With a set of earnest, midtempo songs — and a big boost from prime-time TV — Denver quintet the Fray has secured a comfy spot in the modern pop-rock kingdom. The band’s debut album, “How to Save a Life,” has been certified double platinum, thanks in no small part to the use of its tracks on shows such as “Scrubs,” “Bones” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” Guitarist Joe King, who co-writes most of the Fray’s work with pianist-vocalist Isaac Slade, recently chatted about the band.
Licensing songs for TV has become fashionable, and you guys are right there in the thick of it.
You see that trend of musicians that are credible taking the view that attaching their music to shows and movies is a good thing for them because it’s a way to reach new fans. Ten years ago, a band would have been written off, fans disgusted with them, blah blah blah …
When someone comes to you and says, “OK, you have this offer to do this licensing, they’ll give you this much, your fan base will grow by this much” — that’s a pretty simple yes.
Talk about the songwriting process with you and Isaac.
It’s a good relationship. It’s competitive, but it’s also collaborative. We’ve even tried writing with other people, and it just doesn’t work. We know what each other brings to the table, and it comes naturally. I can be vulnerable and play something that I’m afraid of, almost. If it’s good, he’ll say so, and if bad, he’ll say that.
Even if you guys last another three decades, right now you’re in your once-in-a-lifetime moment — that first rush of success and first flush of fame. Are you able to step back and absorb that for what it is?
You kind of go back and forth. You can get to that point where you’re working so much — touring, so many shows and radio and press — you get completely burnt out, and you lose perspective on what’s happening to your life and career. But when you can step back for a second, whatever circumstances come up that allow you to look at it in a fresh new way, it’s absolutely overwhelming.