The strange machine which is Fronz Arp grinds like a tattered, angry little hurdy gurdy. With dramatic jaunt and seesawing melodies that have been compared to weird-pop wonders, such as David Bowie and Tom Waits
In this interview feature, we chat with Fronz Arp about influences, the new project and more.
Full Q&A, links and streams below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
I’ve always been into a very wide variety of genres – Really much more about good and interesting songs and pieces then genres. So will happily listen to symphonies, pop music, metal, alternative rock, anything really if it’s interesting and well done. And I think as part of that same idea, I’ve always gravitated to artists that have a real mish-mash of influences and sounds rather than being a specific genre, like David Bowie, Tom Waits, Bjork, Kate Bush, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, etc etc. So when it comes to making my own music I really just try to make creative decisions that I find exciting and interesting, rather than being specific to a genre choice
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
Music has always been a part of my life. My first job as an 11 year old kid was playing drums in my father’s ballroom dancing band. Then learning Metallica and Guns ‘N’ Roses songs probably stopped me from being beaten up a couple of times at the small town school I went to. So it’s something that I just always did and now it’s something that I just keep doing. I’ve always worked pretty hard and had a bunch of encouraging influences, friends and cohorts whose involvement has been so important. Besides that, my motivation for creating any specific song or collection of songs varies from moment to moment and I’ve really just always let myself follow those ideas. I’ve found that it’s the best way to keep everything feeling relevant to my life.
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
Creatively I take influence from anywhere I can get it. I read, watch movies, go to theatre and dance shows as well as listen to any music I can. Ingesting as much art as I can helps so much with my own creative process. Hearing unique voices really makes me think about what I’m doing and saying. And having a creative group of people around is the best, seeing other people working on, struggling with and creating their art is about the most inspiring thing you can witness. In terms of music, my tastes have always been quite broad and just discovering new stuff pushes me in new directions. Though that said I feel like my music tastes drifted into very obscure territory for a while.
On another level, the world is full of people and situations that are inspiring or deserve voice to be given to them. The last song I have felt extremely proud of writing was ‘Foreign Bodies’, inspired by the appalling treatment of refugee boat arrivals in Australian waters over the past 3-5 years. If anyone heard that song and was inspired to learn more or voice their dissatisfaction to the Australian government over that situation then I’d feel that I’d accomplished something worthwhile with my work
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
My last few projects have all had specific aims, as much about setting goals for myself as anything else. On my album Time Travel and the Art of Happiness my aim was to release a fully self-produced song, produced in my home studio, once a month throughout a year. It got particularly difficult as life got in the way, relationship breakdowns, moving homes and cities. It was a crazy year which really affected the music as it appeared. On the following one, Earthlings, I was trying to create a concept album kind of thing and that crashed and burned. Though I was very happy with the songs I produced during that process
What was the last song you listened to?
Swan Lake Act 2 by Tchaikovsky was on the radio when I was driving home from my gig last night, which I love. Prior to that, ‘Tongue Tied’ by Group Love
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I don’t have a specific preference though I don’t think I’ve listened to anything off a CD recently. MP3s are convenient of course, but the removal of the tactile beauty of a record or even a CD has been detrimental to the music industry in some ways. Sometimes it’s nice to put on a record and sit back with a wine. But more often I still just listen to an mp3 blaring out of a shitty speaker somewhere. If anything I like vinyl because there’s more space for artwork. If people started producing more big awesome booklets with USB sticks of hi-res wav files attached, I’d be in love
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Bandcamp is MUCH more friendly to artists, no question. The nicest thing that I can say about Spotify and Apple is that they have become necessities, but their models are based on devaluing music for the sake of consumption. There are plenty of arguments in either direction but that’s my thought. If I can listen to or buy an artist’s work from Bandcamp or their website directly then I prefer to do that
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
I find the problem with the digital era is one of constant distraction, being TOO concerned with connecting with new fans rather than spending that time creating better music. Too many hours are wasted by too many artists wording their next update rather then re-working their latest chorus, I’ve fallen into that trap. Connection is easy, if you want to connect with people then put your phone down, get on a stage and sing a song and if no one pays you any attention, go and write a better song.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
Anywhere that you can have direct conversations with people, whether its Facebook, Twitter, blogs or forums. I’ll discover new things when my friends recommend something most often. I also am often on Bandcamp and find myself flicking through their new releases and big sellers
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
Support local music, local artists and local businesses.
