Interview
Interview
Frozemode: “We’re the founding fathers of whatever it is we end up bringing to the game“
The punk rap trio talk about their new EP, going back to their roots, bringing their 'controlled chaos' to Reading & Leeds 2024
When you first think of a heavy-leaning rap group who’ve played at Download Festival, collaborated with NOISY, been described by NME as “raucous”, and where each member incorporates a distinct punk sensibility in their respective verses, you wouldn’t expect three nice boys whose mum brings them a cup of tea during an interview. But for old schoolmates I.V.GATLIN, Cho-Hollo and Lisong, that’s exactly the way they operate during our Zoom call. And that’s the norm for Frozemode: nothing is ever quite as you expect.
The alt-rap trio make a smorgasbord of indie rock, punk, hip hop, grime and more; weaving in each of their niche interests and tastes to form the bedrock of their distinct sound. A sound that has been recognised by BBC Radio 1, who featured the group on their stage at Reading & Leeds Festivals last year, only a few months after the release of Frozemode’s debut EP, DEMODE.
They join us on a summer afternoon, just before they have to shoot a music video for one of their latest singles on their upcoming mixtape, DEMODE 2. There’s a sense of calm, familiarity and above all, authenticity when we speak, as the group discuss their hopes for Frozemode’s future, their return to their classic hip hop roots, and their upcoming sets at Reading & Leeds Festivals this month.
There’s a lyric in one of your latest singles, ‘KURAMA’, where you say “I been seen doing things that I ain’t too proud of/ But I’m proud of the fact that we’re doing it our way” – talk to me more about doing things your way.
Lisong: Yeah, I think with with this EP, and the stuff we’re making now, we’ve found our footing a little bit more, so we can experiment more. Also slightly go back to our roots a bit more, because we obviously grew up with a lot of rap, hip hop and R&B music. But when we first started releasing music, we were doing a lot of the punk influence/alternative music. So we’re just bringing back that old sound into the new sound, and expressing ourselves a bit more freely again.
And will the EP, DEMODE 2, be a reintroduction to your roots?
Lisong: A bit of both.
I.V.GATLIN: Yeah, it’s a merging of the two worlds a little bit more. Having that moment to be able to show off our rapper side of things even more because when all three of us started making music, we were making straight rap and hip hop stuff. The punk sound came later, and that’s what we introduced ourselves as. Weirdly enough, it’s kind of like we’re going backwards again, but people just don’t know it yet, because it hasn’t been out yet.
When I listened to your music, it kind of felt like I was listening to Beastie Boys, and also The Prodigy and Skindred – who are your influences when you make music?
I.V.GATLIN: If I’m being real, I think accidentally I’d heard a couple [of songs] but I’ve never consciously sat down and listened to a Beastie Boys song before. I don’t think any of us had. We often get that comparison but it was kind of just a happy accident. Our main inspirations were just different for all of us, but we all listened to rap, hip hop – you know, both UK grime and American hip hop. But we all listen to a bit of everything. There was a point where I personally started to got more into punk music. I’d always heard the old school punk stuff that my mum played, like Sex Pistols and all of that. But, bands like IDLES, and more modern day punk, have influenced me.
Also, a lot of the influence came from the fact that we started off writing stuff on Type Beats, like we would use Type Beats on YouTube. And it’d be like, ‘oh, let’s just see what we can do to this punk Type Beat’.
Lisong: Yeah, before we started working with producers in a room together, it was like that. So we would have tracks of every different genre because one day we’d use a JOJI Type Beat, or Skepta, Drake or Kendrick Type Beat. Even indie rock – we’ve got a couple of those in the locker.
How did you come up with your band name, ‘Frozemode’?
Cho-Hollo: Lowkey, it just sounded cool. [Laughs] We were bouncing words around together, it rhymed slightly, and at the time ‘ice’ was very much in. You’d see it in people like the Migos and they were talking about ice and it made sense at the time.
I.V.GATLIN: Yeah! Just about being frosty and just flexing really. But then also, we were listening to a decent amount of emo shit as well, so XXXTentacion and Lil Peep. So there was the emo aspect of being frozen as well having a frozen heart. It really sounded cool at the time and you could tell because when we released our first couple of tracks I feel like people would just remember the name, you know? It sounded good when people said it.
So you started off on Type Beats and now you’ve graduated to working with producers and making a more bespoke sound for yourselves. Do you also play a hand in the production yourselves?
