FREDERIC SLAMA -Interview (2014)

 

 

L.A .Concession
Next Stop L.A.
L.A. Reflection
Dreaming Of L.A.
Nothing But The Best
Release Year: 2000
Release Year: 2001
Release Year: 2002
Release Year: 2003
Release Year: 2004
L.A. Attraction
Journey To L.A.
L.A Ambition (Best Of)
L.A. Temptation
The Color of L.A.
Release Year: 2006
Release Year: 2009
Release Year: 2010
Release Year: 2012
Release Year: 2012
The Secrets Of L.A.
L.A. Connection
Release Year: 2013
Release Year: 2014

 

 

 

GEORGE: Welcome to BeRock Radio Frederic, the most melodic place! I am George, please make yourself comfortable!
We’re glad to have you here. After some solo releases and different production you made in France and the USA,
you decided to begin project AOR. Will you tell us as few words on what convinced you to make this decision?

FREDERIC: Well as a pro songwriter, I had a lot of songs in stock and I thought it would be a good idea to let the rest of the
world hear them. So I started the AOR project with recordings that were more very good demos than perfectly produced tracks.
But to my surprise the 1st album had a great success all over the world, so I decided to keep on releasing albums.

GEORGE: The first two releases, "L.A Concession" and "Next Stop L.A" were a large success all over the world.
Did you expect something like this?

FREDERIC: No, I never thought that these AOR releases could sell so much and that fans all over the world would buy them.
You have to remember that at the time, internet was growing up and people still bought cd's instead of illegally downloading them!

GEORGE: From 2002 to 2004, you raised your already-high level of quality for your project after cooperating with names such as
Steve Lukather, Mike Porcaro, Tommy Denander, Goran Edman, Bruce Gaitsch, Bill Champlin, Steve Overland, Michael Landau,
Brandon Fields,Fergie Frederiksen and many more. Thus, "L.A Reflection", "Dreaming Of L.A" and "Nothing But The Best"
met huge success. Tell us your impressions after the cooperation with such big artists.

FREDERIC: Well I was a music journalist for more than 25 years so I met all these people several times and I was good friend
with some of them. But of course to record with such legends was a real honor for me. I never thought they would like my
songs and my project so much that they would accept recording for me. I was lucky to meet all these talented people who
helped me a lot starting a long music career.

GEORGE: From 2006 to 2012, you released high-quality Melodic Rock albums with project AOR. It was at that time that you
worked with the Fontaine sisters, Sarah and Melissa. You released the first album from Chasing Violets to "Outside Heaven",
which Melodic Rockers all over the world loved. You've write, arranged and produced this work, tell us a bit about this
album and also how the cooperation with Sarah and Melissa was.

FREDERIC: Sarah and Melissa Fontaine from Chasing Violets are two very talented French singers that I met in a TOTO concert.
They had great ideas and we thought the world was missing a great female Melodic Rock album, so we decided to work the
best as we can on the 1st album. I called all my famous friends for this project to have the best album possible and I spend all
my time with them concentrating on what is considered today a classic in female Aor music. I never met such talented girls
in France so it was a pleasure to work with them!

GEORGE: Sarah and Melissa improved in their second album over from their first album.
Now they are a little bit heavier, more melodic hard rock and more mature than before.
Melodic Rockers liked this change. What did you think of the change?

FREDERIC: We worked together on the changes to have an even rockier album. "Jade Hearts" was more Melodic Rock and
can be compared to many great albums of the genre sung by male singers. With this album we found the perfect balance
between Westcoast and Hard Rock. Sarah and Melissa 's vocals fits perfectly these songs and leave miles away all the other
female singers who tries to copy them. Chasing Violets is one of the most interesting female project from these recent years,
and I'm not saying that because I produced them ha! ha!

GEORGE: Are there any chances that you’ll film a video clip for a track of “L.A. Connection”?
Your fans would love to see you in a video.

FREDERIC: It's a possibility. I have a film crew who could do that but it's a big budget and it takes a lot of time to have a
professional film and not just a simple video, so time will tell.

GEORGE: Can you tell us a few words about musicians that you’ve featured in the “L.A. Connection” Album,
and about the production and mixing?

FREDERIC: I wanted to keep my talented good friends from my previous albums like Rick Riso, Bob Harris or Bill Champlin
among others. And I wanted new faces that I've admired for years like David Forbes from the band Boulevard,
Sherwood Ball or Jeff Paris. Of course as usual I was helped greatly by my good friend Tommy Denander for the
recordings and the production.

GEORGE: Will you tell us some information on the album?
Was it hard composing the tracks? How long did the recording sessions take?

FREDERIC: The songs were recorded over a 2 year time because I had to wait that some singers were available and
I wanted the best songs possible for them. So as usual I wrote up about 20 songs and kept the 10 best for the album.

GEORGE: How are the reviews you've got so far?
Are you satisfied?

FREDERIC: I never got so many positive reviews. Everybody seems to think this is my best album ever !
So I'm overwhelmed and I'm glad that all this hard work pays.
This is my 13 AOR album so I must do something right by now ha! ha!

GEORGE: For the past 3-4 years, we’ve been seeing a bloom in Melodic Rock\Melodic Hard Rock.
Do you believe that rockers want more quality in the music and listen to more of this centre?
What is your opinion on this?

FREDERIC: It's true that a lot of albums are coming out these days, but it doesn't mean it's quality !
A lot of cd's have just one or two good songs with a lot of fillers. Since most of the fans illegally download albums,
of course they want more since everything's free ! However the real fans that support the artists and buy the albums
have a lot of choices. But people are very excited during the first few weeks and then nobody listen to these albums
anymore after 6 month. Even some "hot" new bands don't deliver real quality with stupid lyrics, always the same
melodies and arrangements we've heard a million times!

GEORGE: The music industry in the recent years has changed.
We see that a lot of people prefers digital purchases, which is more convenient, faster and accessible.
What are your thoughts on the future of CDs?

FREDERIC: Unfortunately I think the real collectors like me will have a hard time buying cd's in 20 years from.
The young generation prefers the digital support and most of them to steal the work of the artists for free!
Of course the vinyl is coming back strong but with all these facts I don't know what the future holds for us in terms
of physical cd's. but we never know, let's be optimistic!

GEORGE: Thank you for your time, I wish you all the best for the future! The last words are yours for this interview.
Feel free to say whatever you want to all BeRock’s Radio minizine readers!

FREDERIC: Thank you for your great questions George and I really hope your readers will appreciate the new AOR album.
I put all my heart in it and I think fans of Melodic Rock should really like it !
Thank you all for your support and keep on rocking my Aor friends!




George "Snaki" Lane
For BeRock Radio MiniZine (2014)
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