Juke Joint at Queens - DallasFrasca

Thu 1st Oct, 2009 in Features

The Juke Joint at Queens returns bigger and better than ever before taking in two massive fun filled nights. The second night has been touted as – œa rave for blues heads” and joining that action is the ever so cool Dallas Frasca.

The upcoming album launch sounds like an exciting affair? “We spent 18 months putting the record together over 5 different studios around the country, with the bulk of it done in Sing Sing studios in Melbourne with producer, Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Butterfly Effect, Helmet). We completed it in January and have been sitting on it all of these months, so we have been so pumped about everyone else hearing it after such a long process.”

Eighteen months seems like a long time? “I think because we spent such a long time on the album (due to a lot of great opportunities over the last year like touring with Xavier Rudd, fronting Midnight Oil, performing as one of seven artists from the seven continents of the planet for International Earth Day in Montreal, Canada), it gave us the chance to reflect and give the songs fresh ears when we came back to them. As a result we have something that we are all really proud of. We are currently mid way through the tour, sold out most of the rooms and have had great reviews around the country, so all of us are on a positive note and havin’ a fat time.”

What can punters expect on the night? “They can expect be introduced to new band members (don’t worry, Jeff Curran my guitarist extraordinaire is still on board!) and we’ll be showcasing what we think is an evolution of song writing and live performance for us. The last time we played in Adelaide was for the Adelaide Guitar Festival for the AC/DC tribute last December and then as a part of the fringe festival in the Speigletent where we were honoured to win the ‘best music award’ for the festival. We truly love Adelaide and there is a strong connection as it was where I was born.”

Does it feel like all the hard work is starting to pay off now? “Definitely, it took The Waifs many years to crack the Australian music industry and be recognised for their incredible music. My goal as is the rest of the bands dreams are to be playing music, travelling and meeting people along the way. I think for us the opportunities like headlining festivals, selling out our own shows and travelling overseas is something that I would consider ‘hard work paying off’, but we have a long way to go. We recently returned from France where we had a huge success in terms of CD sales and response from the crowd. I never thought that I would have paparazzi following us everyday we emerged from our motel room or get emails from fans all over Europe daily and really look forward to returning in March next year.”

The transformation of the Queens Theatre sounds like it will be a beauty? “The Queens Theatre will be set up like an old Juke Joint or Barrelhouse that were like a shack or barn around in the early 20th twentieth century where muso’s like Robert Johnson and Son House toured the circuit to entertain for free meals and tips…. (Has anything changed for us poor muso’s? haha) They don’t exist anymore due to socio-economic reasons, but it’s gonna be cool to be a part of something that revives something very cool from the past.”

How did you come up with that idea and are you doing it on the rest of the tour? “The idea came from the organisers of the Adelaide Blues Festival and it’ll be a one off show for Adelaidians to get down and check out. If you’re gonna do something, you may as well go the full hog and do it properly.”

Is there a love of the Mississippi and the 30s? “When I was younger, my Dad brought home a classic 80’s film called ‘Crossroads’, based on the myth of Robert Johnson – music by Ry Cooder – and was blown away by the love, emotion and expression in the soundtrack of this film. I remember wagging school the next day and watching the film over and over again… that music is embedded in me. And it was from there that I discovered many many artists from that era and that’s where my journey began as I delved into blues, heavy rock, metal and soul.”

How are your blues idols? “We recently performed in France at a festival, where we met BB King and Cedric Burnside (A monster drummer – (RL Burnside’s grandson) who appeared in the Juke Joint scene in the recent film ‘Black Snake Moan’). We are huge fans of Cedric and he invited us to record an album with him in Mississippi next year… What a dream!”

How would describe your album? “I think the album has a cross of all these styles I have been heavily influenced from over the years, I think what we do is a modernised version of all of this music as well as what comes naturally from our roots/rock background. While we were putting the album together I immersed myself in what I think are some of the greatest songs written of all time and broke down the foundations of makes a song so great (harmonies, rhythms & structures) and applied what we learnt to our song writing. Touring with Xavier Rudd last year implanted into us the powerful influence you can have on an audience with what you are singing about so the album has mixed lot of issues that are close to us to do with love, the environment, stalkers, drunken mates, etc but with the intention to have a positive impact on the listener.”

Has there been a lot of pressure from fans to get cracking on a release of some sorts? “We have had a huge success touring off the back off Learn Your Routes (a compilation of my first two EP’s) for the last couple of years and yes we have had lots of emails about our next release but we did this in our own time without rushing it. I think that way you get the result you’re after and we can happily say that that wait is over.”

What’s your plan for the rest of the year? “We will be touring the album around the country as well as playing the festival circuit in OZ for the rest of the year before returning to Europe early next year.”

The Juke Joint at Queens takes place over two nights. Friday October 2 (The Roots) will kick off with the presentations for the Derringers Adelaide Blues Awards at 7.00pm followed by the live action commencing at 8pm with likes of Cal Williams Jnr. with Kory Horwood, Jesse Deane-Freeman Trio, Heather Stewart Trio, Fiona Boyes and Mojo Webb. While Saturday October 3 (At The Crossroads) will feature Jackson Firebird, The Blues vs. Hip-Hop, The Mojo Webb Band, Dallas Frasca and Kirk Special.