KIckstarter CLUB

The Wait is almost Over

Starting in June I’ll be releasing each song as a single every month until October. One of the perks of helping fund this project with me is the ability to listen to the music before it’s released on all of the streaming platforms. While you listen, make sure to pre-save my next song! This helps show Spotify, Itunes and all the other platforms that people want to hear my music, and plays a huge role in generating traction for playlist placements and other features that spotlight emerging artists

LISTEN TO “Rip Current” THE
Second single frOM MY new EP HERE!

Rip Current
Abby Frenes

Listen to “Rip Current”
On SPOTIFY & ITUNES

Listen Now

THE STORY BEHIND
Rip Current

  • "Rip Current," produced in Seattle by Andy D. Park (Phoebe Bridgers, JOSEPH, Pedro the Lion, Medium Build, Noah Gunderson, etc), is lush with nostalgic melodies and catchy hooks that resonate like a modern-day Fleetwood Mac or Tears for Fears song. From a personal perspective, the song vividly captures the sensation of drowning in an environment or relationship that no longer serves you. It reflects a pivotal moment in my life when I confronted the harsh reality that love alone couldn't sustain the relationship I was in. Finding the courage to walk away and eventually write this song, helped me to reclaim and rediscover the power of my own voice, and served as a catalyst for my new EP, “Split in Two”.

  • Can’t keep my head above water lately 
    You’re coming at me like you’re done 
    Swam like hell to reach you just to break me 
    Now I’m punctured and comatose 
    Knots were building up 
    I felt the shift down below 
    Sometimes you catch it and you ride it baby
    Sometimes it pulls you in the undertow 

    Before my words can reach the surface 
    My my mind tries to reverse it 
    Like a rip current 
    And I know you don’t deserve it 
    We can try but honey it ain’t worth it
    I’m just a rip current 

    No time to hesitate or panic when you
    Have one breath inside of your lungs
    Ride it out or let it die baby
    But my love’s not a lifeline 

    Before my words can reach the surface 
    My my mind tries to reverse it 
    Like a rip current 
    And I know you don’t deserve it 
    We can try but honey it ain’t worth it
    I’m just a rip current, rip current 

    x2

  • - Fighting to make a relationship work
    - Realizing when something no longer serves you
    - Reclaiming your voice 
    - Being in the trenches with someone 
    - When love isn’t enough to keep something alive 
    - Drowning in an environment 
    - Recognizing when it’s time to walk away
    - Breaking up out of love 
    - Relationship dynamics and emotional turmoil
    - Questioning the worth and feasibility of continuing a relationship
    - Metaphors of water and drowning to convey emotional depth
    - The unpredictability and force of nature (represented by the rip current)
    - Internal conflict and attempts to reverse negative thoughts or actions
    - Acceptance of limitations and letting go
    - Emphasis on the transient and uncontrollable nature of emotions and circumstances
    - Feeling overwhelmed and unable to keep up
    - Love
    - Death

  • After a 4-5 year long creative dry spell, I decided to take a songwriting course by an organization called School of Song. The first writing prompt given by Laura Veris- the songwriter who led this particular coarse, was to write as if you are drowning. I chose to write about the end of a relationship. Something about the prompt spoke to me, something about the deadline kicked my ass into gear and something abut having to share it with a class made me want to make something really fucking good. So I locked myself in my studio for a day and finished the demo for the song, Rip Current.

    When we recorded it in Seattle, we brought in live drums and bass, recut the vocals and added some better guitars, but the arrangement and vibe was pretty close to what I wrote in my little loft in Oakland. Andy did such an amazing job at staying true to the heart of my vision and exceeded all of the expectations of what I thought this song could be. 

    Writing "Rip Current" and the lessons from the songwriting course helped me establish a writing and production schedule and clarify my goals. Soon, my aim to reintegrate a creative practice turned into releasing an entire EP with my dream producer. To me, this song is about pushing through the storm when times get tough. The major message I received from the universe in writing it is not to let the fear of failure stop you from trying. Loving deeply and putting yourself out there is crucial. Even if things don't work out as planned, there's often something better in store. I hope when people hear the song, they feel more empowered than anything.

