

Our message is centered a lot on nostalgia and optimism. Most of our songs focus on looking back at something fun, or something sad, or something bittersweet, and it makes for a collage of great memories that acts as a soundtrack for people's lives! I've had multiple people reach out to me and say that Fall into the Pool with Me is "their song" with their girlfriend, or that they really relate to Song of November, and that makes us feel good. That's what it's all about! 

Do you ever have disagreements when collaborating and how do you get past them? 

A lot of times when one of us is stuck on one idea and the other on another idea, we have to wait to either come up with an awesome combination of the two, or a third idea that's better than both of them! Most of the time though, our initial ideas just feel right and we stick with them! 

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up? 

We are in the process of releasing our debut EP! Our newest single 'Las Vegas' is coming out this May, and then it's rapid-fire releases until our full EP drops! We also have a tour coming up this summer across Utah, and in select places in Idaho, California, and Nevada! Make sure to come see us live and stream our EP on Spotify or Apple Music! Look out for our new Music Videos on YouTube coming soon as well! 

Social Media Links:

https://www.instagram.com/franticmemories 

https://youtube.com/channel/UCxeSvV40SixiwwVYEjcxgYw 

https://www.facebook.com/Frantic-Memories-102923771461924/ 

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/frantic-memories/1526580314