Broaden Your Horizon with The New Frontiers!
July 23, 2008

Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you one of your new favorite bands! Composed of Nathan Pettijohn, Ryan Henry, Jacob Chaney, Guy Turner and Alex Bhore, The New Frontiers are an extremely talented quintet based out of Dallas, Texas. The New Frontiers have the ability to reach below the surface and gently tug on your heartstrings with every flowing note. Their latest release - Mending - takes raw emotion, mixes it with beautiful melody and creates something so mentally mesmerizing that your ears won't be able to get enough. Lead singer Nathan Pettijohn was kind enough to do an interview for this site, so read on and get to know Nathan and The New Frontiers!

You guys are really into emotionally touching your listeners, what does it take to write and compose a song that’s moving and how can you tell if you’ve succeeded?

Nathan: Music is a very strange thing in how it can have an effect on people. I feel like the songs that mean the most to me personally are the songs that really move me... that when I hear them they stir up something deep inside of me. I think this is always buried somewhere in the back of my mind when I write a song. If the song I'm writing has that effect on me, then I feel like I've succeeded and all I can do is hope that other people can connect with it.

Is fame important to you guys? Why or why not?

Nathan: Probably not fame in the conventional sense of the term. I feel like we would all be happy just being able to pay the bills. But at the same time I think there is a desire to be able to share our music and that part of ourselves with as many people as possible.

What have your experiences in the music industry taught you so far?

Nathan: I feel like when a lot of bands start working in the music industry they think that things are just going to start happening for them. One of the things we've learned is that we are working harder now than ever. Very rarely do things just fall into your lap.

What kinds of things has being in a band taught you about yourself and your band-mates?

Nathan: I can spend an ungodly amount of time in a van without getting sick or killing someone... but coming close.

When you spend so many months on tour and on the road, does it become difficult to sort of step back and take time for yourself on tour? What do you do when you have a little free time?

Nathan: It definitely does. There really isn't any such thing as time for yourself on tour, except maybe when you're in the van and you put your headphones on and sink into a book. As for free time, we try to visit different places, breweries being our favorite. On the last tour we got to Niagara Falls.

How did ‘The New Frontiers’ start? How did you guys meet and what brought you together?

Nathan: Most of us grew up together in high school. The band actually started under the name 'Stellamaris'. Jacob, Alex, and I formed Stellamaris in the spring of 2004. After a few member changes Ryan and Guy joined the band. We ended up having to change our name after we signed to the Militia Group because there was a metal band in Israel called Stellamaris.

What are your goals as a band? Who do you hope to reach?

Nathan: I think our goals are pretty simple. We want to create music that we love and hope that people can connect with. I feel like the themes in our music are pretty broad, so hopefully most people can relate to them.

What does Mending represent to you? What kinds of things inspired the music on that album?

Nathan: Mending to me is about recovering from mistakes and knowing that things are going to get better, even when you feel like they won't.

Who’s the funniest guy in the band? …And the most serious?

Nathan: I think different people have their moments at being both funny and serious. Jacob is probably the best storyteller though.

Who does most of the lyrical composition? How do you guys put a song together?

Nathan: Ryan and I wrote most of the lyrics on Mending. Jacob wrote 'Who Will Give Us Love?' Our writing process is forever changing but usually there will be a stripped down version of the song that is brought to the band and everyone will add their parts and make suggestions. Some songs actually end up completely different than the way they started. 'The Day You Fell Apart' is one of these songs. It started off as this slow, sad bastardy kind of song but we were actually very suprised with how it ended up.

I've heard different stories about how strenuous recording an album in studio can be…what is the experience usually like for you?

Nathan: Our experience was great. We usually record everything ourselves so we are used to doing everything pretty quickly. We recorded Mending in Atlanta with Matt Goldman and had a great time. It was good to have an outside perspective on our music.

…Any advice for aspiring musicians out there?

Nathan: Find out what your strengths are as a songwriter and as a band and write songs that fit them.

If you haven't already, you should definitely check out The New Frontiers' music. For more information on the band, you can head over to their MySpace Page. Thank you for reading, I hope you dig!

You can watch a live performance of "Mirrors" here:

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