There’s something different about international bands. I’ve always said that and Stray Frogs gave me yet another reason why international bands deserve more recognition! Their music is the type that’s impossible to ignore and underneath the punk-rock genre; Stray Frogs will have fans in a whirlwind due to their authencity and creating music that feels deeply personal. Honesty and connection is what Stray Frogs represents and that’s what their EP Croak! is all about.
Interviewer: For new fans that just discovered Stray Frogs; can you give some history of the band and the soundscape of your music?
Stray Frogs: “Well, we’re sort of a punk-rock band from Barcelona formed 3 years ago, when we were at the University. All of us had been in different bands before, but none of them were currently active, so we decided to start a new project. Max and Eric met at primary school and their friendship goes back more than 15 years, playing alongside in a futsal team and having a lot of friends in common, but they had never played in the same band. They met Echo through a website designed to connect musicians who are interested in forming a band or playing together because they were interested in finding someone who plays drums. We started playing together just for fun but after a couple of months rehearsing every week, we decided to start playing gigs in the city and creating our own music.“
Interviewer: What inspired the story behind the EP “Croak!”?
Stray Frogs: ““Croak!” emerged from the need to move beyond our first single called 1994, which we recorded after seeing how well it was received at our live shows. However, we’re continuously creating new music, so we thought that it would be the moment to plan a bigger thing. We had a few songs, and we had to choose which ones we should record. Our producer, Edgar Beltri from La Atlantida Studio, told us to record only 4 songs with our budget. It was more important to have 4 songs that sound cool and clear, than 7 sounding gross because of being recorded too fast, or
spending too much money on it. He was completely right. In the end, since it was our first major release, we chose the four songs we played most often live.“
Interviewer: Were there any musical influences that shaped the sound of this EP?
Stray Frogs: “Our EP is heavily influenced by bands like Green Day, Blink-182, The Offspring, The Hives, My Chemical Romance, The Ramones, and so on. However, the three members of the band have different influences that go beyond punk-rock and pop-punk.“
Interviewer: Is there an overarching theme or story connecting the songs?
Stray Frogs: “To be 100% honest, initially when we decided the songs we didn’t consider a story that could connect them, but they all talk about desperation, self-frustration and low self-esteem that we found at some point in our lives. In fact, each song approaches these feelings from different angles, but the overall emotion is quite similar throughout the EP.”
Interviewer: What message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from the EP?
Stray Frogs: “We think that, in some way, people can relate to what we’re talking about in our songs, situations that might be difficult to explain or even understand, but they just happen and it’s part of our lives. We want to connect with those hidden feelings of struggle and the unheard voices of self-suffering from everyone.“
Interviewer: Which track feels the most personal to you?
Echo: “For me it’s Green Light because this song speaks of important feelings and I’ve always dedicated it to the people who have supported me in difficult times.“
Èric: “I think the song that feels more personal to me is Green Light. It talks about even if you are at a low point in life, there always is someone or something that helps you and keeps you going.“
Max: “In my case, I think that every song is part of us at some point. However, I deeply connected with Retired Clown, the last track in the EP, because it talks about trying your best to interact with others, but you end up making a fool of yourself, and you regret your decision for a long time. I’d be lying if I said I don’t feel this way quite often.”
Interviewer: Which song do you think fans will connect with the most?
Stray Frogs: “Probably it would be Green Light right now, as we have recently released the official music video, recorded by a friend of ours at the beginning of the year. And it also has a catchy chorus and a melody that’s easy to remember.”
Interviewer: How would you describe the EP’s sound to someone who has never heard of your band before?
Stray Frogs: “First of all, our primary advice would be “don’t expect anything similar to our influences because you’re going to be disappointed for sure”. We want to be recognized as Stray Frogs, not as a cover band or a copy of any of our influences. We just play punk-rock, pop-punk… Whatever you want to call it, and hopefully you will like some of our music. If not, at least our songs are quite short hahahahaha“
Interviewer: What’s next after the EP release?
Stray Frogs: “We’ve been through a break from January to mid-summer because one of our members is doing an Erasmus in Copenhagen, but our plan is to play as much as we can once we’re reunited. In fact, we just closed the first gig after this break on August 1st, when we will celebrate the 3rd anniversary of our first show in 2023.
Also, we would like to record new music soon because our EP is just 4 songs and we want our fans to hear all of our new stuff as soon as possible. Something that is awesome is hearing people singing your own songs live. It feels special every time.”