The Fray are back with a new EP, new sound and more soul than ever before [Interview] – EARMILK

The Fray began quietly in 2002, formed by Isaac Slade and Joe King in Denver’s burgeoning music scene. Their debut EP, Movement, served as an early marker of the band’s potential, drawing modest attention beyond their local base. By late 2004, they had signed with Epic Records and entered the studio to begin work on what would become their breakthrough.

The band’s debut album, How to Save a Life, released in 2005, swiftly expanded their reach. With singles like the title track and “Over My Head (Cable Car),” The Fray moved from regional success to international prominence. “How to Save a Life” earned quadruple-platinum certification in the United States and reached the Top 10 in six other English-speaking countries. “Over My Head (Cable Car)” followed with double-platinum status in 2006, cementing the band’s place in the mainstream pop-rock landscape.

In July 2019, Slade announced that the Grammy-nominated band would be taking a hiatus after completing their five-album deal with Epic Records, citing a desire to prioritize his mental health and explore new creative paths. In March 2022, Slade confirmed his departure from the band over Instagram. 

On July 25, 2024, The Fray returned with “Time Well Wasted,” their first single in eight years, ahead of a new EP titled The Fray Is Back, released on September 27, 2024. The project marks a new era for the band, featuring guitarist Joe King as full-time lead vocalist for the first time—after previously contributing occasional lead vocals on earlier records.

While the return of The Fray has been met with enthusiasm from longtime fans, it also raises questions about the band’s future sound—chief among them, how the absence of former frontman Isaac Slade might shape the group’s identity moving forward. To trace the path toward what guitarist and now lead vocalist Joe King describes as a “rebirth,” I sat down with King, drummer Ben Wysocki, and guitarist Dave Welsh ahead of their performance at San Diego’s Wonderfront Festival. What followed was a candid conversation about creative renewal, personal growth, and how time away from the spotlight helped each of them reconnect with their inner artist.

It’s really great to be able to speak with you. I wanted to know, how has your relationship to fame, your fans, or even each other changed since you’ve entered this new comeback era?

Wysocki: I think it’s changed a lot. We’re a little over 20 years into this whole thing and I think the first decade or so was such a blur, we never really had a chance to catch up to ourselves. We’re now coming out of a season of a lot of time off, which allowed us to realize why we started this in the first place, and at least for me, reconnect with what it felt like when I was a teenager wishing that I was in a band. So, it’s been important to have some time to reflect on that and maybe recalibrate to why this mattered in the first place. It was a kind of gift. 

What do you envision for this comeback after 20 years of making music? Is there a new place or mindset you’d like to step into creatively or musically? 

King: That’s a good question. I don’t know. I have a habit of being a bit self-destructive as a writer because there have been times where I’ve been, like, so hopeless and in my own shadow of the past and feeling like the best is behind me. It took me a while to get through that. Like Ben was saying, we’ve had a lot of time away to talk to people and gain perspective, which has recalibrated and reframed my mentality – it’s opened up a new creative path that, instead of thinking the best is behind us, I truly believe that the best work is now, and what you’re putting yourself into is the most important work. And that’s what we’re doing. I think we’re doing the most important work right now as a band – in rebirth, in finding ourselves again, and the chemistry that the three of us had is unlike anything we’ve ever had before. There’s so much more for us to go. There’s places we haven’t played, countries we haven’t been to, there’s fans that want to see us, and that’s an amazing feeling. 

I agree. I think life experience is so valuable as a writer and an artist. There’s such a belief in the industry that you do your best work in your twenties, but that’s simply not true. I think it’s incredibly special when you can grow up alongside your favorite artists. On the topic of change and reframing your mindset, what’s something you believed early in your career that you’ve completely changed your mind about?

Welsh: When you’re younger, you’re kind of oscillating between constantly comparing yourself to what is happening around you and believing your own hype. As you get a little older, you find that the middle ground of that. The process becomes more important than the work itself. Like many young artists, there was a lot of concern in the beginning about what [the songs] are gonna mean, what’s gonna sell, all these things. But, if you’re lucky enough, that eventually fades and then you’re allowed to just be. 

Do you still feel emotionally connected to the songs you wrote 15-20 years ago, or does it ever feel like you’re performing someone else’s story? Does it feel like you’re reaching out to a past life or a past version of yourself that you might not recognize anymore?

Wysocki: I think it’s a bit of both honestly. Our first album is 20 years old this year, and that’s a lot of life between when those songs were born and where we are now. So, in some ways, it does feel like we play some old songs and we’re a Fray cover band. But, that doesn’t take away from the opportunity to reconnect with those songs as adults. I would say the emotional connection is even deeper. The songs are like friends of ours that we’ve been bonding with and living with for most of our lives. Also, the songs take on a life of their own and they did that pretty quickly. That’s something that none of us could’ve anticipated. So, now sometimes we get to experience them like everybody else. 

I’m currently rewatching Grey’s Anatomy, which I first watched in middle school over a decade ago, and I never realized how many of your songs appear in the show. How does it feel to know that songs like “How to Save a Life” have become the soundtrack to so many important cultural touchstones in television—and to some of the most vulnerable moments in people’s real lives? 

King: That’s the thing that’s so beautiful about music. Songs can live with you and grow with you; they can bring you back to a time or bring you to a new place in life. You can hear things differently or pick up on a lyric that maybe went over your head. Back to your question about what I’ve changed my mind on—the industry is so built on numbers. Spotify is all about numbers; the monthly listeners are right there. I understand why Spotify wants to do that. Other DSPs don’t do that, and I respect that. 

It’s not about the charts, but I used to think it was. I’d be so worried about how a song was performing, but what you can’t measure is what it means in people’s lives and what it’s helped them through. When we talk to fans and hear their stories, it’s just a humbling position to know that your music has helped somebody or been a part of their most important day. So, yeah, if there’s one thing I’ve changed my mind about, it’s the stuff you can’t measure that matters.

Check out The Fray: Spotify // Instagram // Youtube