Joe Tell's Music Blog: Frontline

Frontline - Delft, Netherlands

Hollywood's Bleeding Spotify link:

https://open.spotify.com/track/12zHiqSpIPwMYAxLxXaEf0?si=d9aa52b55b8c4c58

To break the silence since our debut album "Scream all you want", Dutch hard rock band Frontline has decided to release a cover of Post Malone's title track from his 2019 album "Hollywood's Bleeding" as a single. This single serves as a promo for our upcoming EP, "Back with a 6-pack", which will also present 5 self-penned new tracks.

Even though he's rooted in hip hop, Malone definitely has connections to hard rock, having collaborated with Ozzy Osbourne before. "Hollywood's Bleeding"'s lyrics are mainly about decadence, hedonism and nihilism in Hollywood, and since many of the artists we're inspired by are from the same area and embody the same themes, that definitely motivated us to cover it. A quick online search shows that we weren't the only band that noticed the song's suitability for a rock cover, but nonetheless, we think our version offers a unique interpretation.

The single was recorded in April with Thomas Kunst on vocals, guitarists Arti Flinkerbusch and Thijs Stoffelen, Steven Wijtenburg on bass and drummer Wouter Michawitz. The cover art was done by our very own Steven Wijtenburg and show the Hollywood Hills in the midst of a volcanic eruption, with the lava spelling out "Bleeding" under the famous sign. The night sky in the background shows a colour pattern hinting to the cover of Malone's original album. Hollywood's Bleeding will be on Spotify and other major streaming platforms on July 10th and we hope everyone in the hard rock scene (and beyond) will enjoy this crossover cover.

Songwriting: Austin Post, Louis Bell, Brian Lee, Billy Walsh, Carter Lang

Arrangement: Arti Flinkerbusch

Vocals: Thomas Kunst

Lead guitar: Arti Flinkerbusch

Rhythm guitar: Thijs Stoffelen

Bass guitar: Steven Wijtenburg

Drums: Wouter Michawitz

Mixing: Jochem Smaal

Artwork: Steven Wijtenburg

Exclusive Interview with Frontline by Joe Tell. Thank You Frontline!

What are some of your greatest influences?

Arti (Lead Guitar): In terms of songwriting, Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction, Thin Lizzy’s Fighting and Skid Row’s first two albums were some of the main influences on this album. In terms of playing, that of Skid Row’s guitarists was definitely an influence on me, in the way they include pinch harmonics. Apart from that, the melodies of guitarists like Slash and Scott Gorham also were.

Jamal (Drums): Among artists that inspire me the most are Author & Punisher, UnexpecT and Vildhjarta. Obviously, these influences don’t really have a place in a hard-rock album, which is why I reserve them for my other band, Fosvor. Instead, for the drums of Scream All You Want we embraced a timeless hard-rock style. Simple but effective. We went for a punchy sound, but with subtle accents and ghost notes.

Steven (Bass): My greatest influence is melodic punk rock, to name a few bands: Lagwagon, NOFX, Operation Ivy. Some of my favourite punk rock bands, like Propagandhi, have metal influences. That inspires me as well. I’ve been playing in local skatepunk bands for many years, I love to play fast melodies and riffs on bass. You may hear this in our songs; "Into the Sun" and on the verses of "Judgment day". I also really like to play fills on bass, and fortunately Arti gave me freedom to play a lot of them on the album. You’ll hear them in songs like "Tower of Lies", "Keep it a Secret" and “No More”.

Thomas (Vocals): My greatest vocal influences are Chris Cornell, Layne Staley and Stevie Wonder. The bands that inspired me the most when I was young are Guns N' Roses, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Pantera and Deep Purple. Though at family parties I always loved the Motown songs. These days I gravitate more towards Soundgarden/Temple of the dog, The Aristocrats, Porcupine tree, Audioslave, Jethro Tull and anything groovy/soulful, I don't care about the genre. During the recording of the album I kind of went where I thought I could go vocally and tried to actually sing Arti's composed melodies.

Thijs (Rhythm Guitar): The first bands I started listening to as a kid were Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and System of a Down, as the YouTube algorithm decided those were all related to each other. I always liked the combination of really heavy distorted guitars and pretty clean melodies, which probably influenced my playing the most.

What was the inspiration behind the songs?

Arti: Each of the songs tells a story, some inspired by personal experience, some completely fictional. “Scream all you want” is about someone who’s had an easy life, but is facing demise now that karma’s come ‘round. “Love creeps” is about feeling hollow when pursuing superficial romantic relationships. “Out of the Darkness” is about needing to escape from life in a boring town. “Keep it a secret” was inspired by a scenario like what’s shown in the film “I Know What You Did Last Summer”, where a group of teens accidentally run someone over and try to dispose of the body, but could be applied to anything that needs to be kept secret. “Judgment day” is about a pickup-artist who comes to a town, seduces every woman, but then comes across one who takes revenge on him. It’s also what the cover art is based on. “No more” is about someone stuck in an abusive relationship who’s going to make his/her escape. “High in the sky” is about someone who didn’t take his chances for a long time but finally gets another opportunity to do so. “Love in trouble” is about two lovers in despair, whose relationship is in crisis. “Lift yourself up” is like a pep talk for anyone who’s sitting back and letting life pass him/her by. “Cheating is easy” is a cynical commentary on the way cheating can be helpful, by someone who’s just been cheated on. “Tower of lies” is about someone who’s ignoring the voice of his/her conscience, and building up a tower of lies which will eventually crumble, and “Into the sun” talks about continuing to strive for the best despite hardships: an apt song to end the album with.

