Relatively new to the scene and formed entirely online, LORE is the creative fusion of Jay Christian and The Frog, a mysterious artist whose anonymity is a central part to the project. The debut single, “Senpai,” introduced the world to their surreal world in August 2025, followed by their debut EP, Prologue, in October.
Of the release, the duo shared:
Prologue is the opening page of our story a world of curiosity, chaos, and wonder that we’ve only just begun to reveal. This EP means so much to us, and we’re beyond grateful to finally share it with you. Thank you for listening, supporting, and giving life to this music we couldn’t have made it without you.
Fans of “Swancore” will feel perfectly at home listening to LORE, as will anyone who enjoys surrealism with an adventurous narrative. Either way, you can check out "Nightwere Club" here, and then continue onward for our exclusive interview with Jay!
MSM: First off is a two-part question: what is your favorite character or creature from the LORE universe?
JAY: I would have to say that, so far, there aren't any official character names, so I would say Pink. The Pink Cat. They've got a lot going on with what we're working on in the background. I think it's just the character with the most depth to me.
MSM: Yeah. So then, part two of this question is the interesting part: if that pink cat were doing online dating, what would their profile say?
Approach with caution.
MSM: And then moving on, have you gotten any strange or funny DMs since starting LORE?
I mean, nothing too out of the ordinary. Someone had their own fan fiction that they wrote with it, and it wasn't really a real fan fiction, I guess they were just shooting off their own ideas about it, and I was like, damn, they're better at this than me. So yeah, nothing weird or anything like that.
MSM: Yeah. Okay. So, were there any characters or creatures that were sketched or animated that didn't make it into the cut yet?
So, there are concepts and ideas behind characters, and they're basically formless at the moment. There are ideas and stuff tossed around, like, oh, we could do this with this, or we could do that with that. But making it all come to life is a totally different thing, so it remains to be seen, but I would definitely expect a couple of new characters. There's a lot going on.
MSM: If you could drop the song "Senpai" into any video game and it would be a boss battle theme, what kind of game would that be?
How about in a Star Fox Boss level? I guess you're like barrel rolling through shit and you got to, I don't know, maybe you're going to save your girl on it or whatever, but yeah, I guess I'd have to roll with Star Fox, a boss before the final boss.
MSM: Do you have a go-to snack when you're in your creative mode?
Honey buns of all kinds. It's unhealthy, but I'll do it. I don't even care.
MSM: They're so good. I love them!
That's like my go-to.
MSM: So, you obviously have a "frog" on board, but other than that little fact there, what would you say sets you apart from other artists in the scene right now?
We're not really trying to super stand out or be weird or like, look at this. It's just more about we're going to have some fun and we're going to write some songs and there's going to be some stories behind them because it's a bunch of nerds writing music. That's just kind of what happens. And you get nerds from other different backgrounds or whatever. There's so many different types of people I've run into since this band went public and stuff like that. The places you'll go, I'll tell you.
MSM: So, with your past experiences and other projects, is there anything you would say that's helped you with LORE?
I don't mean to undermine musician shit and honing your skill and whatever it is that you do, but if you're going to make music, it would just be more about not taking it so serious. It's not so deep as to try to win, its just more like, "Hey, we did this thing and it'd be cool if you guys liked it. It's cool if you don't though."
MSM: I like that. What influences would you say helped to shape the EP? I mean, obviously a lot.
There's so much. There's a lot of culture going on. So, obviously, The Frog and I have my background with the whole Swancore thing, and then, I don't know, things just sort of got out of hand from there. And then this song "Senpai" comes out of magic work from this Frog guy, and they've got a pretty big background in the whole Swancore thing as well. Pretty huge. And I don't know, we just sort of ended up joining a band or making up a band or something like that. They had a lot going on. I had a lot going on. We put those a lot going on together.
MSM: And now you have a lot going on together.
Yeah, and as far as influences and stuff like that, I don't know. We have a lot of Latin stuff going on. There's a lot of post hardcore. There is some screaming, but we're not leaning super into that, either. There's a whole bunch of different instruments. I never expected to be in this kind of stuff, but we're doing it. We're doing stuff we're doing. Who knows?
MSM: And it works.
Yeah, and there's a couple other songs in the chamber. These are nuts. But yeah, there's just influence coming from all over.
MSM: If you could collaborate with anyone on a future LORE song, who would you love to work with?
All right, I got you. So, it's like this tie, starting with Adam Warren of Oceano. This motherfucker can sing. Did y'all know that he can sing? And I don't know, the whole Adam Warren thing is, I guess when I was just starting to get into the realm of screaming vocals in metalcore and post hardcore, whatever the fuck they call it... but Oceano was one of the first bands I saw. It's this six foot tall black guy, and oh my God... and I felt like, okay, there's more of us in here. I can do this too. I don't know. I had felt a way about it before, but I wasn't trying to scream and be vocal about it. I was just singing R&B songs. So, that's the Adam Warren part, but Krista Cameron is just like a Warped Tour fever dream for me, that would be so tight. I was a really big I Wrestled A Bear Once fan as a kid. This was the best thing ever. But it is sort of a tie. I couldn't pick between the two, but it would be those two. Adam Warren of Oceano and Krista Cameron of I Wrestled A Bear Once.
