Frogbox going ahead in leaps and bounds

IN JUST a few short months, Sunshine Coast indie rock band Frogbox has taken the local music scene by storm.

Sunshine Coast band Frogbox: (from left) Lewis Venz, Jacob Fajarda and Cody Nyburg. Jye Simpson is absent.

IN JUST a few short months, Sunshine Coast indie rock band Frogbox has taken the local music scene by storm.

The band has had huge success on the Coast and Brisbane in the past few months and have played about 25 gigs at leading music venues including The Brightside, Birdees, Empire Hotel and Solbar.

Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Jacob Fajarda, 22, started the band in June last year along with bassist Lewis Venz, 18, and drummer Cody Nyburg, 21, while lead guitarist Jye Simpson, 20, joined soon after.

One month into playing together, they released their first EP Rose Coloured Glasses which has been featured on Australian Musician’s Radio and triple j’s Unearthed.

Fajarda said the tracks on the EP were inspired by broken-down relationships, observations of night-life and how people change when alcohol is involved.

He described Frogbox’s style as a mix of punk and indie rock, but said they don’t like to place themselves in any particular genre.

“In general, we just play what sounds good to us,” he said.

“My musical influences would be bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters and Green Day.

“They’re the main artists I listened to growing up so I can definitely say they have had a major effect on me, and my fellow bandmates share the same experience with similar artists, which definitely has a positive effect on how we work as a group.”

Frogbox has big plans for 2020, with the release of an album later in the year.

They want to continue performing at venues across the region.

“Our goals are pretty simple: we just want to release more music and play more shows,”

Fajarda said.

“We would love to tour with a band with a larger following — that’s the dream.

“We will also be looking into taking a trip down south to Sydney and Melbourne and sticking our heads into some venues down there to spread our footprint and find some new fans.

“Splendour [in the Grass] or a similar festival would be great to be a part of but we’ll just have to see what the future brings us.”

Frogbox will be playing Glasshouse Mountains Tavern’s Rocking out the Fires on Australia Day, to raise money for bushfire victims, firefighters and wildlife support services.

Fans can also catch them at performances at Solbar, Maroochydore, on January 24 and Fortitude Valley’s Tomcat on January 30.

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