Image Source: Frown Line via Instagram

This band has most definitely earned their spot on my “On Repeat” Spotify playlist. I had the wonderful opportunity to interview lead singer Annika Devlin from Frown Line, an indie-rock band from Montreal making soft but killer sounds with lyrics that cut deep with raw, introspective emotion. Frown Line may be a rising indie group, but their sound is steadily catching fire, earning fans from all corners of the globe. They have even made an appearance on Spotify’s “indie pop and chill” curated playlist and are currently working on a second EP. Annika was more than happy to give me a deep dive on the band’s origin, musical evolution and what’s next for them.

Anastasia: What is the story behind the band and the origin of the name Frown Line?

Annika: I basically started the project in 2021? Or I guess I wrote the first song in 2020. I had just been playing music for a while, but I had always hated singing, and I always just wanted to play in a band, but then I couldn’t really find anyone to play in bands with. So then I decided I would just start my own thing, and then… yeah! I was just writing music and stuff like that. My brother actually came up with the name Frown Line. I had the first song ready to be released and I just could not figure out a name that I didn’t hate. And then he said “Frown Line” and I was like, “Okay, that’s it”.

Anastasia: Awe, I love that! That’s sweet! Would you mind telling me what that song was? 

Annika: Oh yeah, it was “September”. 

Anastasia: Unfortunately, the other members of the band couldn’t be here, but would you like to give a little intel about who they are, what they do, in general and their background?

Annika: Yeah, for sure. There’s three other members. There’s my friend, Juan Jimenez on base. I met him on Facebook and then through him, he introduced me to our guitar player. His name is Owen Viragos and he is dating our drummer, so they’re together, and her name is Lucy Grant. But they all went to school in London, Ontario, so they met a long time ago. Then Juan moved up to Montreal, and then I think, two years after, Owen and Lucy also moved up. So I met them like that, yeah.

Anastasia: And they moved before you guys were a band? 

Annika:  Yeah yeah, they just moved. I started the band before I moved to Montreal as well. They just moved and then it was just perfect timing, because I was looking to add another guitar player because… yeah, I’m not that good and the music sort of needed it, so it just kind of worked out like that. 

Anastasia: I took a peek at your guys’ merch shop, and I saw that you do all the designs. And I really liked the “Come Around” tee so I was curious, do you make all of the designs for the band and the album covers?

Annika: Oh, yeah, I’ve made almost all of them. I’ve made all of them, except the second single, “(tired of) always getting older”, that one of my friends made, but yeah, I did all the designs. Most of them are physical collages that I’ve made, and then they’re just half edited or something, like the “September” one. I think half of that is a collage, and then I just added the September and the background to it, but, yeah, I designed the “Come Around” t-shirt and all this stuff for the last EP. My brother took those pictures and then I just edited them and put them together.

Anastasia: I know last weekend you had your two shows in Ottawa and Montreal. How did those go?

Annika: Oh, those went super well. Those were really fun. It was like we were just sharing the bill with my favorite Montreal band and my favorite Ottawa band, so it was the best time ever. Everyone was so sweet. 

Anastasia: Have you met them before?

Annika: Yeah, yeah. Since I’m from Ottawa, we play in Ottawa a lot, and there’s a decently big music scene there. So there’s a lot of sick bands, but yes, we’ve played with both bands before.

Anastasia: Awesome! Cool, okay so that kind of ties into my next question, which was, what is the Montreal kind of music scene like? Because I know in San Diego here we have, like, a lot of venues that are kind of a rite of passage to play. So in Montreal, are there any memorable venues that other bands like to frequent?”

Annika: Yeah, there’s a fun music scene here. There’s a lot of small venues that are just the ones that everyone plays, and it’s really fun. There’s a bigger venue called “Foufs” (Les Foufounes Électriques) and Nirvana played there one time. So that’s probably the place.

Anastasia: Is that your favorite? Or do you have a favorite?

