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5 Questions with Joe King of the Fray |
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Written by Brian McCollum, MCT
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Saturday, 30 June 2007 |
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 With a set of earnest, midtempo songs — and a big boost from prime-time television — Denver quintet the Fray has secured a comfy spot in the modern pop-rock kingdom.
The band's debut album, "How to Save a Life," has been certified double platinum, thanks in no small part to the use of its tracks on shows such as "Scrubs," "Bones" and "Grey's Anatomy" — the latter of which turned the title ballad into a global smash. Guitarist Joe King, who cowrites most of the Fray's work with pianist-vocalist Isaac Slade, talked with Brian McCollum as the band embarks on its first-ever amphitheater tour.
QUESTION: Something shifted in the rock world earlier this decade: After a long taboo against licensing songs for television, suddenly it became not only widely acceptable, but highly fashionable. And you guys are right there in the thick of it.
ANSWER: You see that trend of musicians that are credible taking the view that attaching their music to shows and movies is a good thing for them because it's a way to reach new fans.
Ten years ago, a band would have been written off, fans disgusted with them, blah blah blah.
Now, even a Ryan Adams is doing something ... there's Wilco (signing with Volkswagen).
When someone comes to you and says, "OK, you have this offer to do this licensing, they'll give you this much, your fan base will grow by this much" — that's a pretty simple yes.
But you look at the rock scene, and it still isn't nearly as close as the hip-hop scene is in terms of how attached they are to corporations. Maybe they even led the way, where rock musicians started saying: "Maybe it's OK to team up with these companies. Maybe we have to."
Q: Talk about the songwriting process with you and Isaac.
A: We have this friendly competition between the both of us. One of us will bring something in, and if the other one really digs the song, it'll spur each one of us on. Then we start working on things together.
It's a good relationship. It's competitive, but it's also collaborative. We've even tried writing with other people, and it just doesn't work. We know what each other brings to the table, and it comes naturally. I can be vulnerable and play something that I'm afraid of, almost. If it's good, he'll say so, and if bad, he'll say that.
Q: What about the dynamic brought by writing on piano? Does he have to be conscious about certain chordings, about making sure it's all fit for performance by a rock band?
A: It took probably three years to really lock into a chemistry on how to actually blend the piano with the guitars and the band. The piano can be such a ... not overpowering instrument, but very melodic. To fit it in with other things can be difficult. It took time, writing 40 or 50 songs before we were able to find the chemistry between the other instruments and vocals and the piano.
Q: Even if you guys last another three decades, right now you're in your once-in-a-lifetime moment — that first rush of success and first flush of fame. Are you able to step back and absorb that for what it is?
A: You kind of go back and forth. You can get to that point where you're working so much — touring, so many shows and radio and press — you get completely burnt out, and you lose perspective on what's happening to your life and career. But when you can step back for a second, whatever circumstances come up that allow you to look at it in a fresh new way, it's absolutely overwhelming.
Q: And how do you aim for that sticking power over the long haul, especially in this era when it can all be so fleeting?
A: I think we've had that in mind since the very beginning, as far as our approach and the way we did it with the label. It was the plan we were on: The record came out in September `05. The first single was kind of building at radio, but it took 8 months before that single was even up the charts. In the major label world, they don't want to wait 8 months to watch something climb. But we kept doing our own thing — touring, MySpace, iTunes, building that core fan base before "Grey's Anatomy" hit and everything popped. We had 600,000 albums sold by the time that major exposure happened. We already had those core fans. | Only registered users can write comments.
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