frex - Sound In The Signals Interview

📸 Hannah De Vries

I recently had the opportunity to interview frex. We discussed the writing process for new song “Used To”, lyrical inspiration, collaborating with Jordan Ward, filming the video, the potential for new music, and more. Check it out below.

First, thanks for the interview.

Of course! Thanks for having me!

You recently released new song “Used To”. I really like it. Can you tell me about writing it?

Thanks for giving it a listen, I’m glad you like it. Writing it was a super easy process. Jordan and I got in the studio and I was sort of talking to him about how I was feeling at the time about someone I was interested in. The rest came naturally. Just collaboration in its truest form.

The lyrics are very interesting. What was your inspiration for the lyrics? What do you hope listeners take away from them?

The lyrics were pretty much just a journal entry for me. I was very into this person at the time and I wasn’t sure what direction we were going in, so I had all these questions. I was worried that telling him how I felt and getting real with him would burst the bubble of that initial honeymoon phase… so the song is just about that feeling and how being alone is more comfortable, but when you find someone you like enough you wonder if it’s worth the discomfort and if they’re someone who you can trust with those heavy feelings.

I hope listeners can just relate if they’re going through a similar experience, because when you really like someone and you want to take it further, it can feel like you’re jumping off a cliff because there’s so much uncertainty. I hope people can just find comfort in the song.

Jordan Ward is featured on the song. How did it work out for him to be on the song? Were you a fan of his prior to working with him?

We had met each other once before the session. He came to a show of mine in 2022 which was awesome because I was (and still am) definitely a fan. We had talked about working together for a while, but I feel like we were both just swamped at the time and knew that it would fall into place eventually. Fast forward about a year, and spotify and ascap ended up hosting these small, curated sessions where Jordan and I were paired up, and you know the rest!

I had the chance to watch the new video ahead of time. What was the video shoot like and who came up with the concept for it?

That was a long day on set. Fun fact - it was not daytime when we shot that. I had been doing a photoshoot all day there, then Jordan came and met with me at night to shoot the video.

I worked with Hannah De Vries (@nationaltreasure) for the photos and Justin Miller for the video.

There are a few scenes from the video that feature a bunch of vintage style items like cassettes, books, etc… Did you have a hand in choosing the items that were featured and/or do they have any significance to you?

I wish I could say they are significant, but mostly they were just knickknacks that belonged to the set designer. haha. I guess the books were intentional because we did want sort of a bookworm/library vibe as I journal a lot.