Interview with Frantics: ‘Our next song, ‘Beehive’, is darker, it’s about a break-up’

York-based indie band Frantics is gearing up to release their second single, ‘Beehive’, at the end of this month, a song that its frontman Joe Collins (lead vocal and bass) describes as ‘darker than our first single, it’s about a break-up’.

In addition to Collins, Frantics consists of Fraser Threlfall (lead guitar), Elliot Cumper (rhythm guitar) and Antony Higgs (drums and backing vocals).

‘I’d just broken up with my girlfriend,’ Collins said of ‘Beehive’. ‘Everyone can relate to genuine emotion, at least I could take something positive from it. There’s a bit more to this one.’

For Threlfall, ‘Beehive’ has more single-note riffs than their debut single, ‘End Of The Line’, a catchy, guitar heavy singalong number which came out last week. ‘End Of The Line’ actually came together pretty quickly, Threlfall said: ‘We played the intro riff off the bat and it sounded pretty good. We then came up with the chorus and just went with them chords.’

Essentially, the song is about someone who thinks they’re big fish in a small pond, according to Collins: ‘The lyrics are quite random,’ he said. ‘I think it’s saying that someone is playing a big person but as soon as they go out into the big world, it’s not the same place and they’ll be small fish.’

As the song goes: ‘Going loco in the local with that so-called backing vocal, I see you jump around, don’t you call that move the pogo, fishing for the swimmers might be night in Puerto Rico but you’ve only got a small pond now and that’s the way it be oh.’

Collins and Threlfall went to secondary school together and the others met at York St. John university. They formed Frantics about a year ago after playing in various cover bands. Higgs joined the band as a drummer, having played a cajon (a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front or rear faces with the hand) for the last three years: ‘It’s refreshing to be able to use some sticks instead of my hands,’ he laughed. As Threlfall puts it: ‘We’re used to each other’s style and have written a lot of songs together. We have a lot of chemistry.’

Another of their songs, ‘Hamburg’ is loosely based on a city break to Hamburg that they took last year, according to Cumper.

Initially, like many other bands, they struggled during lockdown: ‘When we first went into lockdown, we had a lot of time on our own,’ Collins said. ‘I found it hard to find inspiration. Fraser did, too.’

Between them, they embrace a wide range of musical styles. “Our individual influences are coming into the songs,’ Cumper said. Threlfall says he is a fan of heavier rock, whereas Collins likes bands such as Kasabian, Vampire Weekend and Arctic Monkeys, particularly from a songwriting perspective. ‘Alex (Turner, Arctic Monkey’s frontman) is such a brilliant songwriter.’ Cumper, for his part, would like to play guitar with Johnny Marr (formerly of The Cribs and The Smiths): ‘He’d be brilliant and he’d take us up a notch!’

(Photo from left to right: Fraser, Elliot, Joe and Antony)