DALLAS FRASCA is the kind of woman where what you see is what you get, and it is captivating audiences not only in Australia but also in France and the UK. COURTNEY LAURA had the chance to have a chat with the Aussie Rock Goddess about returning home from a memorable tour and going back into the studio with her band to write their third full-length album.
“We work very hard on our music, we really, really do,” shared Frasca reflecting on stepping out of their writing session to have a chat with me. “It is the most challenging thing of my life. We have been in the studio for the last few weeks and we are getting there slowly.” After returning from a UK/European tour, the band are in lockdown putting together their new album, and after taking two years to write their previous album, Frasca assures “we hope to have this album out at the end of the year.”
The process of writing music is different for every artist. As Frasca explains, every time for her is different too, but “this time it has definitely been the music. We are laying the beds down and finding where the vocals sit best.” As all writers can understand, Frasca described how she has “books and books of lyrics and is constantly writing ideas down. There is no formula, a great song just happens.”
Frasca described that inspiration comes from hearing other people’s music and observing their technique as a way to discover new ways of doing something. With Frasca being on the recent Stone Music Festival, I asked about playing along side Billy Joel and Van Halen. “It is every band’s dream to play a stadium,” she stated. “This was our first stadium gig, and we supported some of the musical legends of the world and it was a massive honour.”
With Gun N Roses being Frasca’s first memorable concert, to watch Kings of Chaos was “an absolute honour” to play on a bill along side them. With such a great support for their music in Australia, “we were still pinching ourselves even by the time we hopped off the stage.”
A few weeks prior, I was lucky enough to interview Diesel regarding being apart of Stone Music Festival and he stated, “Dallas Frasca who I saw about 8 years ago, I am really looking forward to seeing what she is doing now. Back then it was mind blowing, so I can’t imagine where she is at now. It should be incredible I am sure.” Upon hearing this, Frasca stated she “grew up listening to his music” and how growing up “you look at these big characters and they’re almost like a fantasy character that you’re getting to know through their music, and then meeting someone who has inspired you in some form, to also appreciate your music, is such an honour.”
Whilst at the festival, Frasca headed over to the independent stages. “It’s very cool that the organisers and promoters supported independent music in Australia… it needs to be nurtured and developed and it’s really fucking cool that it happened at this gig.”
Frasca and the band have spent their time in the studio after returning from huge UK/European tour, and even though we were talking on the phone, I could hear through her voice that she had a big smile on her face while describing her experiences over there. Not only did they get signed by a French label, Verycords, but performed in many sell out rooms, sometimes twice a day. Getting support from WEFM (France’s equivalent of Triple J), Frasca described how it “really helps to introduce our music to new audiences.” Upon returning to France, Frasca will have the honour of supporting Patti Smith and Earth Wind and Fire, both of which Frasca and the band “are pretty stoked.”
The whole experience was “absolutely incredible,” Frasca stated as she told me about some of the big highlights of their time spent over there. “It was just overwhelming to travel so far away from home and have people wanting to support you and see your music.” She also described how at many of the London shows it seemed that the crowd was made up of a “third French, a third Aussie and a third Londoners,” which made for a dynamic atmosphere at the shows.
“We got very spoilt by the French,” Frasca stated. “The promoters look after the bands very, very well. They put on lunch, dinners, breakfasts, accommodation, gave us flowers, and chocolates – they were amazing.” One of the most memorable moments for Frasca, “in France five years ago we played a festival, and [on this tour] we had about 4-5 people at every show who saw us at that festival, and had been waiting for us to return.” She also described the French audience as “a very big listening audience, they don’t say a word during the performance until the last note dies and then they just let it rip.” She compared this to the Australian “party” culture which are a much louder audience to perform to.
Being on the road everyday, “we would grab as much sleep as we could in between shows and the long distances traveled between gigs,” but once at a venue “we had two hours to sound check every night and it was just really nice to have time with instruments on a stage that you can just pick up and not have any pressure to rush off anywhere.”
Whilst touring, gigging, playing stadium shows and traveling all around the world are high on the agenda for Dallas Frasca, I wanted to know a bit more about her. How many times have you wondered what a particular artist listens to themselves? Upon asking this of Frasca I enjoyed hearing the diverse range that she, too, was interested in and how she still takes the time to discover new music in different ways.
“I have been listening to the Queens of the Stone Age’s new song. I am a pretty massive fan, and I have just bought tickets to go and see the Truckfighters which I am absolutely pumped to see. I have just spent five days being inspired at Blues Fest for this songwriting session” she said. “I have actually just discovered Glen Hansard, and I got to see Robert Plant which was pretty cool, and Grace Potter from the States came out and absolutely rocked the hell out of Blues Fest with a flying V and a really, really amazing voice. I have discovered a lot of new artists over the last few weeks that’s for sure.”
“Playing the Sydney Opera House was pretty amazing,” Frasca stated when asked about what her favourite venue has been to play in. For an overseas venue, stepping up on stage at 12 Bar in Soho London was mindblowing. Artists such as Eric Clapton had played on that stage along with many others that Frasca described as “change the face of music kind of musicians.” In that moment, reflecting on coming from a small town, to that stage to a sell out crowd was again, a great honour.
Whilst Dallas Frasca and her band are making a name for themselves all around the world, it warms my heart to hear that they don’t forget about their roots, where they come from, and the people that supported them as they rose to the level they are at. “We are just so excited about this last year, we have had some incredible support from everyone. Jeff (Curran, guitar) and I have been playing together for seven years now and even whilst traveling to France, we have found ourselves an incredible market of people that love what we do. It is cool to have the Australian vibe, and all the support from here has helped us get up to the level to travel overseas and we can’t thank everyone enough for that.
Dallas Frasca performs as part of the Whole Lotta Love 10th Anniversary show at the Laycock Theatre, Gosford, on Friday April 26, 2013.