Interview with Eternal Frequency

«Don`t give up if you have a dream, go for it!»

Eternal Frequency is a five piece female fronted hard rock band based out of Central Pennsylvania. Blending influences of Metalcore, Hard Rock, and Active Rock, Eternal Frequency brings a new energy that is also dominated by vocalist, co-songwriter and frontwoman Emelle" - That's what social media can tell us about this band. But to find out a little more about the music, work, about the new album and plans for the near future, we ignored the time zone and called Pennsylvania. Emelle and Justin graciously and frankly answered all of our questions.

How are you doing, guys? Now and in general, cause in these, lets say, interesting times, it`s always cool to know that someone is doing okay...

EMELLE: Great! First of all, thanks for having us here. Also, you know, we haven`t done much today, it`s only 2.30pm here. And everything that`s going on with the music industry - it`s been a little crazy, but shows have comback over here and we gonna play a few and generally everything's been pretty well so far.

JUSTIN: It's exciting that people are having life again, actually! Unfortunately we are all a little worried about what`s to come, if the restrictions come back, everyone is in some sort of limbo now. Hopefully, we'll stay strong, everybody will be safe, and we will be able to do more what we love.

Yeah, lets keep our fingers crossed. Guys, tell me about your band`s title. What kind of frequency is that?

EMELLE: Eternal Frequency, actually, came from...it was inspired by 520 HZ which is known like the healing frequency. It is used in a lot of meditation music, calming music. Obviously, we are nothing like meditation music. But I find music itself very healing, it provides escapism in a good way. And that`s where band`s name came from, that`s what it was inspired by.

Meditation music - that came unexpected...

EMELLE: Yeah, I mean...

JUSTIN: I'm sure some people can meditate to our music. I'm not sure I wanna meet them.

EMELLE: Everyone looks for relaxation in different forms and escapism in different genres of music - rock, jazz, pop music whatever. Everyone can find something and heal from it, and that`s the peaceful aspect of music.

How would you describe your band and its style with movie titles? You can pic up three.

EMELLE: Cool question, we haven`t been asked anything like this before! Love that! But it`s hard. You`re the movie guy, you know movies more than I do!

JUSTIN: I would say - with the way we are going, and the direction we are going that a lot of people haven`t seen yet, we`ve been very busy creating ourselves, I would say - hang on - "BladeRunner". And "BladeRunner" meets "Highlander" maybe. And with all the different moods that Emelle has been showing, she's kinda dived into herself, and we all in the band know it`s where she`s very honest with herself and with her audience, so maybe "Girl Interrupted".

EMELLE: Cool! I like that one!

Me too! That`s an epic mixture. And apart from movies mentioned above - are there any movies and books that you, guys, are inspired by?

EMELLE: It`s also a hard question. We actually mostly are inspired by bands, bands we grew up with. It`s not really about books. We were inspired by Queen, Michael Jackson - you wouldn`t expect that, but lyrically and, well, everything he was about - was great! I also would mention Nine Inch Nails, our latest single is the cover of NIN. A lot of classic rock really influenced us like these rock anthems, you know.

JUSTIN: I'm trying to stay in the realm of movies and books, so Emelle mentioned Michael Jackson, and I'd say that we were not so much inspired by his music, but by how he presented himself as an artist in general. And on top of that I would also mention Charlie Chaplin. He was the man who wanted the world to be a good place! She likes him a lot (points on Emelle)

EMELLE: Yeah, I love Charlie Chaplin!

JUSTIN: Yeah, and I didn`t even know anything about him besides his moustache and funny walk untill I met her, and she introduced me to the "Great Dictator". And I was like "wow! this guy knows what he`s doing! He`s is very inspiring!"

EMELLE: He was also able to make you laugh and cry at the same time, I think that`s an amazing gift.

JUSTIN: And that`s what we try to bring through our music too - to cause emotions. Cause sometimes modern music feels so empty...And we want to bring back life to music. And we can do that!

EMELLE: Absolutely!

What is the biggest achievement of the band so far?

EMELLE: I'd say - doing what we`re doing, being who we are, being not only a band but a famly is the biggest achievement because there are so many bands out there, especially in the rock industry that just put on a face when they are on stage, but they can`t stand each other. And we really are like a family, and we love each other and we are always there for each other.

OK, and what is the best experience for you as a relatively new band so far then?

EMELLE: Personally for me I think there are a couple of things. First is that we won the "Best New Band" in Central Pennsilvania Music Awards in 2019, that was very cool, that was like a recognition for all our efforts. Also in 2020 we honored Halestorm, a band that inspired us forever, they were inducted to the Central Pennsylvania Music Hall Of Fame, that was incredible, it was such a joy for us! What can you add?

JUSTIN: You`ve said everything!

Tell me about your Queen cover? Was it a challenge for you? Cause Freddie is, probably, still the best vocalist in the world. Plus "Show Must Go On" is such a tough song from emotional standpoint.

