Freqshow is a fairly new band on the Perth music scene… can you please give us a little bit of background? Freqshow is a live drum'n'bass band comprised of drums, percussion, bass, guitar, synth, an MC and a horn section consisting of trumpet and sax, making up a total of eight members. We all come from slightly different musical backgrounds but share a common love of drum'n'bass.
Can you please share with us a little bit about yourself and what you were doing before Freqshow and Outbreak? Personally I've had several years experience of playing in many different kinds of bands (from rock, to funk to hip hop to reggae etc.), as well as having been a DJ for the past four years. I still spin wherever possible, but at the moment with live music, d'n'b feels like where I need to be and has yielded the most fun experience thus far. Prior to Outbreak, the Freqs have been writing some new original tunes to add to our repertoire (which also has numerous cover tunes), so we return to Outbreak after a few months hiatus with new tunes and a new set!
Freqshow is one of the few d'n'b acts around Perth that is “strictly only instruments”. How important for you is having that completely live element? It's of the utmost of importance, really. Incorporating any sort of automation or sequencing is a fantastic way to increase a band's capacity to write electronic music, but for us it's just not the direction we want to head in. Drum'n'bass music demands the manpower we have in our band to be re-created live.
Being a live eight-piece would also make for a very dynamic live show. What can people expect at Outbreak? Lots of energy, a big visual spectacle that will be an eight-piece band on stage. Big bands always offer plenty to look at, really!
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Why did you decide to start Outbreak? I guess it came about because I planned to book as many gigs as possible. All the dates fell within a six week period, so I decided to promote it as a big run of gigs spanning the far reaches of the metro area with one concept.
What made you choose the other killer acts joining you on the Outbreak series? Pimps Of Sound are a great band and they're one of the only live drum'n'bass acts in town at the moment. We've gigged alongside Lilt before and they are amazing. And we've heard a lot of good stuff about Child's Play and Yarhkob. As for the DJs, they are people I know through the various scenes I've been apart of over the years, and from the point of view of a DJ I respect and admire them all greatly.
What do you think about the Perth live dance scene as a whole? Drum'n'bass is alive and well by the looks of things, as seems to be bass music as a whole My impression is there are a fair amount of people in the scene who are reasonably open minded and receptive to all things electronic/bass music related.
How did you go about choosing the five different venues for Outbreak? There honestly was no rationale behind that other than anywhere that will let us play on a Thursday. Some venues were especially kind and gave us some Fridays as well. Having such a small profile, we're not really in a position just yet to pick and choose where we do and don't want to play, so we'll take any decent gig/venue that gives us an opportunity to play and spread the word Being such a large band, stage size is a consideration as well, so the Newport and Ya Ya's gigs will be played as a six-piece sans horn section.
What's the plan for the Outbreak series, and Freqshow, once this series is over – will the epidemic be spreading? Here's hoping! I'm not sure if I'll re-hash the concept as such, but you can be sure that the Freqs will definitely be back with a whole heap of new gigs and tunes in 2013! We may not call it Outbreak again, but it sure as hell will be a Freqshow-spearheaded epidemic!
NEXT SHOWS: Thursday 22 November, Rosemount Hotel; Friday 30, Ya Ya's; Friday 14 December, Velvet Lounge