Annika: I think my favorite… even though we’ve never played there, is Foufs. It is cool. I’ve been to shows there, but I think my favorite small one is this place called “Casa” (Casa Del Popolo). It’s a place that has a separate venue and a separate bar, almost, which is super nice. You come in through the bar, then you just go to the back door and you get let into the venue. But it’s so nice to have the separation and everyone’s always really nice there. 

Anastasia: During performances, which solos do you love to perform?

Annika:I don’t even play too many of the lead parts anymore, because when I started the project, we did play as a three piece. I was the only guitar player, but now we have another guitar player, and he’s world’s better than me at everything. He mostly plays the solos, but I think our collective favorite song to play is probably, “Knowing You”.

Anastasia: So do you have a favorite song to perform? I guess it’s “Knowing You..”

Annika: Yeah, probably knowing you. There’s also a new song that we play. We just finished recording it, um, but it’s, like, kind of a really loud one. I think that’s kind of all of our collectively favorite one. 

Anastasia: As a young artist, how does your age influence the type of music you create, especially when you sing about your experiences?

Annika: Whoa, that’s a good question. I don’t know, I guess I haven’t experienced that much because I’m young so I feel like a lot of stuff I write about isn’t even necessarily about my own life. It’s about things that I’ve seen or like things in books that I’ve read. Stuff like that. 

Anastasia: What has been the most defining moment in your career so far?

Annika: Oh, I don’t really know if there’s like a full moment. I think sometimes it’s crazy to think about how I’ve been talking to a lot of other artists, just through Instagram and stuff like that. So just finding out that other artists or artists that I like listen to my music, that’s probably super crazy. Because sometimes I think about that and I’m just like, “damn, if only I could tell myself three years ago that this would be happening,” that would be like, pretty crazy.

Anastasia: Yeah, most definitely. Are there any artists that have reached back out to you that are like, “I love your music! I’ve heard of you!”?

Annika: Oh, yeah, there’s this girl… I don’t know if you know who she is. Her name is Runo Plum. You should check her out! She’s got sick ass music. One time I was at work, and someone mentioned me on their story or whatever. So I went to go see what it was, and it was Runo Plum’s, I think her record label or someone, had posted a playlist that she made, and it had one of my songs on it. So they tagged me in it and I was like, “oh my god, this is crazy”. I texted her being like, ”Oh my God, I didn’t know that you knew who I was either!” So that’s so sweet.

Anastasia: Aww yeah that’s super cute. That’s a happy full circle moment.

Anastasia: In “knowing you”, I really like that song, you say, “one truth and two lies”, so would you mind giving one truth and two lies from your own life? 

Annika: It’s two truths and one lie?

Anastasia: The lyrics said one truth and two lies, but I don’t mind!

Annika: Okay, okay, hmmm… I’ll give you the options. I can speak four languages, I can juggle… and I am a vegan. 

Anastasia: Hmm… I feel like the juggle one is the truth for some reason.

Annika: Yo it is!!
Anastasia: It is?! I could just see that, that’s so funny! Four languages is a bit of a stretch so I was like “no that’s not it”.
Annika: Yeah, four is a lot.

Anastasia: So for your future plans, what are some goals you hope for the band to achieve over the next few years?

Annika: We’re just finishing up recording a second EP right now. So when that comes out, that’ll be great. We also really want to go on tour. We haven’t been on tour yet because it’s kind of crazy trying to get to the U.S. but hopefully a U.S. tour soon, that would be cool.

Anastasia: That’d be awesome, if you do come down to LA, I will come see you guys, hopefully!

Annika: Hell yeah! We will.

Anastasia: Yes! Alright, alright. Last question, since I love movies and I’m a film major, I wanted to ask if you have a favorite movie?

Annika: I think my favorite movie is “The Sound of Metal”.  It made me really paranoid. It’s about this drummer who goes deaf and it’s just insane. But now I wear earplugs everywhere I go. It scared the shit out of me.