Photo Credit: Adrian Buckmaster
Once something has cemented itself in your life, it’s hard to imagine existing without it. Everyone has something like that, and for Emily Frembgen, it’s music. “Songs have always been the only way I can make sense of the world,” says the singer-songwriter whose fifth album, ‘No Hard Feelings,’ drops on September 13th. We talked about the record, how there was never another route planned, and more like Jackson Galaxy and downward spirals!
Kendra: You’d moved around a bit growing up, and it made me wonder if you’d found music early in life and sort of used it as your grounding constant as you packed up and headed to new places?
Emily Frembgen: Definitely, looking back music has been the only constant in my life.
Kendra: Whenever you found it, it stuck because now that you’re approaching the release of your 5th LP, what keeps you motivated and pushing forward?
Emily Frembgen: I’ve been putting out music for two decades in one way or another! Some of it only exists on CDs or tapes and I did a couple of albums with my old band The Language of Termites too. I’ve just never had a Plan B; I don’t know anything else! I try to take it one chunk at a time and so far there hasn’t stopped being something exciting around the corner. It hasn’t been perfect but I must be doing something right.
Kendra: Your last two albums felt they followed a similar theme; ‘Me Or The Dog’ and ‘My Cat From Hell.’ What made you stray from the animal muses for ‘No Hard Feelings?’
Emily Frembgen: ‘My Cat From Hell’ is a show on I think Animal Planet! The host “Jackson Galaxy” goes to people’s homes with a guitar case filled with cat toys and helps out with problematic felines. Then I saw that there was a show called ‘It’s Me or the Dog’ too and it was such a perfect title. I searched and searched for an animal show title to steal for this album but sadly to no avail.
Kendra: With “Are You Listening?” it seems as if you were confronting someone we all wish we could, our inner saboteur with these therapeutic mantras set to song. Was this a track you penned from a personal perspective one night, or did someone else’s inner downward spiral inspire this one?
Emily Frembgen: Oh yeah my own inner downward spiral gives me enough material no need to outsource! I have such a deep-seated fear of abandonment. Every time I play that song I’m reminding myself.
Kendra: Time for a side note – With it being prime Back 2 School time this month, I’d love to know what song from your past immediately transports you back to getting ready for class in the morning?
Emily Frembgen: It’s blurry, but “Every Morning” by Sugar Ray conjures a very specific adolescent feeling, like smelling a perfume that reminds you of an old teacher.
Kendra: Lastly, with ‘No Hard Feelings’ out on September 13th and a record release for said album already planned in New York City on the 16th, what else can fans expect as we finish out 2024?
Emily Frembgen: I’ll be doing a Colorado tour following the release and probably another couple of gigs in New York. And in early 2025 I’m looking forward to playing the Don Giovanni showcase at SXSW again! Time to start writing the next thing.