Lisong: Yeah, I think when we’re in the room together, we definitely have an input. I personally like to produce a bit for fun, but I wouldn’t say that I’m a producer…
Own it! If that’s what you do, then call yourself a producer.
Cho-Hollo: And he’s cold!
Lisong: [Laughs] We’d all like to get even more involved anyway, in general.
I.V.GATLIN: Yeah, I can’t do shit right now, but I would love to be able to do it in the future. Lisong’s on a slightly different level, but we try and have as much of a positive input as possible in the production whenever we feel something needs to change. Even before we start something, we’ll give a lot of references of the type of sound that we want or the mood that we’re in on the day, but it’s always very collaborative. We don’t just get sent beats, the beat is created while we’re there.
Are there any collaborations on the horizon?
I.V.GATLIN: We’re focusing more on developing and working by ourselves. But obviously, we do have dream collabs. A couple of obvious ones: Gorillaz or Chase & Status, but there are loads of different people that we probably all separately have in our mind that we’d love to work with.
Lisong: We’re all music fans as well. So you know, the people we’re fans of, we’d love to make stuff with.
I.V.GATLIN: Skepta or any of the grime legends. We’ re all into Potter Payper right now. I don’t know how a Potter Payper x Frozemode track would work, but if we could make it work, we’d be down.
Lisong: Also the American GOATs as well: Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, and Tyler, The Creator.
I was thinking Danny Brown, too.
Lisong: He follows us!
Your visuals feel very specific to you, just like your sound is very specific to you. Do you guys have a big hand in the creative direction of your music videos?
I.V.GATLIN: We do have a big hand in our videos. Like our video for ‘Vermin’, I directed that with my cousin Joe. We’ve directed a lot of the other ones too – now, sometimes we’ll bring in more external directors – but a lot of the visuals were made by ourselves, or with our managers. We’d just grab an old camcorder that Lisong had in his house, and we just used it to make them. And I guess the main goal with the videos was just to feel DIY, to feel real, authentic, fun – to feel like we made it ourselves. I feel like that’s a nice vibe and we still want to keep that even as we develop.
Lisong: We’ve been bringing in animation and different elements a bit more as well. We’ve wanted to do that for ages, but we’ve got a bit more of a budget now.
You guys are playing Reading & Leeds again this year, on a bigger stage. What do what should fans expect from Reading & Leeds set from Frozemode?
I.V.GATLIN: High energy. We use this term a lot now so it might be overused but “controlled chaos”. That’s usually the brief for a lot of the shows – it’s not never that controlled, but it’s definitely the chaos. We want to be as interactive as possible with the fans even though it’s on a bigger stage. You know, we want to still bring that feeling of being in a f*cking 100-capacity pub, and we want to be able to transfer that to however big the stage is, you know. And just having fun, you know?
And when it’s your own headline show, what is it that you really want for us to take away from it?
I.V.GATLIN: Oh, that’s a good question. I think it’d be nice for us to have a moment with the longer headline shows where we can change the pace, change the energy, and bring in some more of the introspective songs. Some slightly slower and more mellow stuff to be able to give more of that kind of dynamic to the set, and have the high-octane energy moments alongside the slower thought-provoking moments where people can just sit back and listen or have a little break for a sec.
Lisong: Yeah, and take them on a journey.
I.V.GATLIN: And even with the animations, we’re excited to be able to have budget in the future to be able to have whatever the f*ck going on behind us. I’m more of a newbie but the two boys [Cho-Hollo and Lisong] are big anime fans so, you know, even being able to incorporate some anime on a screen behind us.
Which anime shows would you include?
Cho-Hollo: Ooh. So the big ones: One Piece, Naruto, Bleach. Getting a bit more specific: Kingdom.
What is the future of Frozemode?
I.V.GATLIN: Without trying to sound too big headed about it, in the future, I would like us to be seen as some sort of pioneers of a movement or a sound, you know, something new. The founding fathers of whatever it is that we end up bringing to the game and to be respected in the future. That’s want you want, for people to look back in 20 years time and still be to be chatting about our music and its impact.
Lisong: And hopefully a world tour, you know? And some more money, that would be nice.
Frozemode will play Reading & Leeds festivals 23 – 25 August 2024. Find tickets here.
Photo credit: Nicholas O Donnell
