Transcript of the video above, "How Attila Took It To The Next Level". Edited from a speech-recognition draft for readability and identifiable names. Music demonstrations are marked; unclear wording is indicated in brackets. Consult the video for the original delivery and on-screen settings.
Hey everybody out there on the internet, I am Finn McKenty, the head of the music and audio channel here on CreativeLive.com. I am here to talk with Mr. Fronz of Attila about the Bandhappy Behind the Scenes class that he will be doing every day this year on Vans Warped Tour. So Fronz, before we get started I just wanted to let you know I am about that life, I might not look like it. I promise I am. You can test me, you can quiz me later, I promise I am. Okay, I'll have to take your word. You don't have to take my word, I'll prove it.
So I guess to start with I just wanted to kind of cover a little bit about your history. You know I think maybe a lot of people, Attila's really blown up in the past year or two, but I know you've been doing this for a lot longer than maybe some people think. Do you want to kind of give us a little bit of story about you know sort of how you got started and what happened between then and now. And kind of give people a little bit of a sense of history there. Yeah sure, basically Attila started 10 years ago. I'm 24 now, so I started the band with my drummer when I was only 14 and it's a cool story really.
I was just a freshman in high school just like anybody else that really wanted to start a band and we met up one day and he gave me a demo in a [unclear] case of what was going to become Attila and then I joined Attila and you know we started off just like any other band. We were a local band playing in garages and driveways and just working really really hard. You know we unlike a lot of bands that are out there today we actually had to really grind it out and you know go to the shows and pass out our demos and flyers and you know work really really really hard and you know through lots of hard work and dedication we were able to get where we're at today.
You know a few years into being a local band we would book our own tours like you know within the southeast you know just small tours and it was hard and you know things were really rough in the beginning but you know eventually the hard work and dedication paid off and now things are great and I couldn't ask for more so it's just been a it's been a long journey but it's we literally started from the bottom so it's really rewarding to be where we're at right now. Yeah I mean I remember you know I've been aware of Attila for I don't know probably six years or something like that and I it's amazing to see how far you guys have come you know from then to now so I'm uh...
we're also proud of you Chris just wanted to let you know that um so I guess uh... we came here to talk about your Bandhappy class so can you tell us a little bit about what you're gonna be teaching there what people can expect to learn some of the specific things that you plan on covering. Yeah sure so basically um... I'm kind of almost viewing this class as if I was teaching the fourteen year old me or fifteen year old me um... I really want to be able to help out kids who are thinking about starting a band or maybe have a band. And uh...
kids that just need more help because uh... you know there's a lot more to this industry than what people think it's not just about being in a band recording and getting signed there's just a lot to it it's really complicated and it's really hard to explain things to somebody like through a blog or through you know twitter or something it's something that you need to really sit down in person and talk to people about so um... that's why I think the class is really good this summer because you'll be sitting down with me and you'll have probably like an hour or more of my time and so just be able to talk about this and um...
but yeah I wanted uh... I want to help you start a band if you're not in one and you're interested uh... give you some tips about that. If you're already in a band I want to help you um... you know learn a little bit more about what you need to do to take it to the next level if that's what you're interested in. and um... you know my class isn't just for vocalist or anything um... I don't want to just talk about doing vocals the whole time for sure um... but I'm open to any questions and everything I'd like to answer everybody's questions and um...
but yeah I mean I'm really talking a little bit about everything I'd like to talk about the business side of music too um... because I kind of know uh... what happens on the other end of the spectrum and... I'd like to tell you guys about that too and um... you know I mainly just want to focus on young individuals who are in up and coming bands that you know need some tips and help to take it a little further. So if you could if you could go back in time to fourteen or sixteen year old Fronz and kind of tell yourself one thing what would that be?
Hmm that's a good question um... I would just tell myself that the hard work and dedication will pay off eventually so just don't ever give up really because um... you know there's a lot of there's a lot of stages of being a beginning band to getting to the touring level and a lot of those stages along the way you just want to throw everything down and quit and you know the how people with the difference between people who become successful and don't are the people who become successful never quit. So uh... that's just the really important thing right there is just um... you know there will be tough times along the road and just never quit.