What’s some of your favorite gear and did you get to use it on the album?

Arti: I used an Epiphone SG to do all my parts. As for effects pedals: I mostly used my Boss Adaptive Distortion, DA-2, which gives an awesome 80’s hard rock sound. Except for on “Keep it a secret”, where the less aggressive-sounding Marshall Guv’nor was more appropriate. For amplification, I used the Guitar Rig plugin, and a variety of amplifiers, whatever suited each song best.

Jamal: We dove into the studio to track drums near the start of 2020. Unfortunately, when COVID hit the Netherlands we were not able to record drums acoustically anymore for the foreseeable future. Therefore, we opted for virtual drums, programmed meticulously to match my drumming style as close as possible. It took me many, many evenings to track the whole album this way, but I think we got there in the end. We hope Scream All You Want sounds as dynamic and punchy as you’d want from a hard-rock banger!

Steven: I play a 5-string Aria Jazz bass, which I have since I was 16. I really like the sound and feel of this model, and my plan for the future is to get an authentic Fender Jazz bass. I also used a Zoom modeler for the recordings. I am planning to get a Markbass amp soon. Those amps have a very rich sound, are very lightweight and the yellow cones look awesome.

Thomas: A guitar with good pickups, fretwork and intonation over an expensive/good Blackstar. And no, I don't have a Blackstar, treat my guitars like shit and am the singer. For the album I used the mic the studio had to offer, which was well above and beyond my humble budget. So now my favorite microphone is an expensive condenser mic.

Thijs: An audio interface into a computer with any instrument you can get. Creating and recording different (virtual) instruments is something that I always love to do.

Credits on Scream all you want:

Songwriting: Arti Flinkerbusch (all tracks except 10), Maria Soares (tracks 2, 6, 7, 8 and 12), Thomas Kunst (track 12), Seth Swirsky & Ernie Gold (track 10)

Vocals: Thomas Kunst

Lead guitar: Arti Flinkerbusch

Rhythm guitar: Thijs Stoffelen

Bass guitar: Steven Wijtenburg

Drums: Jamal van Kastel

Vocal production: Jelle Haasnoot, Annika Boxhoorn, Pepijn Stutterheim

Mixing: IzzyMix

Mastering: Joris van Dijk

Artwork: Steven Wijtenburg

After long waited anticipation, Dutch hard rock band Frontline will release their long awaited debut album: "Scream all you want" on the 1st of October on Spotify and other channels. Influenced by the likes of Guns N' Roses and Thin Lizzy, all 13 songs are self-penned originals, except for a hard rock cover of Taylor Dayne's 1987 dance-pop hit "Tell it to my heart". Following up on the releases of the EP "Accidental Gathering" and the single "Judgment Day", the album features 8 previously unreleased tracks, and re-recorded & remixed versions of the other 5. The track listing for Scream All You Want is as follows 1. Scream all you want 2. Love creeps 3. Out of the darkness 4. Keep it a secret 5. Judgment day 6. No more 7. High in the sky 8. Love in trouble 9. Lift yourself up 10. Tell it to my heart 11. Cheating is easy 12. Tower of lies 13.Into the sun.

Frontline Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3uEUYjvr0s73UvwZSEiast

Review for Accidental Gathering by Frontline by Joe Tell.

The title of the EP, Accidental Gathering, is perfect for these turbulent times. Keep It A Secret is a straight ahead, in your face hard rock song. The uptempo song is a great choice to kick off the Frontline Accidental Gathering EP. The chromatic guitar lines keep the energy flowing and the explicit lyrics make the song that much cooler. Love Creeps features some heavy guitar and great soloing to start the song. The solos continue throughout the song as the energy and the key of the music moves up a little higher. Cheating Is Easy is a updated slab of the classic 70's rock sound complete with a melodic guitar solo, sure to please any rock fan. Tower Of Lies sounds to me like the most powerful and polished song of the set. Overall the band mixes the rock sounds of legendary bands like April Wine, Def Leppard, Foghat and Grand Funk Railroad together to create a unique rock sound.

Frontline is a hard rock band from Delft consisting of five enthusiastic band members; Thomas (vocals), Arti (guitar), Thijs (guitar), Steven (bass) and Jamal (drums). The band formed in the summer of 2018. Arti wrote a bunch of hard rock songs and was looking for the right musicians to perform them with. He found these through jam sessions in a medieval cellar in the city center of Delft. The band had some live gigs and a radio performance - before the pandemic kicked in.

Frontline did not let the pandemic interfere with their work. The EP ‘Accidental Gathering’ was recorded even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Bassist Steven explains: ’We separately recorded our instruments from the safety of our homes and then Thijs mixed them together..” The band has made a tight production - you wouldn’t tell the EP has been recorded from home, completely DIY. The song writing recalls old-school hard rock music. Arti: “My influences are mostly Guns N’ Roses, Thin Lizzy and other hard rock legends from back in the day. Although everybody in the band digs that, the members’ individual tastes are diverse. For instance, Steven’s background is punk rock and Jamal’s more metal. This makes the band’s sound an interesting mix.”

The EP ‘Accidental Gathering’ is Frontline’s first release. Get ready for some spot-on hard rock vocals and guitar riffs. Lead singer Thomas: “Our song Let’s keep it a secret is one of my favorites! The riffs are awesome and the song will most definitely be stuck in your head all day.” It sure is a good teaser for their upcoming album, expected to be released in summer 2021. If you love rock music, make sure to follow this band to stay up to date. You’ll definitely want to add this EP to your favorites!