New York-based indie-folk band, Frog, has built a world where humor, heartache and oddball storytelling coexist. Following the release of their April 2026 album, “Frog For Sale,” frontman Daniel Bateman talks about writing from behind a “mask,” the uncertainty of the modern music industry, his love of film and even the possibility (however unlikely) of cookies at a Frog show. Above all, he shares a simple piece of advice for anyone wanting to be a musician: play music.
Q: What’s your name, who’s currently in the band and where are you from?
A: My name is Daniel Bateman and I’m from New Rochelle, New York. The band when we record is just me and Stevie [Bateman], but when we go on tour it’s me, Stevie and Tom, the bassist. Tom used to be the drummer in the band, but now he plays bass when we play live.
Q: When did you start making music?
A: I think I was around 25 when me and Tom started to make music together, but before that we had been in a different band called Uncles. Uncles was like a folk band. Me and Tom got together—I made him play the drums. He had never played the drums before —and we started making a lot more noise. Then there was Frog, you know?
Q: What or who originally inspired you to start making music?
A: I started playing the piano when I was seven. Music has always sort of hooked me. When I was young I really loved The Police, and I really loved the album “Tommy” by The Who. You know I loved Mozart on the piano, I loved Debussy. As I got older I started getting more and more into rock music. My mom was really into Led Zeppelin, and so we’d listen to Zeppelin together. When I was around 13 or 14 I started a band with my friends from high school. We got really into Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix, and I started writing music for rock bands. It’s sort of been an evolution from there.
Q: Where do the ideas for your songwriting usually come from? Are they based on real experiences, or do you enjoy writing fictional stories?
A: They could come from anywhere. I’m inspired by the world. If I just hear someone say something, I’ll use that in a song a lot. You know for me, I have to be around myself 24 hours a day, and it’s exhausting. So when I make music, I’m trying to have fun. Usually when I’m in a song I’m someone else. It’s still me, but I have a mask on. You know what I mean? Just writing about my life isn’t appealing to me, I want to get away from my life for a second. So in the song I could be anyone, and that’s very beautiful.
Q: Your lyrics can be really funny but also really sad. Would you consider yourself more of an optimist or a pessimist?
A: Hmm that’s a good question. Probably a realist, leaning pessimist. But I try to be an optimist. I try. Sometimes it works. Life is very humbling.
Q: Are you someone who likes to spend more time alone or with others?
A: I like to be alone a lot. I’m a father, and when you have young children, you’re not really alone ever. So when I work I like to be alone for a lot of it. I made one record by myself, Count Bateman, and that was fun. I liked it. But it’s a little bit lonely, so then I got Steve in there and it was beautiful. I love hanging out with Steve. I love seeing my brother, he’s like my best friend. And so yeah, a lot of the music is just trying to make Steve laugh. And if Steve laughs? Then it’s in the song.
Q: “You Know I’m Down” found a much bigger audience years after you originally released it. Why do you think this song resonates with so many people?
A: No idea. You never know what’s gonna resonate. I didn’t really like it. Steve liked it, so it went on the album. I made it in like 15, 30 minutes. Writing, recording, mixing, the whole thing. I put it on the tape machine. I was just f**king around and having fun! I mixed it straight off the tape machine, on my Mackie mixer, into Logic, and so it’s just a two-track. Something about it just resonated. I’m not good at picking singles, I don’t understand what people are gonna like. I like different things.
Q: Your newest album, “Frog For Sale.” Does this record feel different to you from the records you’ve made before? How does it compare?
A: “Frog For Sale,” I love “Frog For Sale.” My favorite record is always the one I’m making. They’re all different; that was the first one I made since becoming a full-time musician. It’s maybe more explicitly pop, or from 20th century pop music. And I had a lot of fun with it, I think it turned out good.
Q: Is there a song on this record that you’re particularly proud of?
A: I like “Yonder This Way Comes.” I was kind of feeling down. Then I wrote that song, and recorded it on the tape machine, just me and the guitar, and the first time I could finish it and sing it is what you hear. That was the first time I sang it, and I was really pumped that I got through it. So I’m banging on the chords at the end and like ‘Yeah I did it!’ You know I write a lot of songs, and that one was more old school, and I was pumped I was able to get it to sound old school. The way the lyrics are constructed is more in the vein of an older folk song. I like the way I was able to get there.
Q: Have you noticed the kind of people listening to Frog changing over the years? Has your audience ever surprised you?
A: Oh my god of course, well there wasn’t an audience at first. There were like four, then five people, 10 people, four people again. Then after the pandemic we started playing again and there were a lot more people, and then it got crazy. Everyone was singing along to every word. That was cool. Because I don’t remember a lot of those lyrics, so the audience helps me out.
Q: Do you enjoy connecting with your fans on social media? What’s your experience been like with that?
