Chicago band Friko  — vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger — shares a new video for “Get Numb To It!,” a standout track from their 2024 breakout album Where we’ve been, Where we go from here, out now on ATO Records. Following a summer with performances at Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival, and Fuji Rock, spring tours with Water From Your Eyes, WILLIS and Mind’s Eye, Friko begins a North American tour tonight supporting Royel Otis before their first European headline tour in November. The “Get Numb To It!” video, directed by Alec Basse, fittingly includes footage from the band’s recent performances and time on the road.

Where we’ve been, Where we go from here has catapulted Friko into the national spotlight, with glowing reviews from Pitchfork, SPIN, Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Chicago Sun-Times, Paste, and more, along with placement on several “Best Of 2024” lists including Vulture/New York Magazine, NPR Music, A.V. Club, and Paste, who named “Where We’ve Been” as their #1 song of the year so far. The band has seen radio play on SiriusXMU, WXRT, KUTX, and more, and the album charted in the top 10 on the NACC TOP 200 College Radio chart.

Watch the Video For “Get Numb To It!”

An essential new addition to Chicago’s long lineage of forward-thinking indie rock, Friko transforms every song into a moment of collective catharsis. Known for their high-energy live show, Friko aims to deliver a live experience that’s fantastically disorienting in its emotional arc. Mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, Big Thief) and engineered by Jack Henry and Scott Tallarida, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here embodies a sonic complexity befitting of a band that names Romantic-era classical music and the more primal edges of art-rock among their inspirations. Friko hopes that their music’s emotional potency might have a galvanizing impact on audiences.

Purchase Where we’ve been, Where we go from here

Listen to “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” (Radiohead Cover)

Watch Friko’s “Where We’ve Been” Video

Watch “Crashing Through” Video

Watch “For Ella” Video

Watch “Crimson to Chrome” Lyric Video

Listen to Friko’s “Get Numb To It!”

Friko Tour Dates:

Mon. Sept. 9 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall %
Tue. Sept. 10 – Rochester, NY @ Essex Music Hall %
Thu. Sept. 12 – Toronto, ON @ History %
Fri. Sept. 13 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre %
Sat. Sept. 14 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee %
Sun. Sept. 15 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue %
Thu. Sept. 19 – Champaign, IL @ Canopy Club (Pygmalion Fest)
Mon. Sept. 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer %
Wed. Sept. 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel %
Thu. Sept. 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel %
Fri. Sept. 27 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club %
Sat. Sept. 28 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues %
Mon. Sept. 30 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern %
Tue. Oct. 1 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl %
Mon. Oct. 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
Tue. Oct. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether %
Wed. Oct. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Palladium %
Fri. Oct. 18 – Oakland, CA @ The Fox %
Sun. Oct. 20 – Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom %
Mon. Oct. 21 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre %
Tue. Oct. 22 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum %
Sat. Nov. 2 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
Sun. Nov. 3 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Weekender
Tue. Nov. 5 – Rennes, FR @ L’Antipode
Thu. Nov. 7 – Paris, FR @ Pitchfork Avant Garde
Sat. Nov. 9 – London, UK @ Pitchfork Festival London
Sun. Nov. 10 – Bristol, UK @ Louisiana
Tue. Nov. 12 – Manchester, UK @ YES
Wed. Nov. 13 – Glasgow, UK @ King Tuts
Thu. Nov. 14 – Dublin, IR @ Workman’s Club
Sat. Nov. 16 – Weissenhäuser Strand, DE @ Rolling Stone Weekender

% supporting Royel Otis

Praise for Friko & Where we’ve been, Where we go from here

“Where we’ve been, Where we go from here… reaffirm[s] that indie rock, as a style and ethos, can still feel like the most exciting thing a young person could be into.” — Pitchfork 

“[Friko is] my new favorite band… There is so much abandon in their music.”

 — Stephen Thompson,  NPR Music’s Running List of the Year’s Best Songs

“[Friko] truly came alive in the set with a frenetic energy like they were playing the first and last sets of their lives.” — Chicago Sun-Times

“[Friko’s] passion is combustible… That’s the power of a great rock crescendo.” — Vulture

“[Where we’ve been, Where we go from here] places [Friko] in a lineage of great indie- and alt-rock acts like Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and Bright Eyes—bands with prominent weird streaks, arena-sized potential, and the chops to build a bridge between the two.”  — SPIN

“Friko have cemented themselves as one of the most distinguished up-and-coming voices in all of indie-rock.” — Paste

“The dust has barely settled on last year’s ‘best of’ music lists, yet there’s already a good contender for the 2024 tallies.” — Chicago Sun-Times

 “[Friko are] one of indie rock’s most exciting new acts.” — UPROXX

“Kapetan’s clear emotional commitment to Friko’s music makes the band’s scrappy, homemade aesthetic feel as grand as a symphony.” — Chicago Reader

“Friko is on the cusp of something special…” — WGN-TV