  • Written & Performed by Abby Frenes
    Produced & Mixed by Andy D. Park
    Mastered by Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound
    Album Art by Abby Frenes

The Story Behind Boi

Listen to Boi

  • How many apologies can one body take
    Before you start to believe that you are the mistake
    I don’t want to choose, I don’t want to lose your love
    If you call me your baby, would you call me your
    I don’t want to choose, I don’t want to lose your love
    If you call me your baby, would you call me your boi

    Cause I can be patient I can be coy,
    I can be trouble if that’s what you like
    Call me up middle of the night I’ll be outside
    Stereo playing whatever's on your mind, mind
    Whatever’s on your mind, I’ll be outside
    I’ll be your guy

    I come by it honestly, these fluid tendencies
    Thank god I knew better, better than to behave
    Cause these days the truth don’t hit like it used to
    If you call me your baby, would you call me your boi?

    Cause I can be patient I can be coy,
    I can be trouble if that’s what you like
    Call me up middle of the night I’ll be outside
    Stereo playing whatever's on your mind, mind
    Whatever’s on your mind, mind

    If I’m gonna love you it won't be silent
    Takes more than a taboo to start a riot
    And I’ve wrestled with my ways
    Took back my soul and lost my faith
    Call me crazy or call me your boi

    Cause I can be patient I can be coy,
    I can be trouble if that’s what you like
    Call me up middle of the night I’ll be outside
    Stereo playing whatever's on your mind, mind
    Whatever’s on your mind, I’ll be your guy
    I can be anything but the girl that used to hide,
    I can be anything, anything but the girl that used to hide
    Call me your baby call me your boi
    Call me your boi

  • Boi, at its core, is a light-hearted exploration of identity and the ways in which we adapt to receive love and connection. From an extremely young age I knew that I liked girls, and even though there were so many ideologies both in my home and outside of it that deemed that horrible, I was blessed with a very particular personality type that could- pardon my french, give two fucks. Girls who like girls? Easy. What was confusing and incredibly hard for me to navigate was feeling like a boy who liked boys as well.

    The only thing that brought me comfort in my twenties was learning about the ways in which native american communities have recognized and honored people who don’t fit into a clean male or female box. This made me feel less alone and gave me the freedom to start considering and exploring my gender identity as separate from who I am attracted to. Coming out as non-binary has felt like a huge weight lifted off of my chest. I wrote the song “Boi” in an effort to reflect the ease in which I stepped into my non-binary identity in my late twenties. This was in huge juxtaposition to the drama that ensued after I came out as lesbian to my very Christian parents in high school (lol). So I wanted Boi to hit like a scene from a feel-good romantic comedy, breaking away from the tragic narratives often associated with queer storytelling. The writing process of Boi was easy. It was as accessible as your favorite shirt draped over the edge of the bed waiting for you to pick it up and carry on with your day. In some ways, Boi was begging to be written.

    Split in Two is the name of the upcoming 5 song EP, and the common thread for this song as it pertains to the entire body of work is really about integrating the many dimensions of ourselves into one singular, imperfect and beautiful existence and owning it. Loud and proud baby!

  • Boi was recorded and produced in Seattle at Studio Litho and The Crumb studio with Andy D. Park who has worked with artists like Ben Gibbard, JOSEPH, Medium Build, Charlotte Lawrence, Noah Gunderson, Phoebe Bridgers, Ciara, Macklemore and so many other inspiring artists.

    I spent months perfecting the production of my demos for everything else on the new EP except for Boi. It was written with my partner one afternoon in 2023, during pride month I think, as we were in the middle of fundraising for my Kickstarter campaign. I had just come out to my parents as nonbinary a week or so before and my mom filmed this part where I was trying to explain pronouns to my dad who was so eager to understand. The video got way more attention than I was expecting or really comfortable with and I feel like it sort of hit me that so much of the world, outside of the LGBTQ+ community hasn’t really had the opportunity to ease into the nuances of gender identity unless someone immediately in their circle of people happens to be nonbinary. Anyway, I felt really called to include a very clear queer anthem to this new body of work and was finally getting comfortable just sharing my story and self with a new dimension of honesty. Honestly though, my friends and I just love when new queer artists write pop bangers and I felt like the EP needed one.

    I workshopped a version of Boi with my friends Mike McCulluch (drums) and Daniel Erik (bass). They both gravitate towards jazz, neo soul so naturally there was a little more swing and funk to the initial arrangement. I took a voice memo from rehearsal and locked it to a grid in Logic, then tracked a scratch vocal on top and spent maybe 20 minutes finding some decent keys to ground it a bit more, and found this like horn sample I loved— anyway, it was by far the most underdeveloped song on the EP.