EMELLE: Absolutely! It was a ballsy move, some big shoes to fill...All we wanted to do is to make such a good tribute, cause you were right - he wrote this song while he was struggling with AIDS and there was his story behind it. We kinda went with it the other way. It was mid pandemic, all the venues were closed and it felt like it would be forever. And it was our tribute to the venues and industry around, we actually took all the income from streams and downloads from the release of this song and donated it to NIVA - National Independent Venue Association to help industry live through this hard time.

So now when I know that this song wasn`t only a tribute to Freddy`s epic talent but also an act of charity I officially declare that I am far beyond impressed, thank you guys, you`ve done a great job!

EMELLE: Thank you. We were scared how people would react, I mean it`s Queen, it`s Freddie Mercury,  like you said - the best voice in the world and one of the greates songwriters out there! And it`s a big deal we tried to cover them. We were just trying to do the best that we could, we were not trying to top them, we just tried to make a statement, amd this song was the best way to do that.

JUSTIN: We thought that the world needed to cure at some point, and it was through the appreciation. We love Queen`s legacy and the drive and passion that Freddie had - the world still needs this positivity. And he wrote, like you said, when he was at the end of his road. And last year, probably, every musician in the world felt like he was at the end of his road at some point, cause life literally stopped.

EMELLE: Also it`s about introducing the song to the whole new generation. There are kids out there that have never heard of Queen. It blows my mind, but they exist, they are out there.

What in your opinion is the recepie for the cool song, your own unique recepie?

EMELLE: Honesty! And writing, based on your personal experiences. Not just trying to come up with a formula to be more appealing to the listener. Stay true to your heart, otherwise it`s not authentic.

JUSTIN: It`s necessary not to be in the assembly line that`s in heavy rotation now, cause that`s disgusting. That`s the formula! Honesty is the key!

EMELLE: Speak through yourself, and the perfect song will come along. Just trust your gut, trust your instincts.

What is Rock-n-Roll for you? And do you feel like you are a part of some huge movement already?

Emelle: We try! We wannabe a part of the movement. Rock-n-Roll is, again, honesty, living life to the fullest and not giving a damn about what anybody thinks, just doing your thing. Being unapolagetically you!

JUSTIN: We feel like we`re on the early onset of something is coming, because every single one of us in the band and people who are helping us out - our manager believes in us very strongly. We all feel something growing inside. And we may not be a part of the movement, but damn sure are gonna make one.

EMELLE: We have incredible supporters, our fans are amazing, and we can`t do without them either. They`re with us the entire time, even those who`ve just discovered us are so loyal. We sincerely appreciate that!

Is it easy nowadays to be a new band? I mean - in the era of gadgets and tik-tok.

EMELLE: At some degree. Because decades earlier if you wanted to listen to a song you had to buy a whole album. On the positive side of technology and the social networks - during times like this, during the pandemic when people can`t go to shows and they are very limited - they can see videos and life streams of their favorite artists so they won`t miss out all that.

JUSTIN: If pandemic never happened, I would say - absolutely not. I miss the 90s very much, I like all that gorilla marketing, when you actually come up to somebody with a walkman, put headphones on him and be like "do you like this? No? Ok, have a nice day!"

EMELLE: And pysical flyers!

JUSTIN: Physical flyers as well. So it was about building some sort of relationship, some circle. Today everything is one-dimentional. Today if you come up to the person and say "hey! listen to this!" - they will throw you a nickel and run from you. And that`s the hardest part, but considering that 90s are never, unfortunately, gonna come back - you have to adapt, to do the best that you can, stick to this time as much as we can. It`s a whole another way of thinking, as it`s about being creative, you have to find a way to survive, to find all the ways! We haven`t discovered all of them yet. It`s a pretty much challenge for us, now it`s not only about making a whole bunch of flyers, which people will surely just put into the trash now.

What do you think about eclecticism in music nowadays? Is it necessary to stick to some particular genre for you?

JUSTIN: We are definitely influenced by genres from the beginning of 00s, from nu-metal. We like that kind of stuff. But we are inspired by different genres, if you listen to many our songs we have trap beats there, but we use them as a catalyst, that develops into something else. If we speak about genres - hard rock is the easiest to be reffered to, cause we will always be a little bit on the agressive side. I mean, musically.

EMELLE: Anyway, don`t expect any rap or country albums from us!

What is your biggest goal as a band? Let`s just manifest something into reality. Maybe fully

loaded Wembley stadium performance?

EMELLE: That`s a dream of mine, oh my God! Wembley stadium is that one place where I need to play before I die! I don`t know if it ever happens, but I'm gonna try my fucking hardest!

JUSTIN: Definitely, the dream of mine is I just want a crowd of a thousand people to sing back something that means everything to us. Something we resonate with. To see and to hear that.

The very last question - What will be your message to the fans?

EMELLE: Don`t give up if you have a dream, go for it! Don`t let anybody tell you no. These times are hard, and you can be critisized a lot, but there will always be a room for positivity - just keep an eye on the prize, whatever it is!

JUSTIN: As we were talking about our fans and love that we get - it`s amazing to know that people love you wherever you go. And be sure we truly love you back, each and everyone of you, and hopefully will see you very soon! Without masks!

Беседовала Julia Suloinen

Выражаем благодарность Ольге Овсянниковой за организацию интервью