A: Social media, I remember when it was created. And it was very fun back in the day, people didn’t take it very seriously. And then they all got in trouble for the things everyone could see. It’s a scary place nowadays. I try to make it lighter…it’s cool that I can reach people. It’s interesting that I make a video of how to play my songs and it instantly gets 50,000 views in one day. And then you put out a song and it maybe won’t get that much. The way that people consume media changes very rapidly. I don’t think anyone can really understand what’s gonna happen. The music business, now no one knows anything. No one knows how to make a hit at all. Everyone is just throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what happens. It’s changing a lot. It’s crazy.
Q: So soon you’ll be headed out on tour. Are there any particular moments that have stuck out to you while performing? A favorite or a least favorite?
A: Many least favorites, many least favorites, oh my god. But many of those least favorites happened when I was a lot younger. Hopefully no one remembers those. I really liked the tour I did a year ago in Los Angeles. I did this one show, most people didn’t really understand it. Including people in my band. But I was just so happy, and I started playing songs I hadn’t written yet on stage. I wrote two to three songs on stage in one show. That was really crazy. I feel like people were like ‘Oh he’s just drunk up there,’ and maybe I was a little drunk, but I was just in a different headspace. And that was really cool. When I make art the best moments are when I don’t know what’s gonna happen, and you don’t know either as a listener, and we’re finding it out together.
Q: Tell me about your time working in the film industry.
A: I worked as a set dresser for a couple years. I loved that job. It was one of my favorite jobs ever. You get paid pretty good, and you make art for a living. And that was the first time I had been a real working artist. And I made so many friends; it’s a very beautiful social environment. The film industry, when I was working there, was going through a hard time. Now I think there’s a little bit of a rebound, thank god, hopefully that stays. But now I’m a full-time musician. I make records and I play them for people. That’s my job. I sell t-shirts.
Q: If you weren’t working a career in the arts, what do you think you would be?
A: I’ve had thousands of jobs. I used to be a data scientist for a tech company. I liked that, but corporate America, that’s a place ruled by fear. Everyone is terrified they’re going to lose their jobs, they’re usually right. And you’re on Zoom meetings for nine hours a day. I liked it, I was good at it, but they want too much from you. I remember I was making a good salary, and then I got a raise and became a manager or whatever, and then I had to do like five other people’s jobs, and I got 15,000 dollars more to do it. It’s like, what the f**k man. That’s when I quit.
Q: Speaking of the film industry, what are some films you really love?
A: I like this guy Itami, he’s a Japanese actor and director. He made this movie “Tampopo,” if you’ve never seen “Tampopo,” immediately watch it. It’s one of the greatest movies ever made, maybe my favorite movie. I love Hitchcock, I love Bañuel. “Belle de Jour” is a fantastic film. I love movies. Nowadays, I go home, I watch 15 minutes of a movie and I fall asleep. And if I like it, I’ll go home the next night and watch another 15 minutes of it. I don’t watch a lot because of that, but the ones I watch, I love.
Q: Do you have a favorite needle-drop?
A: In Wes Anderson’s movies, I love the way he uses music. I love the way Nico’s “These Days” comes in during “The Royal Tenenbaums”. I love the album “Lola” by The Kinks, The Kinks are one of my favorite bands ever, and in the movie “The Darjeeling Limited” he uses two songs from “Lola” that are incredible. I love The Kinks, and I love Wes Anderson. I think he’s one of the best filmmakers ever.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start making music?
A: The music business… I don’t know what’s gonna happen with it, but I didn’t get into music to make money. I did it for free for most of my life. If you really like music, then you should do it. How to be a musician: play music. That’s the only step. If you want to make music for a living, just keep doing it and you’ll get better at it and you’ll figure it out as you go along. Nothing that I say, like do this or that—I mean by the time you start doing it that advice will be outdated. The only thing that will always be true is repetition is the father of learning. Just keep doing it over and over again, and you’ll get better and better and better and better. That’s what I did, I just made records every single day. I wrote songs every single day. And then I was able to do things I thought were better. That will always be true. If you want to do something, just do it. In the arts, and really honestly in everything, you can’t learn without trying, failing and trying again.
Q: What are you excited about right now?
A: I’m excited about the tour. Listen, if you are in the United States of America, look at frog.band/shows, and see if there’s a show near you. Check it out. We’re gonna have a great time. I’m gonna bring cookies, I’m gonna bring soft drinks — neither of those things are true. I think it’s gonna be fun. I like the songs I’m making right now. I was thinking about releasing a single before the tour, which is coming up so I gotta do it now if I want to. I think me and Steve are having a lot of fun out here and I’m excited about the things that are happening in the studio.
Frog will begin their European tour on Sept. 14, followed by an American tour beginning Sept. 26 —B.Y.O. cookies and soft drinks.
