Rising To The Masses: Froglord

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Before the first riffs echo through the fields of Catton Park, we are diving head first into the pulse-pounding world of the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock 2024. So grab your backstage pass, tune your senses, and join us as we explore the stories, inspirations, and the relentless drive of the bands who are rising to the masses! Introducing Froglord…

How would you describe your band to someone who’s never heard you?

Imagine yourself lost in the deepest recesses of the swamplands after dark. From the distance you hear the rhythmic thrumming of drums and the faint echo of a batrachian chant. You stumble upon a gathering of cultists within a great circle of standing stones. At the centre stands the Froglord preaching to his followers. Around him, his loyal swamp priests. Slowly your mind drifts into a hypnotic trance as roiling doom-laden fuzz and sludgy grooves consumes you. When you come to, you are left wondering how much of it was real and how much was a hallucination caused by the Froglord’s slime.

Tell us about your band’s origin story. How did you all come together?

Froglord began creating music in 2020, at the start of the pandemic. In our one hour of government mandated outdoor recreation time, I set about exploring the great forests that stood close to my home. Within those trees I discovered a great swamp. As I entered the stagnant waters I became consumed by the slime that lay within. Visions of the amphibious terror of The Froglord shrouded my mind and I felt compelled to spread his word through music. 2 albums later and the lockdowns lifted, I set about recruiting my 3 loyal swamp priests, Anura (drums), Bufo (bass), and Caudata (guitar).

What song would you recommend for someone’s first listen of your band?

Describe your songwriting process. How do you create your music?

It all begins with the riff. As Froglord records are conceptual, following an overarching storyline, often when we go into a song we will know the kind of vibe we want to achieve in order to tell that aspect of the story. Then things quickly develop from there as the structure comes together. Lyrics and vocals are always the last part of that process. Up until very recently this has been primarily a one-person based operation, but now as the band develops and we are becoming more collaborative, this process is evolving. It’s a very exciting time.

How do you handle creative disagreements within the band?

Whether it be the easy-going passive nature of the priests, or the tyrannical reign of the Froglord whose word is final, there never really seems to be any disputes! When someone does come up with an idea that the rest of us aren’t too hot on, I think most of the time we’ll just nod and humour them till the idea eventually passes.

What are your musical influences?

The obvious answer for any stoner-sludge-doom adjacent band would be to say Sabbath, and we are definitely no exception to that rule! At the inception of Froglord, bands like Dopethrone, Eyehategod and King Gizzard (particularly the Infest The Rats next album), were on heavy rotation, so I think it’s fair to say that they played a major influence in shaping the sound. As a band, we are all massive Rob Zombie fans. I feel like the energy and showmanship of their performances is always something we try and strive for.

What’s the story behind your band name?

The Froglord is an ancient amphibian god, sent to earth to maintain the natural balance of the planet, teaching that all must live by the fuzz or die by the slime. Should any oppose this balance by destroying the natural world, the Froglord will not hesitate to erase that force, through his deathray vision and ectoplasmic slime. We seek to spread the word of the amphibious lord through music and name alike.

What’s your guilty pleasure music outside of metal?

I think that’s a super tricky question to answer. I think most musicians would say that they have a pretty diverse interest when it comes to music. Whether or not I feel guilty about liking it, I’m not too sure. I would say Creed, but I guess they’re popular again now!

Tell us about your most memorable live performance or tour experience.

Probably our first gig a few years back. Froglord had been putting out music online for nearly 2 years during the pandemic at that point. We had started to build a small following, but we had no idea whether this would translate into the real world. Then when the night of our first show came around and we still had no idea as to how many tickets we’d sell, we were absolutely blown away when we had to turn people away before the night was over, due to reaching capacity. It was only a small basement show of 80 cap, but it was an incredible feeling to know we had that support so early on.

What’s the most challenging aspect of being a metal band in today’s music industry?

I think for any band regardless of what genre, the live scene has definitely changed drastically since the pandemic. Venue fees have gone up as independent venues struggle to keep afloat and people aren’t as willing to buy tickets in advance anymore. Touring has always been a tricky business and it’s only becoming more of a risk financially. I think the metal scene in general does often seem to be better in this respect however, as the underground live scene always seems to be one of the most supportive communities.

Any advice for other aspiring metal musicians?

Perfectionism destroys creativity. Keep making music and keep putting it out there. In other words, throw enough sh*t at the wall and eventually some of it will stick.

What’s next after Bloodstock for the band?

The rest of this year is looking fairly busy for us on the gig front, with shows planned for every month, including a couple of mini tours. We’re currently in the process of planning some longer stints on the road for next year, ideally taking our amphibious fuzz outside of the UK. Other than that, we’re plugging away at our next album currently, which should take us into next year. Soon the Froglord’s slime shall consume the whole world.

How do you choose album artwork or visuals for your releases?

In many ways social media has changed our society for the worse, but it has also allowed us unprecedented access to the work of incredible artists across the globe, that we may have otherwise never have seen. All of the artwork of the Froglord records were found from artists that one of us just stumbled across on insta, who would later be commissioned to design a piece for us. In the case of LIVE BY THE FUZZ, Army of Frogs and Samhain however, these were all pieces of fan art sent into us, we loved so much that we commissioned them straight away.

What’s the most unexpected inspiration for one of your songs?

A couple years ago me and some of the boys went on a road trip to see Tool. A couple of us did some acid and ate a bag of raisins, which ultimately went on to inspire the song Road Raisin.

What’s the best gig you’ve attended as a fan and why?

Probably my favourite gig I attended was Peaches in Bristol a couple of years ago. It was the 20th anniversary tour of The Teaches of Peaches album, which she played in its entirety. The stage production was phenomenal, and Peaches sounded so true to the recorded material, despite having lost all of her original synth patches, meaning everything had to be remade from scratch.

Have you faced any challenges as an unsigned band? How do you overcome them?

I think the lack of tour management especially, can be real tricky at times. As an unsigned artist there are so many different hats to wear. When it comes to planning a tour there are many logistics to work out and some things will always fall through cracks here and there. But as with anything, the more you do something the easier it becomes, and I always have to remind myself that for all the hard work that goes in, there is so much reward in being able to share our music with the world.

How do you stay motivated during creative slumps?

I think this is possibly one of the great existential questions of any artist. When you are in those periods of stagnation, it’s all too easy to fall into a wallowing pit of despair, believing you’ll never be able to write anything again and at least nothing as good as you wrote before. Ultimately some bubble of creativity always finds its way to the surface, I guess it’s just about waiting it out and being patient with yourself.

Froglord are set to play The Hopical Storm New Blood Stage On Sunday 11th August 2024.