I N T E R V I E W

Interview Dallas Frasca (by mail)

Dallas isn't such a usual first name, where does this come from?

My Mum was and still is very alternative in her thinking and I believe she just had a love for the name. I think having this unusual name was easy when deciding a stage name ;). No decision required, ha ha!

You are pretty new to us, in France, could you introduce your band a little bit?

Jeff (Jean Francois, French name, haha) and I have been playing together for seven years. We both started off playing as a blues/roots style duo with blue grass instruments and then developed naturally and musically into rock'n'roll. We lived on the road and toured Australia for three years of this time in many many venues and some of Australia's biggest festivals (well over 650 shows together) around the country. We then decided it was time to add more rhythm as we developed as songwriters and added a drummer around four years ago, we are now honoured to play with the super talented, Sam Lukeis.

In my review I made references to folks like Janis Joplin, Beth Ditto but also Patti Smith and Led Zeppelin, quite an original mix, do you recognize yourself in those influences? Other ones you'd like to add?

I am such a massive Led Zeppelin fan, who isn't??? They are the essence of 'mastering the craft'. Betty Davis is the woman who gave me confidence and spirit to be the woman I am and want to be. She was strong, tough, alternative and there is only one Betty Davis on the planet. I love Beth Ditto and Janis Joplin but never really listened much to Patti Smith, maybe it's time! :)

You had a few albums out prior to "Sound Painter", can you say a few words about them and why they are not available in Europe?

Our first EP, "Learn Your Routes" (2006) is available worldwide on iTunes and via our website www.dallasfrasca.com. This was Jeff and I's first recording together as a duo and it won Triple J's 'Light Your Fuse' Comp in Australia. Our first album "Not For Love Or Money" was very successful in Australia and we proudly released it independently through my own record label, Spank Betty Records (it is available online at www.dallasfrasca.com). This album won 'Music Oz Artist Of The Year' in 2010 and came in the top ten roots album releases for 2010 on Triple J (Australia's answer to Oui FM). "Sound Painter" is our second album and came out in Europe on Jan 28th 2013.

Ok so now you release "Sound Painter", and this one is available in France and the rest of the world, so why now and why this one?

We have been searching for the right team to work with for some time to release it worldwide, and are very happy finally to have found our new French family (record label) based in Paris, Verycords.

I really loved this album and its raw power and energy, how did you record this?

We recorded the entire album live in six days with minimal overdubs with Aussie producer, Andy Baldwin (Bjork, Cat Empire, Living End) in Brooklyn, New York. We had to ride our push bikes seven kilometers through Manhattan every day, from our accommodation to the studio, and then back again at night. That change of scene, from Melbourne to Manhattan, Footscray to Soho, was inspiring and it gave us the chance to create anything we wanted to. You can hear that confidence on the record. We used no click tracks for that true honest rock sound, all the guitars, drums and most vocals on the album were live takes with next to no overdubs and most songs were captured in their first or second run through. The entire record features no bass; just Jeff and I duelling gargantuan slabs of riffs on two Les Paul’s through 1960’s Fender Silvertone amps.

Did you compose everything yourself?

We work very closely as a band, I have a big say in the arranging but we all work as a team to produce our sound. Ultimately – the universe brought us altogether at exactly the right time in our lives, we were all ready to work hard, we were all ready to share our ideas and no one had any delusions of grandeur…. We just wanted to make a powerful f**cking album that would be listened to for generations to come!

What are your songs about in general? And do you also write the lyrics?

I write all of the lyrics in the band, there are tales of heartbreak, love, overcoming, rising back up and triumph.

There doesn't seem to be a bass player in your band, and no bass in the album? Why is this?

If you hear our sound, you will understand why we don't need bass, it is ball tearing huge!!

I found that you have a great voice, yet you make use of effects on it. Do you like it better this way?

I think the way I see art is experimenting to try and get the right balance between heart felt delivery and matching the tone to find the right expression, effect or no effect.

I liked songs like "Anything Left To Wonder", where you have a little bluesy side, is this also in your culture?

When I was twelve years old I discovered the film "Crossroads' (music by Ry Cooder), I was so blown away by the music in this film that it meant everything to me to discover where all of this blues music came from…. It was the first time I skipped school and watched the film thirteen times in a room. I went onto discover artists like Robert Johnson and the people he influenced, Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I also discovered the many great soul/blues singers of the past.

