Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Frogmouth

Introduction of the project

What is your earliest memory connected to music?

Angus – my dad and friends playing piano and singing at my house. Dad sang.

Jordan – Listening to music in my dad’s car and learning how to air drum (around 2 or 3 years old).  At that time it was a steady diet of XTC, Tom Petty, Yes, Peter Gabriel and Melissa Etheridge.  

Jay – I remember when I was four and moving from Massachusetts to Florida, I had heard Bobby Brown’s “On Our Own” on the radio. This being of course the famous theme for Ghostbusters 2. I loved it and it’s still a jam to this day. 

How did your passion for creating music begin?

Angus – I got piano lessons and did not appreciate. About 11 I liked KISS and the bass in the music just drew me. Then I found out the guy I thought was coolest was the bassist. I wanted to do that. The bass had this visceral impact I have always loved. I was taking the top 2 strings off my acoustic and learning bass shapes and patterns. Then at 13 or so I heard Spirit of Radio by Rush and have been obsessed with creating my own noise to hit with that impact and emotion.

Jordan – MTV, the radio and my parent’s tape collection gave me plenty to explore as a kid.  Both of my parents were musicians so I also got to tinker with their guitars and keyboards.  I always knew that I was going to be a drummer though.

Jesse – For me it was a lot of my parent’s music. Peter, Paul, and Mary. Bob Dylan. James Taylor, Van Morrison. I loved it but it took a long time for me to get to the point where I could make music too.

Jay – I started guitar lessons when I was around twelve or so for about a year. My teacher turned me on to Metallica’s ‘Master Of Puppets’ and I never looked back. Studying the guitar parts on that album gave me an early strong influence that led me to build confidence in writing my own music a few years later.

What’s the story behind your current music project?

Jesse – The seeds of Frogmouth started, like a lot of projects, during the Covid-19 pandemic. My neighbor Jordan was a drummer and we’d jammed together a few times, but we started to play together more regularly as a way to stave off cabin fever. At the same time I had been slowly putting together some demos, and in 2022 we decided to put a full band together, develop those songs, and play one single show. Three years and a few lineup changes later, we’ve played almost 50 shows, and released a bunch of singles, an EP and a full-length album with more to come! 

Jay – I had led a band for eight years before Frogmouth called Wild Tinderbox. That band broke up amicably in late summer of 2022. I had a few projects come up for studio work and I had known the Frogmouth crew during that time. Well, things happened in 2023 and I decided to join the band after I realized I didn’t want to continue WT anymore. It still is the right call and I really enjoy what I can bring to the table.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?

Angus – like a bunch of guys who love to play powerful rock punk proggish pop.

Jordan – Our music sounds like nothing you’ve heard before, with a lot of familiarity and references of things you have probably heard before.  It’s like experiencing Deja Vu.

Jay – find all the best parts of power pop, grunge, heavy metal, and alternative rock and we do our best to blend them into each song. No time for filler. We take our song crafting pretty serious for songs about fun and goofy subjects at times.

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?

Jesse – For me it’s not so much what’s changed about how I make music, but I’ve learned to feel less anxious about putting it out into the world. Learning to let go of or just ignore insecurities and press on anyways has been huge. That, and just the value of persistent effort over time of trying to always be creating.

Jordan – Not everything is supposed to be for everybody.  Make the music that comes naturally to you, and don’t try to compromise yourself by following a trend or catering to what you THINK people will like.  Just be YOU.

Jay – some songs take a few minutes to write. Some take years. Never throw any riffs and ideas away. You’ll never know when they’ll come up. 

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?

Angus – well, the process seems like this: We all come up with ideas and often record rough demos ourselves and share. Then we get together and work it out in rehearsal which Jesse records and mixes. Then we all listen to it and come back with more ideas until it feels done. We don’t wanna overthink it and we usually have another one ready to work on so then we play it live, if it is working and feels solid/right then it goes on setlist and matriculates through live evolution then the production process onto the album. 

Jesse – Guitar, Logic Pro.

Jay – I’ve gotten good at the voice recording app on my phone. I’ve got a small Epiphone practice amp that I’ll use to capture the raw ideas for new songs. Primitive, but I feel I capture the essence of songs more honestly that way. 

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?

Jordan – I just caught solo acoustic sets from Ram Vela and his guitarist Nathan Snyder (of Ram Vela and Easy Targets), and I love how their music translates so well from an electric sound to an acoustic one without losing the fun, energy and urgency.  I think some of the best songs are able to be stripped down in that way and still hold the same value.  Do check them out, as they are another local Austin band that should be heard far and wide!

