Friendship Commanders is a heavy melodic duo based in Nashville, TN. The band is songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Buick Audra, and drummer/bassist Jerry Roe. As music industry veterans, they bring their perspectives, precision, and power to everything they do. Audra is a two-time Grammy Award-winning artist and producer, and Roe is currently the number-one session drummer in the world. Together, they create the catchy-yet-crushing music that FC has become known for.
The duo formed as a side project, as its members had other ventures, but it quickly became a focal endeavor for them both. Their early work—GARFIELD (EP, 2015), DAVE (LP, 2016), and JUNEBUG (EP, 2017)—was self-recorded and self-produced in their own studio, Fort Knockout. They supported the releases with regional tours.
Their second LP, BILL (2018), was co-produced and engineered by Steve Albini at his Chicago studio, Electrical Audio. Working with Albini was a pivotal experience for Friendship Commanders, both personally and professionally, bringing their work to a notably larger audience and allowing them to tour nationally. Following his passing in 2024, the band released Albini’s original analog mixes of the project, BILL – The Steve Albini Mixes.
The band’s self-produced 2020 EP, HOLD ON TO YOURSELF, was the beginning of their now years-long collaboration with Kurt Ballou, who mixed the project. He would go on to mix their self-produced pandemic-era singles as well: STONECHILD / YOUR REIGN IS OVER (2020), ALTAR / LAND OF MEN (2021), & AND IF MY BODY (2022). The singles were later compiled on a limited vinyl release called RELEASE THE REST. This set of EPs marked a departure from their previous punk and hardcore leanings and introduced a heavier, sludgier set of sensibilities.
The third Friendship Commanders LP, MASS, was recorded by Ballou at his GodCity Studio in Salem, MA. The band co-produced the work with him, Audra recorded and produced her vocals at her Nashville studio, and Ballou mixed it. MASS, a concept album about memory, language, and the state of Massachusetts, opened the band up to a global audience. The record was accompanied by a memoir-in-essays of the same name, penned by Audra.
Friendship Commanders have been touring the US steadily and with increased intensity every year since 2016. The band played over 70 shows in the US in support of their 2023 album MASS alone, supporting acts such as The Jesus Lizard, Whores., Thou, REZN, Mutoid Man, Red Fang and Howling Giant.
In 2025, Friendship Commanders signed to Magnetic Eye Records. Their fourth album, BEAR, was released through the label on October 10, 2025.
