Volume 3: FRONTL!NE
“CAN YOU HEAR THAT NOISE ALL ACROSS THE ROOM?”
I met up with Frontline on a cold and mellow December night in downtown Everett at Vintage Cafe, located on Hewitt Avenue right near the one and only Lucky Dime, where Frontline has regularly performed since their formation in 2022. The energetic quartet, consisting of lead singer Colton King, guitarist Steven Pontius, bassist Corbin Carlson, and drummer Justice Napeahi, who all somehow simultaneously emanate incredible positivity and passion for music. Primarily local to Snohomish county, the budding promise of Frontline originates all the way back when Napeahi and King were only thirteen years old. King was auditioning for Napeahi’s band, Tomorrow May Fail, in hopes of becoming their singer. “They were looking for a screamer, and if they were looking for a singer, they were looking for a really high metal singer,” King details. “I was not really there. Thirteen, still going through puberty and voice cracking.” Napeahi further illustrates that busy day of auditions, “Colton was one of three people that tried out that day, but we were also trying out bass players [...] We said no to everybody.” Although their first collaboration did not serve to be successful, it would build a connection that would later redirect them back together to make music. King had then begun working at Bigfoot Music in Arlington, where he met Pontius, who had been teaching and playing guitar for a large majority of his life. Despite all of these ties, the group did not begin fully forming until 2023, when King, Napeahi, and Pontius all decided to keep up their jam sessions to see what could happen. “And then we jammed. It was two jams in until we were like, ‘There’s something kind of cool here,” reflects Pontius with King adding, “It was basically like, ‘So…every Monday then?’”
As of 2025, the group has released five singles officially, including 2023’s fierce and jabbing Sabertooth and 2025’s pure electric Sensory Overload. With intentions to continue writing, recording, and releasing new music while also booking shows, the trio soon decided to become a quartet and welcome a new bassist, Corbin Carlson. King had been filling in both positions of bass player and vocalist before Carlson’s arrival. “I’m not really a bass player, I’m actually normally more of a guitar player,” he explained further. Carlson’s entrance into the band has further exemplified the group’s ability to compliment one another and their musical influences and styles. “Honestly, one of the main reasons I really wanted him in this band is because I noticed that he catches the really small details [...] He’s hiding things where you don’t even hear it until later,” said King. The musical influences for each member range across an array of genres, combine together into a near perfect puzzle of music and chemistry. “Rush and Pink Floyd have been my favorite bands since I was a little kid,” recalls Carlson. “The basswork on Pigs (Three Different Ones) by Pink Floyd is often overlooked and it’s so good.” Alongside these bass influences, a lot of pop punk and R&B vocal influences can be heard in songs such as Jungle Dreams. “In my whole life as I’ve practiced singing, the number one person I want to sing like is Patrick Stump,” explains King. “Justin Timberlake is number three for sure, and as much of a garbage human he is, Jonny Craig has a very similar timbre to me. It was very much going from R&B from Justin Timberlake to more of a rock thing.” Pontius adds in, “Van Halen and Extreme, specifically Nuno Bettencourt, those are huge ones for Frontline. I’ve really tried to study bands with one guitarist and go, ‘How did they do it?’ because I spent so much time in two guitar bands.” Incorporated in with influences from classic rock, R&B, pop punk, and experimental rock, jazz influences also are a driving force of Frontline. “The drummer who inspires me most would be Larnell Lewis who is based out of Toronto,” stated Napeahi. “Lewis really opened me up as a drummer to be able to play the weirdest things you could possibly think about in rock music [...] If you listen closely to a lot of the recordings from Frontline, there’s a lot of jazzy things going on.”
The members of Frontline have been involved in the local music scene in more ways than just playing shows. As of last year, they founded a two-day music festival, Frostbite Frenzy, which incorporates local musicians and holiday festivities. Located at Lucky Dime, the idea stemmed from a single day festival, Burn the Stage, that King and Napeahi had performed in as their past musical project Apollo and the Rockets. Hosted by Late Night Productions at Ebey Island, not only did this event include musical performances, laser shows, food trucks, and horseriding, but also a literal burning of the stage at the end of the day. “The stage was burned down so much that the instruments burned as well,” recalls Justice. King explained further about the ideas that were involved while developing Frostbite Frenzy. “It was like, what can we do that feels fun for us and is also a festive thing that people can go to or do if they feel like they don’t have an outlet to do it?” The costume contest-music festival hybrid event also serves as a way to support local venues during a season where business can be tough to generate. “When is it that venues have a hard time getting people in the door? It’s a week before Christmas [...] Everyone’s at home and everyone’s trying not to spend money,” said King. Frostbite Frenzy is continuing this year for its second run, with two-day passes running attendees only about twenty-eight dollars, day one passes fifteen dollars, and day two passes twenty dollars. Showgoers can look forward to seeing Frontline play, alongside local musicians like Deep Contact, Woodshed, Saltyr, DJ Aspekt, Retro, and King’s own independent project Chuck Shoultes. On top of Frostbite Frenzy, be sure to be on the lookout for upcoming gigs from Frontline as well as new music!
