Freezepop

The Way of The Future

By Chris Brook | Photo by Frank Veronsky

In an age where the internet is commonplace and bands seek fans on iTunes and MySpace, Freezepop laughs as they reflect on their eight-year and counting lifespan. Cranking out Technicolor electro-pop, Freezepop credits their sense of momentum, their DIY roots and several lucrative marketing opportunities for their continued achievements not only in music world, but also in technology.

The Allston-based trio has been continually covering their proverbial bases before the e-boom. Sean Drinkwater (synths/ programming/ vocals) says, “By the time MySpace started to roll around we had already been “aggressive” with the Internet.” Rounding out Freezepop is singer Liz Enthusiasm, and producer/ singer /programmer, The Duke of Pannekoeken (aka Kasson Crooker).

Today, the band is still coming up with interesting ways to get their name — and, more importantly, their sound — recognized.

In 2008, the band is standing at the forefront of a new frontier. Up until eight months ago, the band didn’t even have management to handle licensing and booking. That is, until a deal with Cordless Recording and Rykodisc, who helped put out last year’s Future Future Future Perfect, entered the picture.

“We’ve just been lucky,” says Crooker, on the band’s licensing techniques. Kids who were 16 when they first saw Freezepop, grew up and got jobs as video game programmers. As fans, they drew upon some of their favorite bands to serve as the soundtrack, which is where Freezepop comes into play. “I think a lot of our licensing opportunities came from people who’ve been fans for a while,” adds Cooker.

Judging from the band’s presence on the web, chances are there are quite a few of them. A youtube.com video search for “Freezepop” yields 1,000+ videos featuring songs set to video footage of teenage girls frolicking and dancing in their backyard. If that doesn’t vouch for having your finger on the pulse of technology, it’s hard to say what will. While this is a more rudimentary example of how the band’s songs have gotten out there, it’s still fitting. It’s usually more often that the band will be approached to have their music play at the close of an indie film or in a presentation by a college student.

“It’s just accessible enough,” rationalizes Drinkwater on having their songs used. “It’s progressive but has enough familiar qualities that music directors like it.”

Despite the influx of licensing offers, the band claims they haven’t had to deal with too much overwhelming tension. The momentum from each deal keeps them going.

“Do we really want to endorse fruit roll-ups and playing cards?”

Drinkwater jokes. “That hasn’t been a problem.” However, the difference between whether or not their song is used in a commercial is a crucial factor for deciding whether or not they can go on tour. That money goes right back into the band.

For example: A licensing deal might decide whether or not an extra musician can be brought along on tour or if they can pay their tour manager. The bottom line, according to Drinkwater, is that most of the time, the band focuses on spending money on doing shows the right way.

Still though, approaching licensing must be done with caution the band warns.

The band’s manager, Jason Fiber handles the details of Freezepop’s complex licensing questions.

If a song is going to be used in a film, will it show up on DVD? Will the film be shown at a film festival? Does the film have the potential to be a blockbuster hit? Will it be shown on television?

Beyond cyberspace, the band has relished the opportunity to license their music in commercials, and an even more unconventional method: videogames.

Arguably the biggest spike in the timeline of Freezepop can be traced back to this unlikely source.

Crooker, who works for Harmonix, the company responsible for runaway video game hits like last year’s Rock Band and the Guitar Hero series, was initially hired to create music for games. Crooker’s role eventually evolved along with the demand for music games like Amplitude and Frequency. This increased demand and Crooker’s band’s music made a perfect match. Upon the games’ releases between 2001 and 2003 the band went on tour and everything hit at once. Before they knew it, they had fans asking them to sign their Playstations.

“It was really surreal. It freaked us out at first,” says Enthusiasm. “Kids would be starstruck by us.”

Once the initial oddness subsided, the band noticed a shift, especially once the single “Less Talk More Rokk,” appeared in Guitar Hero II. Having a song delivered directly to people’s ears via a video game controller was a foreign new medium to the band. “The song seemed to get a life of its own after that,” Crooker says. “People would bring their plastic guitar controllers to shows, hold them in the air and play the correct notes along with the song.”

Despite being an electronic band in Boston, a town known for its bread-and- butter rock ‘n’ roll outfits, Freezepop has survived.

The band hasn’t suffered from what Kasson jokingly calls “Dude-behind-the-laptop Syndrome.” While some electronic bands fail to bring their music to a live setting, Freezepop has excelled, accenting their shows with glittering lights and infectious dance moves.

The band’s prominence in video games may lead some to pigeonhole them as merely a “video game band.” “There’ve been times when we’ve been scared of being marginalized into different scenes, electroclash, synthpop, whatever,” says Drinkwater, “But really, it’s just the newest way of getting your songs out there.”

www.freezepop.com