Biggest takeaways from a year on tour and how it led to “Wanted A Name” with James Sunderland and Brett Hite of FRENSHIP

“Our lives revolve around writing, touring and perfecting every element of what you see and hear from us, which fuels us and brings us happiness. In the midst of focusing on that, we don’t want to lose sight of what made us start making music in the first place. This song is an attempt to regain that original feeling of pure excitement of sharing our music with the world.” – James Sunderland

Los Angeles-based and platinum-selling duo FRENSHIP (James Sunderland and Brett Hite) have returned with a brand-new single “Wanted A Name” featuring Yoke Lore. The song was written after their very first headline tour where they had experienced their biggest audiences yet. The sudden shift of returning to the quiet of home, away from the electrifying energy of the crowd’s night after night inspired them to explore the drive to chase those lightning-in-a-bottle moments in life.

Fresh off the release of their acoustic video (featured below) for “Wanted A Name” we caught up with the band who here take us inside three lessons they took with them their 2018, 36-date, Good Morning, Goodbye Tour – that ultimately led to their new music.

James Sunderland:

  1. We’re the best version of FRENSHIP on the road. Touring is really where we make the most sense. We’re the happiest performing and sharing our music and it’s where everyone gets to see why we made the songs the way we made them– they fuel specific moments in our show. And like our old music, the new material will do exactly the same, but hopefully better.
  2. I’m loud. I lost my voice so many times on our first tour so during the 2018 tour I really learned I need to shut up after shows and preserve my voice.
  3. Do things you love outside of music. Read a book, go for a run/walk, grab some coffee. All of that stuff away from actively working on the show gives your brain a chance to slow down and think. Stepping away is really like creative cross-training. Your mind gets the chance to quietly work on the show while you take a break. And during those breaks we think of new song ideas, production ideas, etc.

Photo by: Pooneh Ghana

Brett Hite:

  1. Life moves fast, savor it.  Being on the road is a wild thing because it feels like you’re either moving a million miles an hour or not at all.  You’re either scrambling around loading in gear, troubleshooting something that went wrong the night before or you’re just sitting in a van or bus driving for hours on end.  Even the show is a time for us to slow down and enjoy ourselves, no matter what happened all day, none of it matters once the show starts.  I think the idea of slowing down and enjoying life played a big role in the making of this album.  As great as it was to have mainstream success with a record there were a lot of turbulent moments for us as well.  Throughout it all, we’ve become much less precious over the little things and much more grateful to make music for a living.
  2. Whole Foods can get old.  We tend to eat Whole Foods everyday of tour, sometimes going 30 minutes off route just to get to one.  It’s easy and diverse so it makes for a good one stop shop for everyone on the tour to accommodate their dietary needs.  However, after 2 months straight of that, you can really crave a home-cooked meal…even if it ends up being just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I don’t know how much this affected our album other than we probably didn’t eat at Whole Foods for at least a month after the tour.
  3. Enjoy the process.  Being an artist is filled with so many ups and downs, be it creatively or within the business or otherwise.  If you can’t fall in love with the work you put in day in and day out, it’s really not worth doing.  Our newest single “Wanted A Name (featuring Yoke Lore)” is about exactly that.  There is a certain kind of monotony (typically found in the 7 or 8 hours of setting up and tearing down a show) that can come with a two month tour.  Then when the tour is all over, you miss it.  You’re not thinking about the set-up or tear-down.  You miss playing the shows and connecting with people on a real level.  The end of a tour teaches you the frailty of it all.

For more information including news on FRENSHIP’s upcoming release visit WeAreFrenship.com

*Featured photo by: Victoria Sanders