If you really want something you'll get it eventually so... Well that's kind of why I wanted to start off by talking about you know how long you've been doing this because you know just because somebody may have heard about it until two years ago or a year ago doesn't mean that it started a year ago or two years ago and I think that's true across the board like you know every band that quote unquote blows up a lot of stuff. they didn't really blow up overnight they've been doing it for five years you just never heard about it because they were doing it to ten people in a VFW hall in Georgia or something you know but they were doing it you just didn't hear about it.
Exactly and that was us like circa 2006 you know playing VFW halls and ice cream parlors and basements for like 10 or 15 people and uh you know just grinding it out as hard as we could and making sure those 10 or 15 people wanted to come back again and turn into 20 or 25 and you know that's how it that's how it all starts. And I think that's a cool thing though is because a lot of bands these days are losing touch with that they kind of just think that you can record a CD and then just blow up instantly and you know it while it works for some people it's really rewarding to go through the whole process and anyone can still do that so you know.
Well you you said before uh you know this is a chance for for someone uh at Warped Tour to get an hour of your time uh you're a busy guy you got a lot of stuff going on especially Warped Tour is a crazy insane grind with a million things happening at every second of the day why take the time out of your day to teach this class why is this important to you? It's just important to me because the fact that it's even available um I went to Warped Tour when I was like 15 years old and there was nothing like this available so the fact that this is even possible makes it important to me because it's just a great way for me to reach out to everybody this is going to be a class I'm teaching every single day every single state all of Warped Tour so it's just uh great you know no matter what state you live in it's not like a one-time deal in one state this is a everyday deal and it's worth it for me to take my time and do it because I have a lot to say and it'll be nice to be able to say it to you guys and help teach you guys and you know just get to interact with you guys a little closer than what we normally would be able to do so.
I mean it's a pretty cool opportunity it's it's it's hard to you know get an hour to sit down with someone like you that's been that's seen so many sides of this business has come from you know the VFW halls to now that I I know if I was 14 I would certainly have taken it I mean I would still do I would do it now you know why not I can I could learn so you can learn something from anybody exactly so uh you know let's talk about parents you know we've said that uh you know we said invite your parents to this um you know mom and dad are oftentimes going to be the ones buying uh the tickets for these Bandhappy classes hello moms and dads at home um so uh if if a parent has any concerns about this uh you know what would you say to set them at ease I would just say don't be concerned your kids in good hands um you know we're just going to have a fun time it's Warped Tour it's a great safe environment it's really fun it's your kids going to have the time of their life there and you know if your kid joins my class they're definitely going to learn a thing or two you know uh I'm sure there's a high chance that your son or daughter wants to be in a band or you know be involved in this industry and it's not as easy as you think it would be so you know I would just like to offer them a helping hand and you know don't be scared let them join my class and we're going to have a good time this summer I swear they'll come back in one piece so hey if your uh if your son or daughter is asking for more education I think that's a pretty good uh a pretty good sign um and so Fronz kind of on that note if you are a parent uh who has a kid that well actually you are a parent so why don't you talk about that a little bit yeah I'm a parent I have a kid his name's blaze he's two and a half years old and he's awesome um we hang out a lot and we have a good time we spent like three hours at the pool today it was awesome I'm a little red oh man that's a long that's a long swim it's awesome I love being a parent and um you know I bring my son to Warped Tour even though he's little and he loves it so you know I grew up going to hardcore shows in the 90s which were scary and not safe in a horrible place in the wrong part of town with all kinds of crazy people there and I love Warped Tour because it's like the exact opposite of that it's a place where like a bunch of like pretty cool you know artistic kids come and watch bands and have a great time and it's safe and there is you know plenty of there's there's all kinds of you know first aid security people to help you if you get lost lose your phone they hand out water I mean it's like the safest environment you could possibly hope for and I still go every year I have a great time so you know and you see tons of kids there you see parents there I remember you know I a lot of my friends have kids now and started taking their kids too so I think it's I think it's really cool how family friendly Warped Tour is yeah me too I agree it's it's literally just the best um you know especially compared to like a small dark venue in a ghetto or something this is