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Before their last show in November, the members of Froggies met at Corey Chun and Maria Nido’s house, where the band wrote music together, hosted an acoustic concert series called The Recital and took promotional photos for its first single, “Less Than.”

That was the last time the members would be in that house together, Nido said, with almost half the band now abroad. To prepare for their time apart, the band spent the fall semester performing live shows, building a fanbase and recording music to release throughout the spring until they can be together again.

“We had a lot of milestone shows last semester, and now we’re rolling out these really important songs,” said Sam Parrish, a Bandier junior who founded Froggies along with Chun and Nido. “We can do that from across the world. We’re lucky enough to have the technology and the social media to do that.”

Chun and Nido, both also juniors in the Bandier program, are studying abroad in London and Madrid, respectively. A Zoom call with The Daily Orange was the first time the five Froggies members — including their drummer Grady Collingbourne and pianist Sam Ronan — had seen each other this semester, they said.

“Less Than,” released Jan. 25, follows the members’ lives throughout 2022, which is why it seemed the best choice for the first release, Nido said. In two weeks, the song amassed over 4,000 streams on Spotify.

7 DAYS UNTIL LESS THAN IS YOURS!!! In the early days writing process, we came at this from completely different perspectives depending on the heartbreak, situationship, and promising new relationship that we were experiencing. For this cover art, we each put in an object that has meaning and history attached to us in respect to the song and our relationship to music! In the next few days leading up to release, we’ll each share our special objects displayed in this cover to y’all :heart: This song means so incredibly much to us and we hope the meaning translates to your life and all the special objects that have come along with you 🙂
:camera_with_flash: Pictures by our very own @sam.parrish27 @shlammyp

A photo posted by froggiesmusic

For Chun, “Less Than” was the band’s first truly collaborative songwriting experience. Each member contributed something equally, be it musical or personal experience-related to the lyrics, she said. The band also used live performances to gather feedback on unreleased songs like “Less Than” before recording, Collingbourne said.

To reflect the collaborative nature of the song, Chun had the idea of a “scrapbook” appearance for the single’s cover art. The final result was a special item from each Froggies’ member resting on an open book.

“(‘Less Than’) just felt so balanced in that way. We all had our own experiences and it’s such a mix of all of it. For me, it resonates as a really special writing experience,” Chun said.

Chun, Nido and Parrish wrote some of the guitar parts for “Less Than” as early as their freshman year, but the lyrics for all their songs tend to come together more over time as the members mature.

The band recognizes they’re all at a young age, Nido said, and since personal narrative is a critical ingredient to their song writing, they don’t like to rush recording and releasing music.

“It’s not like these are just stories we’re making up. Each song that we have tracked right now comes from a real experience,” Nido said.

The band felt they were in a good place when Chun and Nido left to study abroad, with three songs recorded, including “Less Than.” They plan to release the other singles later this semester.

“We needed to experience some actual life, go through different heartbreaks, especially if we’re going to sit down and write something that’s true and dear to our narrative,” Nido said.

Froggies braved a “whirlwind” of a fall semester, Chun said, booking more shows than ever before and rehearsing every week. But the thrill of accomplishing what they all set out to do, and knowing they were in it together, was worth the stress, she said.

But now, as Nido and Chun enjoy their much-needed break from performing live, Parrish, Collingbourne and Ronan continue to play house shows with other student bands like Studio 89 back on campus.

Right now, the band’s main priority is releasing its next two singles, boosting its social media presence and, as always, “just living life,” Nido said.

While they’re living life apart for now, the five said they’re already eager to be back together, possibly playing their first live show again in May.

“There’s something to be said about playing with people who are really close friends of yours who you also connect with on a musical level,” Collingbourne said. “I just miss having all five of us together.”

Published on February 8, 2023 at 9:54 pm

Contact Sarah: scalessa@syr.edu | @sarahalessan