“This question always scares me because I feel like the label always wants me to say something that’s super profound” Bonnie Fraser laughs over Zoom. It’s early morning and Stand Atlantic and gearing up for the release of their new album, f.e.a.r.
Hailing from Australia, Stand Atlantic has emerged as resilient pop-punk rockers that refuse to succumb to the pressures around them. Instead, the band honour the creative experimentation that feels right to them. “It’s just my feelings and the only way I know how to express them,” Bonnie explains. “This is who we are.” The band’s latest single, Switchblade, is a cutting single that hones in on Fraser’s loaded lyrics and emotional vulnerability. “Taking all your cheap shots / Take ’em till my body drops / You say what you wanna say,” she sings. The band’s new album doesn’t strive to be easy to digest. Instead, it’s a rough-cut record ready to scrape off the old and dive ahead with the new.
So, with f.e.a.r coming out via Hopeless Records in just under a month, we sat down with Bonnie to hear more about the band’s breakthrough, the new album and how the singer navigated her bisexuality at a young age.
Hello! You’ve just released some tour dates. How are you feeling?
Excited. Australia makes me nervous because we’ve had to cancel it so many times or reschedule. I was thinking about this the other day. I was like ‘I can’t believe my life last year compared to now’. It feels like we’re getting back into the swing of how we used to operate. Now, I’m kind of realising ‘do I tour to escape all my problems? Am I addicted to that?’. It’s probably yes! I’m super excited. I love touring and playing shows. It’s what makes this whole thing worth it and being able to connect with people that way.
Stand Atlantic’s sophomore album, Pink Elephant, saw the band step into more of an experimental sound. Was that direction something you considered with f.e.a.r?
I feel like we always kind of tried to dance on a different line and genres don’t really matter anymore. I think we’ve always tried to push ourselves and write something a little bit different to what you would hear. On Skinny Dipping, we tried to make our own thing and the same with Pink Elephant. With this one, we were like ‘we don’t even know if we can make another album. The world’s gone to shit, so let’s just make everything we’ve wanted’. We threw shit at the wall and saw what stuck.
We met up in 2019 and you reflected on catching the band’s incremental change. You’re a few years further in Stand Atlantic now. Do you now feel more confident in your and the band’s progress?
Nothing ever stops when it comes to being nervous when you release something new. Even on tour, I’m afraid no one is going to show up. That mentality has not changed. During our most recent US tour, we had just released “Pity Party”. I didn’t think anyone would even remember who we were, but everyone did. I noticed people catching onto the new songs a lot quicker than they did in the past. I don’t know if that means anything, but, to me, it was awesome. Everyone knew the lyrics to Pity Party the day we dropped it. I was like “what the fuck is going on?”. I’m still trying to figure out why I get scared to do anything, but I’m glad people enjoy what we do.
On that notion of confidence, what inspired the title f.e.a.r?
It’s always been weird. I’ve always had the album title before the album is written. With this one, I wrote down “Fuck everything, run and fear” in my notes as an idea. I had originally written it and then tried to put the theme into 8 songs and it didn’t fucking work so I ditched it. to ditch it”. I was trying to think of a name for the album and there was nothing that felt right. I went back to my notes and thought why don’t I just call the album f.e.a.r? It doesn’t have to be in a song! When I read it back, it made so much sense at the time.
A lot of fans, whether that’s younger girls or LGBTQ+ listeners, have really resonated with your openness online. What does that mean to you?
I’m kind of living it every day. I remember when I was in the closet, the only thing I would think about was the fact that I like girls and I’m too scared to say anything. I also liked guys at the time, so I didn’t know what the fuck is going on. I was overthinking the whole thing. Then, as soon as I came out, it made me realise all that pressure was you just being so scared and trying to fit in
When you start living your life the way you want and it makes you realise it doesn’t matter at all. People should talk about what they are if they feel comfortable and it’s important for the representation because that’s what helped me at the end of the day. It’s about finding people that are talking about their experiences and how they feel. You can listen to those podcasts and watch those videos forever, but until you decide to trust the people around you and know that you’re in a safe space that’s when things will change. I forgot how passionate I am about this subject.
What’s your favourite track on the album and why?
It changes but Blood Clot is one of my little sneaky favourites. It’s probably the most personal song on the record. People have been really really positive, which is always something you want to see. I can’t wait to play the shows with the new songs and I’m just super excited to see how people react.
Last of all, do you have any thoughts on how fans will react to the new album?
I’ve got no idea. I really hope people really don’t fucking hate it. I think there is something for almost everyone on this record. I think that’s what we just always try to do. At the end of the day, we listen to everything. We don’t want to be caught in a box. We never have been. We don’t want to change everything we do because I feel like that would just be disingenuous to where we started. We just want to be able to do whatever the heck we want, but we’re always making it sound good. People will hate on it no matter what. You have to move past the stupid internet people voicing their opinions who have probably never heard of your band anywhere.
f.e.a.r is out via Hopeless Records on 6 May
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