Young Kelowna band gets interviewed by 9-year-old ahead of new single release

KelownaNow has already had the privilege of doing a few stories and interviews with Freeze the Fall in recent months.

If you're unfamiliar, the new Kelowna band is made up of three very talented teens in 17-year-old Quinn Mitzel (guitar/vocals), 16-year-old Jonah Goncalves (drums) and 15-year-old Aria Becker (bass/vocals).

Despite their young age, the trio has undeniable talent and is starting to catch people's attention in Kelowna and beyond.

One of their new fans from outside Kelowna is nine-year-old Uma Szczesny, a New Hampshire girl whose father Dan is a long-time journalist, author and librarian.

With help from dad and the parents of Freeze the Fall, Uma was able to interview the gracious Kelowna teens about the start of their music careers.

The interview also came in the lead up to the release of the band's new single on Wednesday, which you can check out here.

Here's a transcription of the interview, split into a section with questions for the whole band and another with questions for the trio individually!

Questions for the whole band

Uma Szczesny (US): What are your favorite foods and your favorite colours, and why?
Aria Becker (AB): Greek food! It is delicious and healthy and I love all the flavours. Feta cheese is my favorite! And… chocolate! Also, I eat vegetarian from Monday to Friday because I feel good about the impact that can have on the planet.
My favorite colour is Purple. It has been purple for as long as I can remember. In fact, my first bass was a ¾ purple Jackson – I still have it!
Jonah Goncalves (JG): Meat! I love eating meat like chicken wings, ribs and steak… all the meat! My favorite colour is Dark Inky Blue because it reminds me of the sky at night.
Quinn Mitzel (QM): Any type of rice bowl or stir fry. And Uma, I have never shared this with the world yet, I have been waiting for the right time so you can be the one to break this. Last fall, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease which means my body can’t digest gluten (this is in anything with wheat, which is in so many things). It impacts me every day, but I am learning to sort it all out and my health has improved so much since we figured it out. I hope that by sharing other kids/people with Celiac Disease or any chronic illness, they will know they still can do REALLY BIG things!
My favorite colour is Icy Blue because my favorite season is winter and it reminds me of winter.

US: What are your favorite animals?
AB: Cats, especially orange cats!
JG: A snake because I like how they move around and their cool colours. We also have a snake on our album cover for Thrones.
QM: Donkeys!

US: Where, as a band, do you dream of playing?
AB: My big dream is to play at the O2 Arena or the Royal Albert Hall in the UK.
JG: My dream is to travel the world with Freeze the Fall, especially Europe! I’d also love to play in Portugal because I am half Portuguese.
QM: I would love to play in Norway someday!

US: Do you like Pentatonix? (Pentatonix is Uma’s favorite group, we saw them live in New York in the summer of 2023.)
AB: I love their Christmas albums!
QM: I was obsessed with them in fourth grade and love all their Christmas albums. I still have their Christmas album on CD!
JG: I think their style of music is super cool, but I don’t actually listen to them. But it sounds like maybe I need to listen to their Christmas album!

US: How young were you when you started learning your instruments and how? Did you have teachers?
FTF: We were all quite young when we started playing our instruments, between five and seven! For each of us, it was a combination of lessons and self-teaching. Fun fact – we all go to the same music school called Wentworth Music here in Kelowna. Teachers are a big part of the story for sure but we all also work hard at home learning new things and challenging ourselves with doing complicated covers and things like that.

US: Can you tell us a little about the barn where you film your videos?
FTF: We knew we wanted to film the videos somewhere unique, somewhere that had a dark, kind of creepy vibe. Aria’s mom found the barn through a social media call out and the people who owned it donated it to us for a day of filming! So nice! The barn was unheated, had no door on one end and it was December in Canada. So, it was cold! We had to change costumes 15 times that day because of the way filming was done. In the end it looked exactly the way we had dreamed, we’re so grateful we got the chance to make these videos!

US: Are you famous at your school?
FTF: We are pretty sure all the teachers know about us. In fact, our principal might be one of our biggest fans! Lots of students know about Freeze the Fall now too, but we wouldn’t really say we are famous. We actually prefer to keep to ourselves at school, but if we have a show coming up we’ll put posters up around the school. It’s scary, but you have to be brave!

US: Lastly, with The Warning coming to your hometown in October, I have to ask the question that so many in The Warning Army talk about, would you like to open for The Warning someday?
FTF: Yes! This would be a dream to play on the same stage as The Warning! We already have our tickets for this show but the big dream is absolutely to open for the. We are also really excited to see Evanescence and Halestorm at this concert, all female led rock bands!

Rapid fire questions

For Quinn
US: Did you take any singing lessons or training?
QM: I started vocal lessons when I was seven and still take vocal lessons every week! By the way, Aria started taking vocal lessons at 14 when she was starting to do harmonies and back-up vocals!
US: How does it feel to be a lead singer of a band?
QM: To be honest, it feels strange, but in a good way. I’m not used to speaking in front of so many people, nor am I used to being in the spotlight. But I very much feel that I belong and that I’m doing something I was meant to do.
US: Is it true that The Warning inspired you to play music?
QM: The Warning were my first big influence and inspiration. It felt empowering to see young people, especially young girls – pursuing something I was passionate about. I taught myself guitar by listening to their album Queen of the Murder Scene because at the time there were barely any tabs online for their music.

For Jonah
US: Do you have a drum teacher?
JG: My teacher has been my teacher from the very beginning and also my biggest inspiration. His name is Justen. He’s a mentor and huge champion for the whole band!
US: In your card, you said you didn’t have a pet. Do you think you’ll get a pet someday? If so, what would you choose?
JG: I would probably get a cat. I like how they are independent but also very cute and snuggly.
US: Do you ever show your eyes and why do you like masks?
JG: I do show my eyes in the videos that are coming out soon actually. The masks for the videos were the videographer’s ideas but I also enjoy playing the drums with masks sometimes. Some of my favorite drummers wear masks and I think that’s very cool.

For Aria
US: What is your inspiration for bass?
AB: The music of Bring Me the Horizon is what really drove me to push myself on bass. I wanted to be able to play every song from their catalog. Right now, I take lessons from three separate bass players who are all awesome but sometimes it’s the stuff you do at home that advances you the most.
US: Do you have a trampoline and do you like trampolining?
AB: I DO have a trampoline, but it’s quite broken so a little dangerous now but I used it a lot and loved it. Now I really like running. I find it peaceful to run with music. It’s my quiet time.
US: How did you decide to play bass guitar?
AB: I started out playing ukulele. I got a ukulele for Christmas when I was about seven and played it for a few years. But my mom thought a bass would suit my personality. When I was twelve, my parents brought me the purple ¾ sized Jackson bass. After one day with the bass, I never played the ukulele again except to entertain my cat. He likes to sing along when I play ukulele.