Frontier Ruckus was one of several bands to perform at the Loft, 414 E. Michigan Ave., in Lansing, Sunday night in celebration of IMPACT 89FM’s 24th birthday. Ed Glazer, General Manager of Impact 89FM, said Frontier Ruckus has had a good relationship with the radio station for years.

“They have a lot of nostalgia from their time at Michigan State,” Glazer said. “They have been a great partner for us. They always come into town and premier new music when they’re releasing new albums.”

Professional writing senior Kaitlyn Canary, who has seen Frontier Ruckus perform several times, said she enjoys the fact that Frontier Ruckus is personable.

“Their roots are in Lansing, and they really interact with the community,” Canary said.

Lead singer Milia, drummer Ryan Etzcorn and trumpeter Zachary Nichols are all MSU alumni. Banjo player David Jones, who Milia first started playing with in 2001, attended University of Michigan.
Milia classifies Frontier Ruckus as a folk-rock band. He grew up listening to Bob Dylan and Neil Young, and their influences are evident in the band’s sound. However, he said the influences for the band’s new album, “Eternity of Dimming,” are more varied.

“I call it folk-rock most consistently, but we depart a lot,” he said. “There’s almost hip-hop moments in our newest work. It’s very lyrically and language based. It’s heavy on words. There’s a lot of influences, from hip-hop to pop to ‘90s alternative radio music. Most consistently, it’s folk-rock, like Bob Dylan and that vein from the ‘70s and ‘60s.”

A 2008 graduate, Milia studied poetry under now-retired professor Diane Wakoski. She taught him about the importance of imagery. Milia said he tries to capture the imagery of commonplace landscapes in his music.

“I sing about a lot of suburban landscape,” he said. “Dead shopping malls and parking lots. Things that are immediately boring, but it’s what I know. It’s my existence and my childhood.”
“I like to make things that seem boring more beautiful, sacred.”

Glazer said the band members are not only very talented, but nice as well.
“Frontier Ruckus, they’re some of the most hardworking guys I know, and it’s paid off because they’re getting international success,” he said.

In “Eternity of Dimming,” Frontier Ruckus aims to bring lyricism to the forefront.

“Everything I write, it’s about memory,” he said. “It’s about the fading and the denigrations of memory, and the beauty in that. It’s very Michigan based, it’s very specific to a lot of places in Michigan. It’s a fun record, I played with language a lot. I like words, so it’s very wordy, but in a good way in my opinion. I had fun writing it.”