The Frst release new single "Geronimo"

The Frst, Nashville's most unpredictable rock band is back with an anthemic and grungy new collab championing mental health.  Much in the same cause as 90s supergroup Temple Of The Dog, which featured a young Eddie Veddie and Chris Cornell sharing a musical tribute to the loss of their late friend, (Andrew Wood), the band also aims to shine a spotlight on stigmas surrounding mental health.

Similarly, "Geronimo” is The Frst’s recent effort to raise mental health awareness using an updated sonic palette. The loss of the band’s longtime roadie and guitar tech nearly brought the recording session to a halt, but was ultimately championed to completion in his honour with the assistance of recent Kerrang! Radio stalwarts, Just a Ride, as well as Bournemouth, UK’s Solcura, a staple of Spotify’s ‘Smells Like New Grunge’ playlist.

Meanwhile back in the group’s hometown of Nashville, Andrew Leahey (Thirty Tigers) returns to the line-up for the first time since his doo-wop harmonies on 2020’s "Rules", a single that featured an all-star line-up ripe with musical collaborations, much like “Geronimo”.

This approach is somewhat of a return to form for The Frst, whose early credibility was built around short dynamic rock songs, with a flagrant disregard for sub-genre’s or critic’s expectations. But bandleader Mikei Gray insists their recent successes (the band was ranked among iTunes’ Top 100 Rock Songs, which lead to a #1 song on SoundCloud & FM Radio) is a by-product of keeping things “simple and honest”, something that wasn’t so easy to adhere to when Gray got the call about the band’s longtime tech, and friend of 15+ years.

”The day before the release of "Pop Punk Song" I got the word about Josh….going into a release day and having to try and stay positive and hyped publicly…was incredibly difficult,” he sighs. “A few weeks later when I found out it was a suicide, I felt like I needed to do something, but didn’t know what…I figured, music is what I have, so that’s what I can contribute…”

Gray quickly recorded the drums, bass, guitar, and his vocals in Nashville, before sending "Geronimo" across the pond to Just a Ride for additional vocals. “Rod had the vocals done and multi-tracked with all kinds of cool harmonies the very next day! It was insane.”

Continuing on, he confesses, “Within days everyone was recorded, except Andrew [Leahey], who had to wrap up his work with Butch [Walker] and Elizabeth Cook before he could knock out his vocal tracks. Once he was in the studio it was done in a heartbeat,” Gray says smiling.

In the end, The Frst’s mission to use music as a vehicle to bring people together is seemingly already paying off, albeit in small ways. Impressed by their vocal additions to “Geronimo”, London’s Just a Ride recruited Nottingham’s Solcura as an opening act for their upcoming UK tour.

“See…” Gray adds, “Music does have a way of connecting and healing people…” continuing on to say, “... it’s okay to NOT be okay. In fact, you’re NOT alone!” He concludes, “I want readers to know it’s okay to talk about…in fact, come to a show sometime and we’ll chat about it!” [Laughs]

When asked about the prospect of returning to the road, Gray adds- “oh absolutely. We’ll be finally returning to the stage with a short SE USA tour in Fall ‘22, followed up by a lot more in dates in 2023.

You can listen to "Geronimo" are tracks from The Frst here. Discover more from APU here.