    When we finally got to Andy’s studio in August of 2023, Boi was the first song he insisted we do for the EP, and when he played us the arrangement he’d been working on it was like all of the sparkly shit got shaken off and all that was left was the unavoidable truth and heart of the song. He turned to me and said something along the lines of “The weight of what you’re saying deserves a moment,” and explained that what I’m saying was really important and that it served the song to hold space for that before we bring in drums and bass and everything else. Very quickly it became my favorite song on the EP because of the decisions he made for the production. Mike and Daniel flew up to Seattle to track with us at Studio Litho, they gave it the heartbeat it needed and then Andy added all these sick little guitar moments that made all my little MUNA and Now, Now indie pop dreams come true. I’m so excited to share it with the world.

  • My friends and I started hosting a bi-weekly songwriting workshop called Inspo Facto (Inspiration Factory) in Oakland / San Francisco, which has been an amazing way to hold ourselves accountable to writing new music and getting out of ruts and supporting each other through any creative blocks. People from all different genres and walks of life, different levels of musicianship and places in their career come together in a room twice a month to share what they're working on and support each other. Without a label, or a huge team, it’s made a huge difference as an independent artist to have this community of people to talk to and bounce ideas off of for every step of the creative and promotional process. It’s been such a rad way to give back to the community and feel like I belong to it. After living in Nashville for 3 or 4 years, I was really craving something like this.

  • Release Date: June, 7 2024
    Pre-Save Link

    Written & Performed by Abby Frenes
    Co-Written by Jenna Minahen
    Produced & Mixed by Andy D. Park
    Mastered by Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound
    Artwork + Photo by Cat Fennell

What I’ve Been Up To

MAKING THE MUSIC

  • I wasn’t sure what to expect working with a producer for the first time- let alone someone in this league, but Andy honored my vision through every step of the process and enhanced each song to a degree that far exceeded my expectations. I’ve never felt more proud of something and I owe so much of that to your belief in me.

  • After Seattle, in August of 2023, I worked on a lot of the background vocal arrangements and dubbed some guitar tracks from my studio at home. Then, Andy mixed the EP– which is basically like arranging where each instrument will sit in the landscape of the song.

    During the mixing process I learned how DRASTICALLY different a mix (version of the song) could sound in one room vs. another. I also learned that most speakers- yes even the expensive ones, do not do music justice compared to what they sound like in the studio. Because of this, it can take months or even years to finish mixing an album.

  • After developing a deeper understanding of the mixing process I gained so much more respect and insight for how important mastering is. It’s the art of balancing the final mix of a song so that it sounds consistently clear and balanced in all speakers and all environments.

    Thanks to Grammy Award winning mastering engineers Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound in New York City, both the digital versions and vinyl versions are going to sound great wherever you listen!

MAKING THE PLAN

  • As many of you know, I’ve spent the last 10+ years working in the music industry and marketing for e-commerce. A huge part of what I’ve been up to is building a marketing strategy and creating specific and measurable goals for this EP and my career as an artist so that the investment we’ve all made can have the longest possible lifespan. It’s been a bit like building a start up- only the “product” is my music and I’m the only employee.

    The plan is to release each song as a single on all the distribution platforms (iTunes, Spotify, etc) about 6 weeks apart. This allows smaller independent artists 2-3 weeks to build familiarity and momentum for the song, and then a 3-4 weeks promotion period after the single is released.

  • The plan is to release each song as a single on all the distribution platforms (iTunes, Spotify, etc) about 6 weeks apart. This allows smaller independent artists 2-3 weeks to build familiarity and momentum for the song, and then a 3-4 weeks promotion period after the single is released.

  • Boi: Friday, June 7th 2024

    Rip Current: Friday, July 19th 2024

    Split in Two: Friday, August 16th 2024

    Slow Motion: Friday, September 13th 2024

    Smoke: Friday, October 11th 2024

CREATING THE VISUALS

  • Album Art + Prom Photos by Cat Fennell
    Additinal Promo Images by Alexa Melo

  • Seattle Footage: Michelle Minahen
    Boi Music Videos: Alexa Melo

Upcoming events

  • 6/6 THE LOST CHURCH (ACOUSTIC SET)

    Inspo Facto Presents: Writers in the round

    Doors at 7:30pm.
    Show at 8:15pm

    Get Tickets

  • 6/11 Cafe Du Nord (FULL BAND)

    LIVE NATION PRESENTS: FIGHTMASTER & ABBY FRENES


    Doors at 7pm
    Show at 8 PM

    Get Tickets