Dallas Frasca are a Melbourne-born explosion of rock’n’roll that have charmed the hearts of Slash to Patti Smith. The band came together when the worlds of Dallas Frasca (vox/guitar) and Jeff Curran (guitar) collided in one Melbourne’s many small bars. Zane Rosanoski (drums) completed the tripod years later.
The band are no stranger to the international platform, having been signed with French label Verycords. They’ve supported the likes of Patti Smith, Aerosmith, Van Halen and even Earth Wind & Fire and have been tilted by adoring Europeans as “the next AC/DC”. Their 2012 cataclysmic hit ‘All My Love’ came third in the International Songwriting Competition, judged by the likes Ozzy Osbourne, Tori Amos, Tom Waits, Janelle Monae and Basement Jaxx.
The Rock The Bay 2014 headliner’s spilled their 5 tips for international touring survival:
1. Inflight Safety
If an Aussie act wants to break into the international market, you better believe you’ve got to be willing to travel to the deepest and darkest pockets of the globe for performance. Naturally, the deepest pains of this is travel, is the travel itself. Sleep is imperative. Frasca’s tips for avoiding the onslaught of over-zealous flight-attendants and over-sharing passengers:
“Apply earphones, crank riffs and cover ears with your hoodie (this way the attendant thinks you’re listening) Always have your sunnies on stand-by, so when the person next to you starts rambling about their shit case of piles and other medical dysfunctions you can apply, turn music up, smile and nod to the beats.”
“For total extreme lock-out: trucker caps gets tilted to cover your entire face, so with your hoodie on, earphones in, sunnies on, and with Black Sabbath cranked, you could be spiralling to your death in the Atlantic Ocean and you wouldn’t even know it. This also prevents other childish (you know who you are) band members taking pictures of you with your mouth open asleep.”
2. Jet Lag is a ‘State of Mind’
Health is obviously at the top of the game, but sometimes the brain likes to play tricks and we convince ourselves we’re crook and disorientated because we’ve spent the past 14-hours straight in a recycled environment.
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“Once you get on the plane, adjust to your destinations time straight away to try and ease into sleeping patterns and ‘man up’ when you arrive. If your symptoms are headachy, nauseous and dehydrated once you have landed, you are most likely hung-over. If you have sharp pains in your intestines, then see a doctor, you probably have appendicitis and you are about to die (yes, this actually happened to me last time I was in France).”
3. Travel Insurance
It’s obvious. If you won’t take the advice of Franca on something so logical…maybe you deserve the bill.
“Get it!!! It saved me (and the band from a completely going under) 30,000 Euros for my appendicitis operation on our Summer European tour. Don’t even think about not having it, a trap for young players.”
4. Improving Musical Skills & Cultural Diversity
Don’t jump into an over-priced cab, ride with the fans (or prospective fans at that!). You never know who could meet and what kind of unique experience you’re going to have with hip flask and a bout of confidence to break into song with street performers.
“It is easy to become addicted to riding London’s late nights buses after shows. Riding can be very rewarding and a good chance to jam with random strangers and to your improve skills as a musician. So always bring hidden party hip flask of grog to quench your thirst on your journey. Always join in and sing out of tune to classic Beatles and Elvis tunes to keep fellow night warriors at ease. Vomit from a night warrior is most likely expected – this is a sign of appreciation, so simply wipe chunks off with your travel insurance receipt. Requests should be at least attempted, even if you have never heard the song before.”
5. Learn The Language
We’re pretty blessed to have the so-called ‘international language’ as our native tongue and perhaps take for granted the initial difficulty that lies with a foreign band trying to introduce themselves on stage in English. Try to reciprocate the effort!
“When learning a language, make sure you know exactly what you are saying, and pronouncing your words correctly. Every night on stage throughout our last French tour I would introduce the band members to the crowd with our own special ‘French’ names our friends had taught us. The last show we discovered why everyone was laughing when I would introduce Zane to the audience as I was actually calling him, ‘small noodle’. Yep, trap for young players.”
Rock The Bay 2014 Dates, Tickets
Saturday 15th February – The Espy
St Kilda, Melbourne VIC
Tickets: $21 (+b/f) or $25 at the door.
On sale now via oztix.com.au, Greville Records, Fist2Face, Polyester (City & Fitzroy), Karova Lounge (Ballarat) and The Nash (Geelong).
Visit rockthebayfestival.com for the full details.