MSM: Well, I'm glad you decided to branch out, genre-wise.
Yeah, it gets pretty interesting, the weirder you get with the music. Just have fun with it. We're not really like chasing a particular sound. We're just going to keep making music, and from this weird sect of post hardcore and all that stuff. But it doesn't necessarily have to define you.
MSM: What would you say is the biggest creative challenge of working online? You're collaborating one hundred percent online, correct?
Yes. We are entirely online, I've never even met The Frog in person. That's how wild this is. But I'd say time zones are the hardest part of all of this. You never know what's going on, where it's going on, and who it's going on with, and at what time. You might send something at 3:00 PM, and because that person is in another time zone, now here's this other one coming at 4:00 AM but you're knocked out, but it's a pretty big deal so you got to lock in.
MSM: Is there anything unexpected that is like a benefit about it, that you love about working online?
It's kind of like the freedom of it. You just sort of get to watch your virtual moves to people online, and people have funny comments like someone thought we were an AI band. I didn't know if that was a compliment or a jab, but I was with it. I don't know. You just sort of get to watch what happens when you go and make stuff with people. And we talk — me and everyone else in the band — we talk all the time. It's just that we've never met in person and it's fun that way, but there's plans. The Frog is everywhere. You never know exactly who The Frog is going to be, but they're everyone.
MSM: So, kind of along the lines of what you said about AI, do you feel like the internet has made it easier or harder to create authentic art? AI has kind of taken over everything.
I think it's definitely a bit of both, but it's harder, definitely, because why go to the graphic designer when I can throw up something into AI and get something back instantly? But at the same time, I think if you are making your art for the particular reasons that I feel that, you're not necessarily in it to blow up, but you're just making art. There's ways to go about using AI, it's just like you pick and choose, but don't get too caught up in it. It's unnecessary. But you can use it for a concept to then turn into something else. I guess you can come up with a prompt. I have a couple of friends, they're writing their music with AI prompts, and stuff like that, and bouncing off ideas, but then they turn around and then they have an actual creator in that field bring the idea to life. So it's like AI is just talking to yourself, but you shouldn't talk to yourself too much. It's weird.
MSM: Have you had any particularly memorable fan experiences so far with this project?
With this project, no, not necessarily. But as I said, it's all an online thing. I think we're playing our first show on the 29th here in Orlando, but I've never really met any of the fans in person. I usually just get really funny DMs. Some of them are people that I actually grew up with so it gets interesting, but at the same time, no, I haven't had anything wild happen with this project. We're pretty chill so let's hope they stay chill. Oh my God,
MSM: What would you say that you defines success for you, like what is your goal (with LORE)? What would make you happy?
If we could just drop a couple albums every once in a while, and do a weird story skit, we're going to make music to it. This frog's got really good ideas, and we should go with his stuff. He's talking about a lot we should get. But that would pretty much be the success for me. I am not really in it to make money or win it. It's just fun to write some songs about some stuff. And if people want to hear those songs live, let's go do that too. Why not?
MSM: And then for Prologue, if you had to describe it in three words, what would they be?
Random. Definitely random. And I ust keep coming up with synonyms for random. And I want to say unexpected, but that's just random. Again, ridiculous. I would definitely go with ridiculous, actually, but I'm not saying we're a joke band or anything like that, but it's just supposed to be something you have fun with and fun can make you cry. People watch their shows and stuff like that, and they have their deep connections with their characters. I guess we're just going for that, but we also make great music. So I guess I would go with that.
MSM: And fun can be one of them, too.
Yeah. Let's just go with that, yeah. Fun. I like that. Fun is great.
MSM: And then, if somebody is standing at the edge of the LORE universe and they're not sure if they should enter, how would you convince them? Like, how would you convince someone to listen?
JAY: I would say that it's a great way to pass time. Lock in for a couple of seconds, but go do your other stuff too. But this could be fun, too.
MSM: Yeah. Don't forget your life, but check this out.
JAY: Yeah. But have some fun with it. We're over here doing this weird stuff. There's a frog. He's doing magic.
MSM: He does magic. Let him cast his spell on you.
JAY: Yeah. Who knows? Who knows what's going to happen? You might get kidnapped by three guys and some bird masks. Who knows what's up.
MSM: It happens every once in a while. So, what is next for LORE?
JAY: Well, there is an album. It's in the works. I don't know. I'd say we're halfway deep into it. A lot of it just kind of needs to be tracked and recorded. We will be at Skyville Sounds, once again, they did our first EP prologue. Very good work. All kinds of talent on that one. Even the dogs, they're there. So we're definitely going back to Skyville sounds for that. There's a couple of features already. There needs to be a couple more features that need to be officiated, but those are coming. I honestly couldn't say. There is talks and schemes about going one way with it about our characters and the story and what's happening here. There's other ways to go about that as well. So I don't know, but all I can say is I really hope Crunchy Roll likes it. Here's hoping.