Also I loved the last track of the album "Ain’t No Fury", what a beautiful ballad! What story does it tell? It sounds quite personal.

This song I wrote for my best friend and how she has always been there by my side through hard times to help my stand. I remember after I finished recording this track in New York to the very last hours before I then flew on a month holiday to India with my best friend. I remember sitting in a small cafe in a remote area of India whilst a goat was under my feet, a cow to my right and my best friend to my left. Whilst the rain poured down, it took almost seven hours to download 'Ain't No Fury' due to the bad internet connection. haha. When it finally came through we both cried with how much it meant to us both.

Now you are touring for this great album, with seven dates in France, that's unusual. How did this happened? And is it your first time in France?

In 2012 we came third in the ISA - International Songwriting Competition (over 16,000 entries and judged by Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Waits, Jeff Beck, Tori Amos and many more) for our song 'All My Love', this opened up the eyes of agents and promoters around the world for us. We were invited to perform at Cognac Blues Passions in 2009 in the south of France. This was such a wonderful festival and we have stayed in touch with many good friends since then. This planted the seed of love for France that has grown immensely since then.

You are playing in a few small venues, is it more confortable for you? Do you like to stay close to the crowd?

It is very important to me to connect with my crowd. I think for our first tour to venues/club around UK, France and Switzerland to start small (around three hundred people) to get a feel of our reach. Most of the rooms have been sold out so far, so next time we will have to take a step up, we are really blown away by the people who have travelled far and wide to see our band. Think CBGB's, one of the most important platforms for up and coming rock'n'roll bands, it's where the Ramones, Blondie and many others were born. These venues are a must for bands to cut their teeth.

You have a big reputation as a live performer, tell us why? And so why we should come and see you?

We play big fat mean dual guitar riffs, Aussie rock'n'roll with tribal pounding drums. I perform with my chest ripped opened whilst revealing my heart, you cannot lie to an audience, they can smell it a mile away, it is very important to the whole band to be honest. Jeff plays left handed with a right handed guitar, there are few guitarists that play like him!

For example I have seen incredible pictures of you playing guitar with Jeff also playing guitar on your shoulders!! This is wild, shouldn't it be the other way around?

HAHA.. You should know from our music that we are not a conventional band, you never know what could happen at a Dallas Frasca show.. Once the adrenaline is flowing, the music takes over….

I also notice on your web site that you have a worldwide section and a dedicated France section. What is it with France suddenly? Or do you think we cannot read english at all :-)?

I think it is polite to offer some respect for the culture and language. As we are currently focussed on France, we thought it would be kind to offer something a little different and special. We are trying our best to learn this beautiful language, but we are very slow, haha.

We are very happy to have you in France anyway, sorry I could not make it as there is no date in the south east part of the country. So how did it go so far? Paris for example? Good attendance? Good atmosphere?

Our Paris show was sold out, such an incredible vibe and energy in the room. I am currently in Alençon and have just discovered that we only have three tickets left for tonight's show. There is an incredible connection between our music and the French audience, I would love to base myself in France someday, maybe to even write an album or two.. Soooo much history, I am fascinated by it.

I noticed you going back to Australia after this little France and Switzerland trip, are you scared of being home sick? Or the french food? Or dead cold maybe?

We definitely miss our lovers and friends, I think our love affair with music and Europe makes it okay. There are two vegetarians in the band (including myself) so we are enjoying the discovery of lots and lots of "fromage"! YUM! Our winters in Australia get very cold, but I must say it was a romantic sight watching snow fall in a capital city (we only have snow in the mountains). <3

So it means we won't see you again for the summer festivals in Europe? There are quite a few that would be great for you.

We have some very exciting announcements to make for the European Summer festivals very soon so stay tuned!! :)

Any bigger world tour planned after this?

We will be spending most of March touring in North America then back to Australia for April / May, then Canada again to tour in early June and then the UK and Europe in July, August for festivals.

What's planned after this for you and your band?

Our plans for April and May are to write a brand new album,

Dallas, thank you very much, a last word for our readers?

We are truly humbled to be able to share some ball tearing Aussie rock'n'roll with the beautiful people of France! x

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