amazing it's just a good time all around so uh so talk about like let's say uh that uh little Fronz one day says that he wants to be in a band or wants to have some kind of a creative career can you talk about how important education and um knowledge of the business side of things is for someone that uh for for someone who wants to have a creative career like that you know that it's not just about learning how to do the thing but learning how to make a living at it yeah exactly um there's lots of people who are great at instruments and stuff but don't have the proper tools to make use of their skill and um it is very important to know more about the industry and everything because there's just so much to it that you don't really know and it's it's great nowadays because we have the internet and we have so many tools at our hands to use um but um still knowing that there's nothing that compares to actually just being able to sit down and talk to somebody so um yeah I mean there's just a there's just a lot to learn really um you know if you're if you're artistically inclined then that's great for you if you're not there's still opportunity to learn um you know it's not the end of the road there's um there's uh like I said you know with enough hard work you can do anything so if you're not good at something at first there's always a chance you can get better at it and you know but let's say that you already possess the skills to play guitar to play drums you're a vocalist and you're amazing at it um you know there's still a lot more to it than just having the skill and um you know it's more about knowing how to apply it you know and um especially when you're in a band because a band is uh it's not just you you know you could be the most amazing drummer but the rest of your band might not be so amazing and you know that's not going to make a good band you know so that's you know that's another thing I like to stress you guys all have to be on the same page when you're in a band you have to have the same vision the same goals and um you know that's that's the really important thing about being in a band as compared to a solo artist too so I don't know there's just so much to talk about really well uh we've got a bunch of questions coming in so let me get to to those uh but before I do that if you want to get a ticket for this class which I think you should um you should go to bandhappy.com slash Warped Tour uh you can sign up for Fronz's class you can sign up for uh I know the other backstage classes are uh the summer set the ready set issues and crown the empire I believe um so definitely check all those out and now let's see what kind of questions we've got here um so we've got a few people asking about this topic uh wojo is asking do you think it's more valuable to focus on school or trying to start a band and there's a few people have kind of asked questions about this so can you talk about kind of the band versus school kind of thing ah that's uh that's interesting actually um well you know I think when it comes to school and stuff like that you know I'm assuming you're talking about college because um you know I believe everyone should try to finish out high school at least you know because that is important um but you know some in some cases like for my band my guitarist was really young when we started touring so he couldn't attend physical high school but he still graduated with the diploma because he did it online and got his GED or whatever it was but um but I mean it's uh it's actually interesting though because when uh when I was in Attila like I said I was in Attila from when I was 14 freshman in high school until now and um you know there was a point in my life where it was uh you know my parents really wanted me to continue on to college and take that route and I was plenty smart enough I actually had a free scholarship to college which I just kind of turned down kindly because my true dream was being in a band and um you know you only get one chance to live your dream and you know I could have gone to college and done something else but I probably wouldn't have been nearly as happy as I am now so um you know it's uh I I always just stress that it's really your your choice you know um you just really have to decide that for yourself and think about it you know if if being in a band is your destiny and your you you think that that's your calling and that's truly what you want to do then I suggest you should do it um I don't think you should totally forfeit your your schooling career um if you can manage both but um I think it's more or less a balancing act really because like for me um Attila was touring when I was still in high school we started touring when I was 16 so I was like a sophomore or a junior or something like that and um what I would do is I would just work it around my high school so like say we had spring break for a week I would do a tour during spring break let's say we had summer break for a few months I would do a tour for the summer so I mean early on I I worked touring and being a musician around my schooling but then when it came time to decide on college or the band um I chose the band and luckily things you know played out in my favor but um I think it was largely just part due to the fact that I was so diligent about it I was just um I was just determined like you know there was no stopping me just because uh you know that's that's the thing though there's it takes a lot of hard work I would dedicate you know probably eight to ten hours of my day every