First Frontier
Birmingham-based garage rock duo, First Frontier, make spirited, upbeat music to move to and be moved by. They've unleashed the frenzy of their energetic rhythms and soul-searching, upbeat lyrics on audiences since 2020 in a manner that has mostly been appreciated by human people.
First Frontier are Helena, pounding drums, and Paul, flogging guitar, with both sharing vocal duties; Brummie banter and Northern grit smelted down to forge new music, described by genuine human people as either neo-garage, post-punk and rock in many a guise. But who really knows what genre is anymore?
Jagged Line
"We like this tune a lot. It’s one we keep coming back to and one we really enjoy playing live." sagen sie selbst darüber. "Jagged Line" ist die zweite Single von First Frontier und diese hat es gewaltig in sich. Hedonismus, Selbstbeherrschung und die verschwommene Grenze im Mittelpunkt. Alkohol und Drogenmissbrauch als Gamechanger, die Wahrnehmung der Zeit als sich stets ändernde Variable. Die einzige Konstante, der Weg Richtung Abgrund, so in etwa das Thema, die Interpretation des Songs.
Der Sound der Gitarre roh, wild und kaum zu bändigen, gewissermaßen Hedonismus pur, dem vis-a-vis die Drums, impulsiv, abwechslungsreich und kreativ jedoch mit der Gabe der Selbstbeherrschung versehen, am Limit aber nicht darüber.
Die Vocals fungieren als Vermittler, sozusagen als Botschafter zwischen Gitarre und Drums, mit dem Auftrag gemeinsam zu marschieren, und so schreiten Vocals, Drums und Gitarre Richtung Ende der Nacht, quasi dem Morgengrauen entgegen, um aus dem genialen Post Punk meets Alternative Rock Underground Nebel zu entschwinden. Die Vögel zwitschern, die Nacht ist vorbei und die Zeit läuft weiter, der Zyklus beginnt von vorne.
"Jagged Line" von First Frontier ein Juwel des Alternative Rocks, a union of wildness, creativity and rawness touched by the 90s.
Q&A
First Frontier are ...?
A Birmingham based garage-rock duo consisting of Helena pounding drums and Paul rocking out on guitar. Between the two of us, our musical influences are extremely varied resulting in an indie sound that spans all sorts of different styles.
We hope to make music that makes people feel something whilst also wanting to tap their feet and dance.
Who inspired you to make music in general ...and especially to the song "Jagged Line"?
Listening to all the greats! From the Beatles to Blondie; from Arctic Monkeys to Idles. As music fans and living-room musicians it was an inevitable next step.
Jagged Line in particular was inspired more by a feeling. That feeling of being slightly out of control on a night out and carrying on instead of going home. We tried to explore that musically.
It's your second release from your forthcoming EP, what can we expect from the EP "Just Matter"?
The Just Matter EP is an upbeat mix of 6 tracks that vary in style and influence. Jagged Line is fuzzed out garage rock, Edging is a heavy, unnerving almost theatrical track, Insist is a pared back love song; but what unites all these songs is a feeling of malaise and uneasiness and an empowerment to overcome it.
Whether it’s about the fear of committing to a person, being overwhelmed by the world, the worry we’re not achieving enough, that we might fail. The EP encourages listeners to explore these feelings and make peace with them. Afterall, we’re all just matter.
What is your creative process like?
It varies from song to song but often starts with Paul coming up with an interesting guitar riff after which we spend some time jamming it out together to decide if it’s a song worth pursuing; adding drums and other effects as we go.
We have the mindset that songs are never finished, we are always tinkering and making improvements. The melodies often seem to write themselves once we’ve sat with a song for a little while! This was definitely the case for Jagged Line. Paul is our resident lyricist and is forever jotting things down in notepads that he uses for lyrical inspiration.
What's your most useful talent besides music?
Writing, film-making and photography. We’re both drawn to any form of storytelling, so music was an obvious extension to this. And these skills are certainly helpful when it comes to running a band!
How would you describe 2021 in a sentence?
A chance to focus on what really matters.
What was the first ever Pop/Rock/etc. ... song you listened to or remember on?
Helena: The Carpenters; my mum had several of their albums on vinyl and I adored them growing up
Paul: Probably Tears for Fears or Duran Duran, something like that.
You are from Birmingham, how would you describe the music scene there?
We love the Birmingham music scene! As the home of Black Sabbath and metal music there is a real rock tradition here that sees no sign of slowing. The pandemic has hit small venues hard, but many are still toughing it out.
Head to the iconic Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath and The Castle and Falcon in Balsall Heath for amazing live music every night of the week. Also Digbeth is slowly being regenerated and lots of cool music venues popping up too. Music fans here are some of the most enthusiastic we have seen and always so kind and friendly.
Do you remember your first ever self-written song?
Paul: I don’t think I ever finished it, but it would have been more of a riff that I thought sounded cool at the time. I probably have it written down somewhere, on a hard drive with all the other songs that never quite made it. I’m always writing or recording ideas. Some might have the pretense of being profound, but I try to annoy Helena with little ditties about sausage rolls or falafel all the time, and they might just be my best work.
What’s next for you?
Early 2022 will see us finally releasing our debut EP, which has been a labour of love since Spring 2021. We are so excited to share that with the world and looking forward to seeing where things evolve from there. We are constantly writing new songs and will keep releasing tracks throughout 2022.
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