Interview with FRIG

Din Intunerec On the Road #1 - live report from the rehearsal studio

I’ve always been fascinated by the creative process of a band. Recently, part of Din Intunerec team followed the kind invitation of FRIG, a brand new musical project emerging from Bucharest. We visited them in their rehearsal studio and most of our conversation is reflected in the interview below. We hope we managed to reflect at least of part of the passion that animated our talk.

Hello! First of all, thank you for accepting this interview! Please introduce yourselves and the band to our readers. Also, how did you guys meet, what’s your beginning story?

Welcome Ana Maria.

We are FRIG: a natural phenomenon of 6 inches between  outer space and Earth surface:

Alex Deak – synthesizer/programming/bck vocal/lead

George Christopher Duimovici – voice

Radu Baciu – bass

Andrei “Andy” Ionescu– guitar/bckg vocal

Andrei “Andrew” Alexandrescu– guitar

Horatiu Iordache – drumms/bckg vocal

In the beginning when I mapped the project there were other members than in present, we firstly  try to have all in a home studio with a more nu jazz sound, then the project sound got a drone doom accent and I change the members.

I meet Marius Marcu the drummer from Sfere and Pendular Underwaters songs and we re-build it step by step, then Radu Baciu the bass guy got involved, unfortunately  the drummer decide to be more into visual arts and it remain still a great experience. In a winter season Andy, the guitarist, hear about a project and he wanted to play with us, so we created Sfere song.

We meet our present drummer after a concert in a pub, and the guitarist consider that Horatiu cannot play industrial metal, well not as he think, then Andy introduce us his friend Andrew and we shape the mood entirely when George arrived on the voice.

A frame from our musical background can be spotted by the drummer:

Horatiu: “I played in bands as Galahad, Transilvania, nivelzero, Cristi Luca & Z’ band, Efect secundar, Cristian Roman si The Teachers Orchestra, with them we made the album “Minunea Mea”, Alya, Adora and many others. I was inspire by music since I was kid at Scoala de Arta si Creatie Bucuresti on jazz drumms, in the class of Fodor Ioja which passed away.”

George: “I am the vocal of the band and I played on some musical contests in my town. I studied Art School Victor Giuleanu in Ramnicu Valcea.”

Andy: “I am the main guitar player Andy and from my biography in the 1st year of guitar I follow myself  the  guitar courses from books, then I studied at Art School in Alexandria, later on advanced classes with Cristi Gram from Phoenix band.”

Andrew: ” I am the other guitar player Andrew and somewhere in 2007 in our city of residence, Alexandria, me and my friend Andy, the main guitar player we begin a musical project a band sketched by our guitar teacher Marian Neatu at School of Art and we will like to send a great thanks for all his involvement and sustain, this end up in 2011 when we all went to study in Bucharest.”

Radu: “I am the bass player and I have to say that this it is the first time I play in an official band in its true meaning. I played in the past at lots of jam sessions and I have try to get in touch with different genre from rock to funk, from funk to jazz and metal music. I play bass  for almost 10 years. In the last years of bass playing, electronic music started to get my attention and I can say electronic music  has many interesting elements which can be transform  into a brilliant metal sound.”

Alex: “Well, I am the synthesizer player and the lead of the FRIG band. I have an interest in music since I was kid, I can feel the smell of the old Pink Floyd and Deep Purple vinyls from my aunt library. Then when I was in the college I begin listen some more advanced metal music from Sodom, Napalm Death to Carcass, Celtic Frost, My Dying Bride, Samael I still remember the nights looking after a CD or a vinyl. Then I got oriented also into electronic music: Kraftwerk, Einstürzende Neubauten and NIN, Die Krupps, Amon Tobin, JMJ. Then Mortiis appeared in my ears and formed for me the metal electronic phase with his new creations.

I made the synthesizer school in Århus-Denmark and I still remember my teacher’s face signature was looking on the wet windows and said experiment as more as you can ever imagine, synth it is not a piano, nor a guitar or a flute, synth it is expression of your mood atmospheres on unknown scales.”

How did it you chose the word Frig as a name for your band? (‘frig’ is the Romanian word for ‘cold’)

Indeed, it came out from the Romanian word of this natural phenomenon:  cold.

After I took a journey to the northern point of our continent in Vardø (Noreg/Norway) then Nordkapp, some years ago, I decide if I will ever begin a musical project to name it: FRIG.

I have the  privilege to see a deep dark sky without light pollution in the amazing  frozen North, right away to Barents Seas clear skies painted with glowing stars, brighter than in our southern hemisphere. It was that night where you can sit near a cup of tea and through a high aperture telescope,  a good calibrated one and a DSLR, exploring the Universe just bring the mood of the beginning  of this unearthly cold phenomenon in expansion of light, not to forget: dark is lower when is colder.

Discovering this journey of stars it was just flickering the pulse of band evolution.

How would you define your band’s musical genre, and which bands would you mention as your influence (if there are any)?

