Clement Marfo & The Frontline - Musicovered Interview (w/ Beatrice Alessio)

Following her interview with Stooshe last week, Beatrice Alessio recently caught up with Clement Marfo & Frontline, a group who have been shortlisted for MTV's Brand New for 2012 and tipped as T4's Rising Stars of 2012. On behalf of musicovered, Bea met the guys at W Hotel to chat about their recent collaboration with Kano, Mentos and much more. Hit the jump to see the interview in full.

musicovered: Hello guys, how are you doing today?

All: Very well, thanks.

musicovered: Wicked. Let’s get it started. For those who approach your music for the first time, how would you describe your sound?

Clement: Hip Hop, Rock-Pop. It’s a fusion of styles and music we all make.

musicovered: So you are a seven-piece band and you all come from different musical backgrounds, how did you all get together?

Clement: I started off as a Hip Hop/grime MC and I was very inspired by the whole So Solid Crew movement. I started writing lyrics and performing at universities and clubs, but at the time, I knew I needed a band behind me. I was first introduced to Dion on drums and at the time I was browsing through MySpace when I found Kojo’s bright profile page, so I was like let me check this guy’s music out. Once I did, I just wanted to work with him, so I told him about the band and he said ‘I’m down’. Then, Dion introduced me to Stacey who was playing keys and Johnny on bass. Rich and Dan on guitar are the latest addition to the band.

musicovered: What are the pros and cons of being a seven-piece band?

Clement: There are more pros than cons. Some people think because it’s seven of us, there are a lot of chefs in the kitchen, but everyone’s opinion is valued and everyone respects each other. There’s more input, if you know what I mean.

Dion: The only con is organisation.

Stacey: And choosing places to eat.

Kojo: Yes, find somewhere to eat and try to move everyone out of one place at the same time.

musicovered: Moving onto your new single “Mayhem”, you have collaborated with Grime veteran, Kano. How did that collaboration come about? Are you planning to work with other Grime MCs?

Clement: At the time we were shaping some tracks and I remember I bumped into Kano at Sway’s show, so I told him ‘Look, I got this track “Mayhem” and it has this rock vibe to it, it’s grimy but Rock at the same time’ and he was like ‘Yeah, send it over’. So I emailed him few days later, he loved it and, yeah, it happened. It was a natural thing. It’s not like we sat down and decided to have every Grime artist to jump on our tracks. Regarding future collaborations, we’d definitely like to branch out and work with people from other genres. For example, the lead singer of Noisettes (Shingai Shoniwa) or someone like that. It would be cool.

It’s been a great year for you all. Did you expect to come this far? How does it feel?

Clement: The reaction has been great so far and I’m not going to lie, it feels good. Obviously I didn’t have this evil plan [insert evil laughter here] like ‘I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that and take over the world’. It was more a thing where people responded to the tracks we put out and we started building a strong fan base. All the acts we have supported on their tours such as Plan B, Rizzle Kicks and De La Soul have helped us to keep the buzz going and we started getting a lot of recognition.

musicovered: Talking about touring, have you got any ritual before going on stage?

Clement: Mentos.

Kojo: I just listen to my iPod and I just focus.

Dion: I just warm up and get in the zone.

Stacey: I just make sure everyone is ready and everything is in the right place.

musicovered: Who’s the most organised in the band and who’s the most laidback?

Clement, Kojo and Dion: Stacey is the most organised.

Dion: Clement is the most laid-back, to a certain extent. Like when we are on tour, we know that we have to check out at 11am and Clement turns up at midday. He has to moisturise, have a shower etc.

musicovered: So Stacey you are like a mum from what I’ve heard. How is it for you to be the only female in the band?

Stacey: It’s alright. I’d like to be horrible, but they would probably beat me up [laughs]. I’m joking. They are good.

musicovered: I hope so. Anyway what is the craziest thing a fan has ever done for you?

Dion: We played at this under 16s show one time, we were signing people’s arms or t-shirts and then there was this picture of this girl on Facebook in which I was tagged in. She had our name written all over her face, arms and she was just taking picture of herself and tagging me in, so it came up on my personal page. Yeah that was a bit crazy.

musicovered: Wow, you got some loyal fans. Unfortunately my time is up, have you got any last word?

Clement: “Mayhem” is out on March 12^th. BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra have been showing us an incredible support and I hope we can chart with this track. Everything is starting to blossom now and you will see a lot more from us. Shout out to musicovered!