day just you know promoting my band and just booking shows for us and just pushing as hard as I can so you know it wasn't like oh I want to be in a band but I'm you know just gonna sit here and wait for a miracle I literally worked my butt off every single day seven days a week and um you know that's that's why I'm here and you know that's why my decision to choose being in my band over college played out for me so it's truly just a decision that's up to you um you know but like I said it's it would be smartest if you just figured out a way to balance out school and the band so that way you could do both and when it gets to the point where your band needs to tour to take it to the next level then you know work either work it around your school or choose the band because once you start touring you kind of can get a feel of where you're going and you know if your band's all on the same page and you guys are ready to take it to the next level then by all means pursue it um you only get one chance you know you've got college your whole life I still might go back to college to be honest just because I'm interested in learning more about business and stuff like that but um you know there's no saying that I can't go back to college when I'm 30 so for now I'm just doing what I love and seeing the world cool um so here's a good question from fear the name uh we're a band from Idaho that might have our first show soon how do you get over stage fright that's a good question um I have a couple methods for stage fright but um to be honest stage fright something that just goes away over time um you know you're gonna get really nervous before your first show or you know your first few shows but I swear the second you get on stage it will all disappear and um the main thing I would stress to anyone especially if you're a singer is uh never turn your back on the crowd like never never show that you're scared because um the vibes and energy you give off will feed into the crowd and the crowd will kind of uh not enjoy your show as much because uh you know the crowd can feel energy and just like you can feel at the energy of the crowd so you know uh I would just say uh just think about how awesome it is to play in a band you know don't don't have stage fright just think of how people out there in the crowd are just excited to see you and you know they're looking forward to you they're they're there for you be happy so uh you know just know that the second you get on stage it's all going to go away and you're just going to get right into it so rayann rodriguez asks will you be talking and we got quite a few questions about this um will you be talking about how you started stay sick I'm very interested in starting in clothing line uh sure I definitely can if a few people are interested in that then I definitely can talk about that too I'd be more than happy to talk about that um I think what we should do honestly is just uh have everybody like you know collectively tweet at me or something and um you know just let me know if there's certain topics you want me to kind of touch on I can add it into my uh lesson plan um so but yeah um sure I'd love to talk about stay sick um you know I started it a few years ago in 2011 and um you know at the time I didn't really even um you know have any money or anything and it was uh you know I it was a bold move but um you know uh it's just like being in a band really if you're really dedicated and you you work hard towards it and you're positive about the outcome then you know your outcome will be good so yeah I mean I'd love to talk about clothing line this summer um so if you guys if you guys all can agree that you want to hear about it I'd love to talk about stay sick represent is it staysick.com what is that where someone's interested staysickthreads.com okay um so a few other people have asked about you know um your vocal style so specifically you know a lot of people you think anybody can scream which it's definitely not that easy so uh kind of a couple questions asking about like how you learn to scream and then also how you came up with the idea of you know kind of the like rapping influenced screaming or whatever you want to call it oh well basically um you know I I kind of knew I wanted to be in a band uh when I was probably like 12 years old or so I was pretty young it was uh when I was in middle school and um I kind of tried everything to be honest I tried playing drums I tried playing guitar and I was just pretty bad at everything so uh my friends didn't want to kick me out of my band which is why I just picked up the microphone and um I just was deemed the vocalist and um you know I found that I wasn't too bad at it uh granted I I actually was pretty bad at first but I think it was because I was trying something that was out of my style um I was trying to mimic bands that I that didn't suit my vocal style but um when I was uh in eighth grade not yet in high school um a band that was in high school asked me to be their vocalist for a talent show which would end up being the first show I ever played and we were playing really heavy songs we were playing Zao and Hatebreed and um stuff like that and uh you know I hopped on the mic and started doing that vocal style and it just instantly clicked it was just natural to me and um that's what was cool um is just uh that feeling of just knowing like instantly what you were meant to do and um that's I think that's also now that I think about it something that really helped me was uh doing a cover with my band just