In the beginning I set up some themes on the synthesizer, was a small one, then I upgrade to multiple synthesizers, the journey of sounds went not that far than one arc second in the entire amplitude of music illustration.

When we gather  we puzzle all the electronic themes of all synthesizers when we gather into a dark metal sounds color [aka NIN] with guitars plugged to high power tube amps as well the bass and drums we give it  an industrial shape.

Then  we got the vocal  and we give it a avant-garde air from stone metal towards a doom-drone, with dark nuances, the 5 songs from vid nocturn” album get their lights up.

Another one expand its creation one month ago on vid nocturn” album as: “Exogenesis” which it will be pulsed out in a limited edition of 100 copies.

We decide to insert some small nu jazz influences (aka Ulver) within a large spectrum: [between Tool – Wumpscut – Mortiis (latest albums) – Samael].

You announce the launching of your first video, on July 17. Can you tell us the story behind this video?

Well, we firstly created instrumental “Sfere” song so we tried to integrate those spheres sound waves into some deep views on their travel paths, those deserve to spin among us, not just in our imaginary field of view, those will follow our mood and sense of explore.

We got helped with the Sfere video by Alexandru LX + Recording and Pre-edit, Ioana “Rach” Balaji – VFX Lead Artist and bass player in Between Colors band. Sebastian Ionut Toma – VFX Junior Assistant and Dan Niculescu – Video Editing guitarist in Between Colors band.

We are in progress for the next launch of our video on a song from vid nocturn” album and  it will be announced on our media page next month, it will be filmed in our rehearsal room and somewhere near Rasnov.

How about your first full studio material? When is it scheduled and what should we expect?

Keep an eye on our virtual media page, there will be an announce regarding vid nocturn”.

A nocturnal vacuum in Romanian language it is the meaning of the album and is made of: Ante Stellar / Sfere/ minus 0.010 degrees / Glacial Tarn / Pendular Underwaters and bonus song: Exogenesis. The entire album vid nocturn” it’s a story to travel in Universe.

Ante Stellar indicates the period before stars creation and emanate the FRIG expression.

Sfere it is the sketch of each star assembly in the Universe as matter with minus 0.010 degrees, which made the atmospheres of each planet in our galaxy and Glacial Tarn is is the illustration of the inner part of Encedalus, Saturns satellite geysers.

Then at the end Pendular Underwaters describe the tectonic movement from our Earth and its reservoirs. Exogenesis came to conclude in an instrumental way all the beginning of this frosty journey.

We will like on this way to great thanks to our mix and master sound engineer and music producer Enrico Tiberi, one of the most experimented in industrial metal in Europe.

Regarding the graphics we will like to send regards and great thanks to our graphic designer: George Sorin (Personal Website: 22Design / https://glogoworld.wordpress.com/ )

All graphic elements from the cover of the album was inspire by planetary atmospheres.

Do you have in plan any future live performances? Where would you like to play – even if you have a non-conventional place in mind?

Pixellated question yet., no one it is to old for stellar stories.

We have gather along the album assembly line lots of opportunities and ideas, we are for the moment waiting near the dark skies surroundings where all sounds can travel out the boundaries, we try to reach your expectations.

And related to my previous question – what are the bands you’ll like to share the stage with?

We intent to make it unconventional and arguably for the album atmosphere, some more related information will be exposed on our social media page.

Did you stumble upon any good album or good lees-known band recently? Can you give us some recommendations?

– Shining [NOR]: One One One // Alex Deak

– Nordvargr : I end forever // Radu Baciu

– Trivium : Silence in the snow // Andrei Ionescu

– Rammstein : Reise Reise // Andrew

– Deep Purple : Infinite // Horatiu Iordache

– Delirium : Lacuna Coil // George Christopher

What do you do, besides music? Do you have any other hobby / special interest?

Alex Deak: “I like to travel and I do hiking, swimming and playing tennis, climbing, interest in arts and listen to music, more music even when biking on a race bike, not, only make it once in a while, but still biking on a sunny weather it is healthy, vinyls collections.”

Andrei Ionescu: “Snowboarding, skate, basket, promenades in town on a chill weather.”

Radu Baciu: “Hiking, reading, psychology books, spreading joy around friends, listen electronic music a lot!”

Andrew: “Body building sport, walk in nature, mountain escapades.”

Horatiu Iordache: “Reading, listening to jazz music, journeys to the high peaks, sports.”

George Christopher : “Gaming, music, searching after underground bands world wide.”

Best of luck with FRIG! If there’s anything else you’d like to add, please do it.

Thank you for your interview, was a pleasure for us and remain frozen for the next updates.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Categories
InterviewsNews
2 Comments on this post.
  • Alexandra
    26 July 2017 at 7:00 am
    Leave a Reply

    Interesting @ promising. CONGRATS, FRIG !

  • Alex deak
    27 July 2017 at 6:17 am
    Leave a Reply

    Hi Alexandra!

    We appreciate your interest // remain frozen for the next vid nocturn” sounds.

  • Leave a Reply

    *

    *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    RELATED BY