INTERVIEW: Friko
Photos by Samantha Carr
KANSAS CITY, MO | MARCH 2023 | BY SAMANTHA CARR
On March thirteenth of twenty twenty-three, I had the honor of sitting down with Chicago-based indie pop band Friko, consisting of three multi-talented members: Nico Kapetan (vocals, guitar, keys), Luke Stamos (vocals, bass), and Bailey Minzenberger (vocals, drums). Sitting down in the basement green room of the RecordBar in Kansas City, we chatted about the origins of the band, tour life so far, and their songwriting and melody process. Read more about it down below!
Friko got its start by two old friends, Nico Kapetan and Luke Stamos (who adorably attended kindergarten together) started covering songs together after highschool. Bailey explains that her love of music was inspired by people in her life such as her older sister who was involved in music during her time at school. Luke and Bailey had their start in school-funded music education, enrolling in classes like jazz band, but Nico explains he didn’t start taking his passion for music seriously until after high school graduation. The name Friko stems from a nickname the main vocalist Nico got when he was younger.
This tour is Friko’s first big one, which they are sharing the spotlight with band Free Range, whom Bailey also supplies a part in their music playing bass. One of my favorite questions to ask is if there have been any bad omens that we should worry about so far on the course of their tour. Interestingly (and perhaps worrisomely) enough, Friko had a couple answers! Nico, the bands main vocalist, answered that right before departure he was asked if he remembered to bring his passport for entry into their upcoming show in Vancouver, and realized he never packed it! Later on their travels he also explained how his hand was stuck slammed into a car door by one of the band’s crew. Thankfully, both situations ended up working out just fine thanks to the overall management of their fantastic tour manager, Stas, who they’ve said has helped make this tour go so smoothly and are so thankful for.
The Chicago arts, visual, and music scene is very welcoming says the band. Starting out as a relatively new music group in a non-competitive environment was key to their success in the city, and they explained how nice it was to have such a thriving community of creatives around them. I asked the band where they hoped to be five years down the road with this in mind, and drums player Bailey Mizenberger answered that they genuinely love the company of their band mates, and just simply hope to be playing as often as possible with them. This brought on my next question in terms of the band’s style of music and what their creative process is in terms of songwriting and recording. Luke Stamos, Friko’s bass and vocalist, tells me that often times the players will come to rehearsals with ideas, but there is no formal process or formula behind it becoming a hit record.
Speaking of hit records, be sure to check out Friko’s brand new single which was released the same night as our interview together, Crimson to Chrome available to listen on all main stream platforms!
