Sorry for not coming earlier.
The Frights talks about the tenth anniversary of You're Going to Hate Thisabout how there was never a plan and what happens when someone from the audience goes on stage to play their own songs.
The Frights is a band from San Diego that has been doing what comes naturally to them for a decade: surf-punk songs with a doo-wop soul, melodies that stick and a live energy that, by their own admission, is better now than when they recorded their most beloved albums. You're Going to Hate This (2016), their second album, is the one that most people know and love, whether or not they agree with that assessment.
10 years after that album they arrived in Mexico City for the first time to play it from beginning to end in House of Vans on August 28. Before that, they spoke with Indie Rocks! about anniversaries, about why they had never come before and about the one thing that always ends up happening at their shows even though no one planned it.
Indie Rocks!: First of all, congratulations on the tenth anniversary of an album that I can't believe is already 10 years old.
The Frights: I know. I can't believe we're still alive to say it. But here we continue.
GO!: When you released your first album and then this, your second, did you have any plans? Did they say “ok, we have to release an album every X years”?
TF: There was definitely no plan. At that time we were just writing songs. When we were at least 10, we'd record an album or an EP or whatever. There was no plan at all.
GO!: Public opinion says that this is your best album. Do they match?
TF: Yes, okay. It doesn't bother me that people think that. There's a good argument for it being our best album: it's the one that the most people want, so that argument is very difficult to refute. It's not my personal favorite, but it definitely works the best. I don't know if it's up to us to decide that.
GO!: Do you have any favorites in common or does everyone have their own?
TF: Probably everyone has a different answer. Mine changes all the time. I don't like any of them. AND Jordanour guitarist, this was his first album with the band, so it has its own place in history.
GO!: So many years, so many albums, and they had never played in Mexico City. Because?
TF: We don't know. We should have asked our booking agent. We thought he would just do it, but it turns out you have to demand things from him. We learned the lesson.
GO!: But now they are coming. How did it happen?
TF: We asked him. Literally that. And the planets aligned: tenth anniversary of the album, House of Vans. It makes perfect sense.
GO!: What have you heard about Mexico City?
TF: Everything I have heard is incredible. The food is spectacular, the architecture is beautiful, the people are beautiful. It's a huge city and looks incredibly fun. I'm very excited.
GO!: Do you have friends in other bands who have played here and have given you tips about the crowd, the energy, what to expect?
TF: We know a lot of bands that have played here, but I don't think we've specifically talked about it with any of them. They're not exactly our friends.
GO!: What is it going to be like? setlist? Are you going to play the entire album?
TF: Yes, you are going to hate this from start to finish. The complete album, in order, from beginning to end. And then we played songs from other albums too.
GO!: In exact order, from start to finish?
TF: Yes, pretty close. It will never be exactly the same as the album, but it will be very close. And the differences are going to be in the context of much more acting. I feel much better playing these songs now, 10 years later, than when we recorded them. We are better musicians now. So it's fun to go back to them and decide what we like, enhance it, and what we don't like as much, also enhance it. I think people are going to be happy.
GO!: Playing a full album on your anniversary is becoming fashionable. Everyone wants to do it. But I always hope it sounds different than it did ten years ago.
TF: Absolutely. Naturally it will sound different. We are better. And it makes a lot of sense for bands to do it: it's something nostalgic for the public, it's a concrete reason to tour and, if you want, you can do it forever. The twentieth anniversary, the thirtieth. Why not?
GO!: They have always been associated with rockabilly and doo-wop. Does that label still define you?
TF: When we started it was more doo-wop, less rockabilly. But everyone always said the rockabilly thing, which is fine. If we were ever close to that, we're definitely pretty far gone. It's not something I would identify with now, but I wouldn't have identified with it back then either. I think it was just the easiest way to pigeonhole us for people who didn't really know what to call us.
GO!: Maybe after seeing them live that will change.
TF: Definitely. Absolutely.
GO!: Tell me: what always happens at a The Frights show, something they didn't plan, that has nothing to do with the music or the screens? Something that just happens.
TF: Every once in a while there is someone in the audience who wants to come up on stage and play one of our songs. And there have been times when a full band that came to the show together comes up and replaces all of us, they play the entire song for us. It's happened like ten times. It's crazy.
We take a break, everyone loves it. I can't guarantee that it will happen in Mexico, you never know when it will happen. But it's happened enough times. It is an open challenge. Let's see what they come up with. Of course, we are not going to pay them if they play. Absolutely not. But they can help us load the equipment.
GO!: Last message. Fans of independent and alternative music in Mexico have been waiting for them to come for years. What do they tell them?
TF: Thanks for waiting. Please come to the show. And we are very sorry. We're really sorry it didn't happen sooner. We are very excited. I've been waiting for a while to be able to do this for the first time because I like how we're playing now. It's going to be very fun.
GO!: Thank you all very much. See you at House of Vans. Thanks for talking to Indie Rocks!
TF: Thanks to you.
