You know when a band just resonates with you? Everything about them strikes a chord and hits a nerve but also makes you want to dance your face off!? Cold Fronts did that for me from the moment I heard them, and now we have a debut full length to look forward to. I chatted with the man behind the machine, to dig deeper. Introducing... Cold Fronts.
Photo Credit: CJ Harvey
Who are Cold Fronts?
Cold Fronts is my band, I’m Craig Almquist. Over the years we’ve had a lot of different people have played, honestly too many to name. I started it, but I couldn’t have done anything with out the help of a lot of friends and great musicians.
How would you describe your sound?
I want people to feel like they’re on a road trip when they listen to us. I want it to feel like your heading somewhere. Technically our sound is based off two guitars, drums, and bass. I’ve always been into guitar harmonies (guitarmonies) which is a big part of our foundation. Some people say it sounds very beach-y, I don’t really like the beach but I can see why people would compare the sounds, it feels very summery.
Who, if any, were/are your major influences?
I’m a big fan of Pavement, Weezer, The Ramones, Phoenix, The Strokes, The Beach Boys. I would like to think we wear our influences on our sleeve. That being said I think we’re on our way to making our own path, I don’t like the notion of being grouped in with other rock bands, I want to push the genre forward, guitars are cool but its been done before over and over, I want to make something fresh and inspiring.
Where did the name Cold Fronts come from?
I just really like the words, theres a bit of a double meaning. Its short, its strong. My brother actually pitched it to me as a band name years ago, and then I just started saving that under all my demos, and look, now I have a band.
You are releasing your debut album 'Forever Whatever' next month, can you tell us a little about it? How was the creative process? How long did it take? What inspired it?
Forever Whatever is the first full length record I’ve made. We’ve been a band for a while, we’ve put out a couple EP’s, a few songs here and there, but I wanted our first record to be something special. I don’t care if we don’t have any number one singles or if we don’t sell a million copies, I just wanted to make something that I could stand behind and be proud of. I hope people dig it, but to be honest I don’t really care if they do, because its not going to stop me from making more songs and putting out more records. We recorded it over 6 weeks in Philadelphia with Kyle Slick. It was fun, we rode our bikes to studio everyday, we recorded fifteen songs, I’ve never been in the studio for such an extended period of time so it was really exciting.
Your latest single is called 'Buschleague', what does this mean?
Buschleague means bogus, amateur, not good, its its an old baseball term. When I first started this band, I wasn’t good at guitar or singing, I was still learning how to write, and theres a lot of people who would try and get in the way, and tell me that I’m not good enough. This songs about not letting other people dictate your path, you gotta just do you and enjoy it.
Do you have any plans to tour Europe any time soon?
We just played our first show in Brighton at The Great Escape and are itching to get back soon. While we don’t have any plans lined up right now, its one of my top priorities for the year. Traveling and playing shows is one of my favorite aspects of being in a band, and getting a taste of being over seas was very eye opening. There was such a good energy at our show in the UK.
Where can we find out/hear more from you?
We’re going to have our whole record on Spotify, iTunes, and all that stuff October 23. I personally like Soundcloud, we put a couple songs on there that can’t be found anywhere else. My plan is to start putting more music out without label interference and the easiest way to do that is through soundcloud so check in there.
You can pre-order the album 'Forever Whatever' here: https://itun.es/gb/StGX9