Jesse – Recently I’ve been checking out Teen Mortgage. That’s some good shit. But I do really love my local austin indie artist like Stella and the Very Messed, Gentlemen Rogues, Ram Vela and the Easy Targets, Dropped Out, etc etc etc.

Jay – I enjoy a myriad of different genres and some of my favorite artists these days are as mentioned above, Ram Vela & The Easy Targets, the female-fronted Austin based hardcore punk band Bondbreakr, my friends Josh & Jenny Higgins out of Tampa, Florida who do a husband/wife duo of blues and Americana originals, and have recently become a huge fan of Austin based country singer Charley Crockett. He puts on one helluva show!

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?

Angus – music has been a lot of my life. I started playing backyard keg parties in like 83-84, ozzy, sabbath, scorpions, thin lizzy –  played in metal, Punk, rock  bands after high school –  Never got to make it full time but went pretty well. Day job turned into career while band got regional but then family took over a while 2007 and that was good. The kids got big and here I am again. I have long aspired and tried hard to play and write the best music I can, powerful rock with melody and harmony, and play it live as much as possible. That’s the vision, if you will. Punk rock to prog, make good songs and play them loud for people. 

Jordan – I have personally attended hundreds of concerts over the course of my life, and I still make it a habit to attend as many as life will afford.  I take all of those experiences as inspiration to keep in my back pocket.  Every time I see a great artist or band, it pushes me further into creating something in the hopes that I can share it as inspiration to others.  

Jesse – I just wanna create the music that I want to hear. It’s a journey.

Jay – I’ve done bands since I was thirteen. Went to school for music at Florida State. I can’t live without it. The older I get, the better and more confident I feel the music gets. My mission is to keep writing new songs. The next best one is always next. So it keeps me motivated.

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?

Jordan – I don’t know exactly, and I just hope it doesn’t make them angrily shut it off. lol! 

Jesse – Just something that resonates with them.

Jay – turn ‘em up loud and enjoy the ride!

 What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?

Angus – don’t overthink the music, be open to others songs and ideas, find a producer you respect and let them do the job so you can just perform and create.

Jordan – If you’re not having fun, do something else.

Jay – each day is a new beginning and grounds for finding something you’ve never heard before.

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?

Angus – all of them.

Jordan – I’d love to perform at Glastonbury.  I have seen videos of that festival all my life and playing to the immense crowd with all the flags (and energy) would be something I’d never be able to top imo.

Jesse – I’m happy to play at really any venue

Jay – the ones where people can enjoy the tunes live.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

Angus – well, Frogmouth is where I feel like I am doing the best work I have ever done, and I have a really free situation to bring up whatever song or musical idea i want, these guys bring great songs to write bass and harmony on, and we seem to mesh as players as well as push one another. So, I can’t imagine who would be as cool to work with as these guys. Never seen it before lol and seriously I have been in a number of bands. 

Jordan – I’d love to collaborate with Alain Johannes!  He’s an amazing producer/engineer/musician and one of my favorite artists!  I’d love to hear his take and ideas on what we’re doing.

Jesse – This question brings out a lot of social anxiety. Ideally I’d love to collab with Jeff Rosenstock.. but in reality, well.. 

Jay – that’s a hard question. Maybe not collaborate, but I’d love to seek counsel from some of the older legends like Greg Sage of The Wipers or Paul Weller from The Jam/Style Council, and a respected solo career. Would love to hear their opinions on what we’re writing.

Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)

Our band camp is the Hub where all music and merch can be found.  We also have a newsletter to keep people in the loop on news and new releases and whatnot.  All of our music is on all of the major streaming services.

Jay – Bandcamp and Spotify are our two main go-to sites. Definitely hit them up.

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?

Angus – My dream is to be able to play shows regionally, release music and perform frequently at all kinds of venues, the more people the better.  I have a day job, so music is about the art. This is the band I want to do that with.

Jordan – We all have to work day jobs to survive and tend to our personal lives, so as Angus stated we are incrementally moving towards widening the radius of areas we are reaching and traveling to.  If the opportunities were there, we’d travel across the world and wherever made sense.  From a realistic place, we are looking to tackle mini-regional tours this coming year, and hopefully that grows into something even further the next.

Jay – recording more, touring outside of Austin, getting as far as this thing will go. I would love to play out of the USA one day.

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?

Hi! I am Angus. I have an obsession with large bass amplifiers and the low B string on my bass. 

Jordan – What we are doing is authentic and each one of us cares deeply for what we’re doing.  I hope that comes across in the music. 

Jay – we hope you enjoy the tunes and share amongst your friends and loved ones. That’s how we survive.

If you want here you can add a representative Youtube video to insert below the interview 🙂

Here’s a live video performance of our song “Sleeping Dogs” from our recent album “Identity Thief” –