New to the Know Hope Records fam this year is Richmond, VA’s own Frames. Personal sentiments delivered by Sarah Phung, Frames has been busy these past few months playing in support of their debut, Cursed alongside labelmates like Sleep In. and twentythreenineteen. On a bit of a break now until mid-October, we got to catch up with Frames’ leading wordsmith about when relationships turn to song, being best friends, and more.
Kendra: First off, want to be best friends? I saw your Backstreet Boys cover and…YES! Was it late ’90s pop that got you into music or another era and style?
Frames: Thank you! Yes, we’re best friends now. I’ve never thought about it much but I did grow up on pop and Top 40 because I had a young mom, and coming from another country, Top 40 was our America For Dummies.
Kendra: When it came time to record Cursed, were the songs all fresh out the gate or were there some that were created based on older, random lyrics you’d had written down from the past?
Frames: Cursed is a collection of songs old and new that still resonate with me. “House Show” and “Last Year” were written in 2015, the rest were written in 2017 and 2018.
Kendra: From what I’ve heard, Cursed deals a lot with relationships – both the good and the bad. Were songs like “House Show” and “Hell” based on the same person at all?
Frames: “House Show” is about a local crush I had that I would see at house shows and I was emotionally unavailable at the time but I adored him. He was so cool and I just wanted him to notice me. He sucks now. “Hell” is about my ex. That relationship was actual Hell for so many reasons, lack of loyalty and substance abuse among them.
Kendra: Speaking of “Hell” you sing about being friends at 2am and I think everyone has been there with the simplest text, “U up?” What do you think is a bigger hell on earth experience to live through…sending that text and not getting a response or receiving that text and answering quickly, “YES, come over?”
Frames: Oh man, I think it’s worse to receive it. Personally, if I’m sending that 2 am “u up?” then I know the role I play, I know my intentions. Being on the receiving end sucks because you’re like “Oooh THAT’S what this is” and that realization can be disappointing.
Kendra: With Cursed out at the end of September, where can we expect to see Frames on the road? People out west are hoping it’s in their neck of the woods.
Frames: I will play to actual birds if they could speak and ask me. I would like to play anywhere that anyone is listening. West coast is definitely the goal. I have a lot of friends out there I don’t see enough.
Kendra: We’ll end with what people can expect from Frames as we head into 2020. More dates? More new music?
Frames: I’ve been hoarding songs so there is a lot to work with right now. I’ve also been writing a lot. I hope 2020 is the year that 15-year-old me could drool over in terms of putting out music and playing, ya know just being a pop star.
