FRONTAL BOUNDARY

Thanks for taking a moment to answer the questions in our interview here. First, we’re curious

about the band name. Where did that originate?

Brendin: I came up with the name because for me at the time, the music seemed like a calm before the storm. The storm being that Frontal Boundary line where all hell breaks lose.

The last album, according to Bandcamp was released in 2021. What’s been

going on since then?

Brendin: Since the release of The Fall, we’ve been working on our many other projects. In October 2023, we started work on our forthcoming album.

Again, referring to the last album, ‘The Fall’, it has some curious cover art…perhaps a sense of bleakness to it. Was that shot on a location somewhere?

Brendin: This is actually an old abandoned warehouse in Detroit. It seemed fitting for the album and how Frontal Boundary was put on the back burner several times while I worked on other

projects that I am in.

Jaysen: Ha ha, Brendin said Detroit first. Go On, please.

Can you take us inside your studio for the moment and tell us about the hardware and software you use to create your work?

Brendin: I work mostly “in-the-box” nowadays. I used Logic Pro, running on a Mac M2 Pro. I use various software synthesizers that I’ve purchased over the years. Some of my favorite ones are Omnisphere 2 and the Autria Collection. On the hardware side I have a Focusrite interface and a Mack Mix12 Mixer, running to a pair of Focal Alpha 80 Evo, and a pair of Alesis Proactive 2.0 Studio monitors. As far as synthesizers go, I have a Roland System 8 and a Korg

Minilogue.

Jaysen: I also am mainly “In-the-box” using various VST’s that I’ve “acquired” over the years,

and I’ve been using Fruity Loops as my go to DAW station for decades now. Yeah, yeah, before

the elitist chumps jump my shit, I’ve used everything from Pro Tools, to Logic, to Studio One, to

Ableton, to Cakewalk, to Cubase, to your grandma’s tape deck. That’s my system, not yours!

You are in a number of projects it appears. How does your position in Frontal Boundary differother than the fact you are now the main writer?

Brendin: I started Frontal Boundary back in 2008. It’s always been my baby, but after moving to

Los Angeles, in 2014, I started focusing more on the other bands I was/am in. I think where Frontal Boundary differs from Dawn of Ashes, INVA//ID and Bornless Fire is that I am able to just write what I like, what comes naturally, and what is fitting at the time of writing. With the other bands, the writing process is a little bit different. The foundation is usually already there and I add to what there. Frontal Boundary, I’m typically the one writing the foundation of the songs, then sending them to Krz and Jaysen to add to them.

Jaysen: Basically that but backwards.

Do you find that your albums revolve around a central theme or could you more appropriately call them stories in and of themselves?

Brendin: I think our albums are more stories in and of themselves. Our first two albums Electronic Warfare and Electronic Warfare V2 are definitely centered around my time in the U.S.0 Army and my divorce that were both happening at the same time. ( Electronic Warfare V2 is just re-worked tracks from the original album after I got out of school for music.) Where The Fall is also a story in its own rights. The Fall is the first album that I did not write lyrics and sing on. Krz Souls took over that part - which aside from being one of my best friends, we both write

lyrically from the same place, and about similar content.

Your EPK notes a number of releases that notably are not on your Bandcamp page. Are you planning on more digital distribution for those?

Brendin: Outside of Electronic Warfare, Electronic Warfare V2, and The Fall, nothing else was ever officially released. We’ve done a lot of remixes over the years, which are out there. We’ve also been on a number of compilations. Our very first album Lost and Recovered was never released on any platform, and likely never will. These are mostly b-sides that I had written between 2005-2008, with no real outlet for them, and were only instrumentals. There are a few tracks floating around the internet from that.

What do you hope to accomplish by the end of 2024? What’s in the coming months for the band?

Brendin: This might be a little long-winded. After the release of Electronic Warfare V2, I’d written another album that was due to be released in 2014. I ended up reworking those, getting sidetracked with working and touring with other bands so that never happened. Those tracks I released under my own name Brendin Ross - Anthem for a Shattered Mind. With that being said, Frontal Boundary was pretty much on a hiatus, and I had decided that the project would pretty much be a studio project from there on out. The 2021 release of The Fall were all new

tracks written with Krz Souls, but we still had no plans to do anything other than write an album in our free time, here and there.

Fast forward to 2023, I got a call about bringing Frontal Boundary out of retirement so to speak and perform at a festival in New Orleans. It was last minute and they had a band drop off. So, I contacted Krz and we decided that since we’d be there anyway playing with INVA//ID, we’d do it. With a 2 day noticed I pulled in Damion Blackwell (Die Sektor/INVA//ID, Dawn of Ashes) and Jaysen Craves (Livernois) together and threw them the setlist rehearsed when we arrived and

played the fest.

That show lit the fire under all of us. Jaysen rejoined the band, and we started working on the

new album right away. For 2024, we have some single releases and an EP, as well as some

festivals and shows - and possible tour lined up. So, 2024 is looking to be a busy year for

us, after not playing live at all since 2014, aside from the 1 festival last year!

William ZIMMERMAN
03/04/2024