Guitarist and vocalist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger together form the indie-rock band Friko. The Chicago-based group has been immersed in the DIY music scene and since then have embarked on their first headlining tour, playing at the Cactus Club Nov. 10.
The band was accompanied by Milwaukee-based band Scam Likely and Madison-based band She’s Green. When it was time for Friko to perform, the band hugged one another before walking on stage and opening with one of their most popular songs titled “Crimson to Chrome.”
Minzenberger and Kapetan went to the same high school together in the Chicago area and both played in different bands before Friko. Minzenberger said that shortly before Friko’s formation around 2021, they had taken some time away from playing the drums up until the band was brought together.
“I hadn’t been playing drums for about a year and a half, I took a major hiatus. After you [Kapetan] asked me to play with you I’ve been fully reminded on of why I love the instrument so much,” Minzenberger said.
During the show, the band played their most recent release “For Emma,” one of their slower tracks. They shared an intimate moment with both each other and the crowd Minzenberger sat on the floor of the stage and played guitar softly while Kapetan stood and played the keyboard.
Towards the middle of their set, the band also brought one of their close friends from the crowd to sing a cover of Liz Phair’s song “F— and Run.” Having been friends for a long time as Kapetan said on stage, the band’s dynamic and chemistry was truly engaging.
As for shared influences, the band talked about how they really enjoy emotional music, which influences their sound. Minzenberger said that after getting to know each other, they showed each other artists they each liked and soon enough found crossover influences, such as artists “Deerhunter” and “Atlas Sound.”
Friko’s most recent project “Crashing Through” released Nov. 14 with an accompanying music video features the band and their friends breaking different objects together.
“It was really fun to film, just getting so many people that we love so much in the same room. There were a lot of really fun moments in that,” Minzenberger said.
“Where we’ve been. Where we go from here” is Friko’s upcoming debut album that is projected to be released on Feb. 16, 2024. “The title of the album comes from the title track. That was the only song I’ve written that was written in an hour and a half. It was like a stream of consciousness lyrically. For us as a band it has become the song that is like the theme for us,” Kapetan said.
Kapetan said the song was written about his time spent at college. He also said the “where we go from here” part of the title represents the band itself and the time they’ve spent together so far.
The band talked about the recording process being a powerful moment as they found out that the current ending, they had for the song wasn’t working out. In the studio, they talked things through and came up with an alternative ending that ended up working out.
“We changed it in a conceptual way, we said to each other that we’re not going to try it, we’re not going to test it we’re just going to go in and see what happens and that ended up being the take we used for the record. After the final note, we were all crying. It felt incredibly cathartic and beautiful,” Minzenberger said.
This story was written by Sofia Cortes. She can be reached at [email protected].
