To new beginnings and new hand-printed t-shirts — Frontega and I met again at the Cobra Lounge almost 2 years since I last heard them live!

Picture this: we were in a shoebox sized venue in the back of a bar. I still remember them sitting at that fold-out merch table with cat stickers and screen-printed pomegranate shirts. I even still remember the people there, circling each other yet also somehow dancing shoulder to shoulder. 

There was something instantly captivating about Frontega. I watched them from over the balcony and through the decorative vines, bells & whistles chiming from the arcade machines in the back. Yet still, through all the distractions, not a single person wasn’t bobbing their head.

Around that time, they had been performing songs off of their 2023 self-titled album Frontega, where their songs ‘Garden(s)’ & ‘screw the HOA, i wanna play tennis’ became permanent additions to my playlist. Over the years, we’ve all become transformative. Our lives have changed, our everything’s had changed. So much time had passed. I asked Frontega about their growth over the last two years and how this journey has been for them since then.

“I feel like we were just 4 rowdy guys, making music,” guitarist Brannon Duffin laughed. “And then it quickly turned into what felt like an actual band — a lot more laid back at first, but then we took form.”

Because of some moving and the ever-changing state of all of their individual lives, Frontega mentioned that there was a large grey period where they didn’t really know where to go next. They had paused their time in the scene for around 3 months, until the band started posting on TikTok & Reels — where they quickly caught the attention of a whole new audience. 

“I gotta say it was a significant shift after we started posting,” vocalist Ryan Sobie said. “It is so cool to see that we now have these little pockets of people all around the world who listen to Frontega. We get messages from so many different people about how our music has affected them, how it’s transformed them.” And oh, how I agree.

“When you write something in just a room, it’s ours. But when you put it out in the world, it isn’t ours anymore. It’s everyone else’s.” I think Sobie hit home for a lot of people with this line.

Frontega consists of 5 members — Ryan Sobie as the vocalist, Jeremy Adams on the drums, Zach Swearingen & Brannon Duffin on the guitars, and lastly, Garrett Johnson on the bass. I asked them if they felt like Frontega all the time. Are they always Frontega? Has the line blurred, or perhaps more accurately, has there been so much growth together as a unit that they have trickled in so much of their own personal lives into these projects, that it became a part of them? Adams replied.

“It definitely is ‘I am Jeremy,’ and I am also Frontega. There is a very prominent blend, because this is all of our passion projects. I wake up and check my phone everyday and it’s Frontega. We all want to talk about it because it is our biggest passion.”

But it’s not only their passions, because now so many listeners have become incredibly passionate and outspoken about Frontega’s music, whether online, or at shows — Frontega is making waves in communities that have been looking for something like this. Jeremy continued.

“When we wrote the album, it was more of, like, what can we do? What can we present? And out of this very vast sonic discography that we’re going to offer, what will people resonate most with?” 

As Sobie mentioned earlier, yes it is their music, but when someone listens to it, it leaves their grasp. But even in their fits of passion — through writing & concept, to recording and editing — they are constantly thinking about how other people will and can resonate with their music. 

Frontega was one of the first bands I saw as I began my music career. I worked in college radio. I played ‘Garden(s)’ a lot, like, a lot. 

The venue we first met in has been closed down for ages, so much movement has been made in all of our lives, but there’s still that fold-out table.

There’s still screen-printed shirts. 

Different, but it lingers. 

I hope Frontega’s music lingers with you, too.

You can find Frontega’s music on Spotify, and you can find them online at @frontegaband on TikTok & Instagram. They have a new single out as of today called “Washington Calls,” and are currently in the process of finishing LP #2. Stay tuned on their social media pages for more updates & information. bearfightingphotography creds for the featured image.