to see like what vocal style fit me because up until that point I was uh you know a fresh musician trying to do originals and I obviously had no direction at that point in my life at only 12 years old but um you know I think uh if you're trying to find your vocal style and stuff you should uh definitely do some covers and stuff and um with vocals it's something that you're really just going to get better and better at with time um so if at first you're not as great as you'd like to be just know that there's lots of room for improvement so your vocals will only get better if you keep doing them Monica V wants to know what are your feelings on girls getting into the industry are they treated the same if anything if you're if you're truly a talented girl in the industry if anything it's kind of better for you um uh girls and bands are a great selling point from the view of a manager or a label and um you know especially a girl that can play their instrument it's uh if anything you you pretty much do have an advantage um you know you you definitely have to be a strong-willed woman though because it uh you know it is a an industry that's largely dominated by men and um but don't let that you know discourage you because it really doesn't matter i mean look at look at Paramore i mean hayley's the bomb and she kills it and you know she's a female so um you know i i definitely wouldn't get discouraged um i would say females are definitely treated the same um we've toured with bands that had females in the band and it's it's cool i mean as long as you're okay with uh you know not showering a lot and you know using porta potties and stuff i guess then you you got it you're good join the band let's let's do it port-a-potty life yeah so uh glamorous life hc tony wants to know if you had one artist or band to pick as your biggest inspiration who would that be oh hmm that's a hard question because um the way i've kind of always answered this question which is you know which is my honest answer is i was never really inspired by one particular band but i was more or less inspired me vocally just speaking on a vocal perspective i was more or less inspired by the lack of creativity with bands because um a lot of bands didn't experiment with uh you know fast rhythm vocals and just interesting rhythm vocals and stuff like that so um i was inspired by the lack of creativity in bands at the time that i started Attila so that's what inspired me really i try i try not to really uh look up to anyone like that or anything because um i don't know i just i just like to try to do my own thing really and robin wilkins one wants to know if you could have done anything else what would that be so if you weren't doing Attila what do you think you would be doing i'd be a NASCAR driver um i really really love driving fast and i love racing and um actually like my whole life growing up i i just really wanted to be a race car driver um i still kind of do i want to be a race car driver um but i think it would be a lot more fun as a hobby but yeah i mean i i really wanted to be a race car driver or a weatherman because i love the weather and i love driving really really fast all right uh and so uh one last question which is uh what do you think is the hardest lesson that you've learned from all these years of doing Attila probably just that no matter how hard you try you're really not going to please everybody um you know you can you can put out you can put out a song or you can put out music that you're so proud of that you think is amazing you love it you you put your heart and soul into it and people can just shrug it off you know you might have some people that understand it and love it but there's some people that are really not going to like it and um you just have to uh you know you just have to swallow your tongue sometimes and you know it's uh it's definitely an industry where you don't want to burn bridges either so um you know you're not going to please everybody and you kind of just have to hold your head up and just truck through things sometimes so yeah cool well thanks so much for your time um and uh anybody who's interested in learning more about this again go to bandhappy.com slash Warped Tour you can buy a ticket for Fronz's behind the scenes class every single day on this year's van's Warped Tour and uh i will uh hopefully catch you guys on our next band chat all right bye guys you
When people think of Attila frontman Chris Fronzak, AKA Fronz, they think of his crazy stage presence. Wild, loud and insane also come to mind. What they don't think about is how business savvy he is off the stage. And let me assure you, he is quite savvy.
As Attila has raced away from the grind of the DIY music touring circuit and into the limelight of the main stage at national festivals like Vans Warped Tour, Fronz's entrepreneurial spirit has also taken off. From creating his own clothing line – Stay Sick Threads – to teaching aspiring musicians through Bandhappy and expanding Attila's audience by positioning the band as a deathcore band with a hip hop presence, Fronz has created something that transcends his onstage performances and will ensure his seat on the scene for years to come.
To find out more about this swiss army knife of deathcore, listen to our free podcast or if you need to see his face, we've got it all on video too.
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To find out more about how you can take one of Fronz's in-person Bandhappy courses, click here.
All images were sourced from Fronz's Facebook Page