Dallas FrascaAt first glance of Dallas Frasca's Zoom window, you might have thought she'd changed it to one of the generic custom backgrounds the app offers.
It's only when you look closer that you realise her backdrop really is that scenic – she's on the shores of Coffs Harbour, as part of her ongoing trek with longtime friend Sarah McLeod of The Superjesus on their co-headlining Green Electric tour.
Like most stops on said tour, however, it's been an absolute slog to achieve such a view.
“We left Melbourne about quarter to eight on Tuesday night, and the sleeper train was four hours late,” says the Melbourne-based blues-rocker with a sigh and an incredulous laugh. “We got to Sydney at 10am the next morning, got into an electric car and drove straight to Coffs Harbour. What a mission!”
Frasca is excited to be in the region, however – especially because of some pre-gig activity that drove home what the Green Electric tour is all about.
“We stopped in at this really amazing reforestation place that's doing a whole bunch of regnerative work, particularly around rainforests in the Byron Bay area but also over in Indonesia,” she says.
“That was really cool. We've been meeting with lots of different people on this tour, and we've been having some great conversations. Groups like this don't have a lot of funding, but when we get to that tipping point they're going to be the first people that we turn to for knowledge.”
Frasca and McLeod have been in one another's orbit for decades, becoming close friends along the way.
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They'd frequently discussed the idea of doing a joint show together, which quickly spiralled into an elaborate in-joke. “It was going to be the most rock & roll show possible, where we'd end up smashing guitars and getting into a big dramatic fight on-stage,” smiles Frasca.
“It was only more recently where we were like, 'y'know what? It actually would be really fucking cool to go out on the road together'. There's so many overheads with touring, so we looked into doing grants, and that's when I got the idea to make the tour sustainable.
“Part of it, superficially, was that so we weren't just talking about ourselves the whole time – it's a very self centered game that we are in – but there was also the curiosity of what we could do together,” She adds. “Sarah thought it was pretty ambitious – or, to use her phrasing, a 'crazy fucking idea' – but she was keen to do it.”
Frasca was soon quick to work, coming up with the Green Electric concept and forming alliances with both Green Music Australia and the not-for-profit Seed Mob. The former was to ensure the tour to get “as close to zero impact as possible,” while the latter was enlisted to donate a portion of every ticket sale to support their on-ground work for Indigenous climate justice locally.
Then came what Frasca describes as the “non-negotiables” for the venues they would work with on the tour.
For one: Public transport accessibility. “One of the key things we discovered in our research was that the biggest carbon footprint is actually left from punters coming to the gig,” says Frasca.
“It blew my mind – and I don't think it's something that a lot of people realise. We've really heavily encouraged fans to either catch public transport or carpool to the shows.”
For another: The duo's riders were to be locally sourced from farmer's markets, and refillable water stations were a must. “There's just so many plastic bottles lying around backstage at most gigs, so we were only going to work with venues that aren't using single-use plastics,” says Frasca.
“It even came down to what accommodation we picked – we wanted it as close as possible to the venues, so we could lessen the emissions in that space as well. It took 12 months of planning, and it still wasn't perfect.”
The Green Electric tour comes in fairly stark contrast to Frasca's 2025, which was spent out on the road with ZZ Top playing arenas and huge outdoor shows on the Red Hot Summer tour. Having seen the kind of excess tours like that generate first-hand, Frasca knows the kind of questions that need to be asked.
“I obviously don't have all the answers,” she says, “but I think it's always worth considering what you can be doing better. Can you get an electric bus to bring things around? Can you locally source production companies? We can look to bands like Midnight Oil, who were always so forward with their activism and conversations they brought to the forefront. We can all work towards trying to make this planet a better place.”
As Frasca discusses the ins and outs of her run with McLeod, which has spanned 15 dates across six states and territories, you get the sense that the reality of the Green Electric tour is fresh on her mind.
She's a positive force of a woman, unquestionably, but the obstacles on her path to tour the country without actively hurting it have become increasingly apparent through her and McLeod's shared experience trying to pull it off.
“We are not set up in Australia, by any means, to easily do anything sustainably,” she says bluntly.
“I came in all starry-eyed and hopeful, and the reality of this tour is that it's been really challenging. For one, it is eye-wateringly expensive to catch sleeper-car trains interstate, which is really disheartening because really you're just trying to do the right thing. You're looking at hundreds and hundreds of dollars, as opposed to double digits for a flight if you book it early enough.
“It's certainly not impossible, but there's things that you just can't do because it's out of the financial realm of what's possible for these size rooms,” she adds. “With the changes we have made, we're hoping this is going to have a flood-on effect – and hopefully inspire other artists to keep these practices ongoing.”
So, what needs to change? “There's lots of things we can do, and there's so much more we can do,” Frasca replies. “I think a lot of other artists need to have their own non-negotiables on their riders, and just start really thinking about the space they're occupying as a touring artist.
“On a state and national level, I think what could be really helpful is having decent equipment funded within smaller to medium venues – even something as simple as a backline with a drumkit. It can mean the difference between having to hire one van or two, or even one car or two. The emissions saved from that alone would be so impactful.
“I think single use plastic should be fucking out, too – we're at the stage where it's just boring if people aren't bringing their own water bottles, really.”
The key to making sustainability more enticing for touring artists, reasons Frasca, is to make it more affordable.
She champions Music Victoria's efforts with getting exceptions passed for musicians with excess baggage on flights, but she wants to see that kind of advocacy extended to the rail system as well.
“I'm sitting on an advisory board with Music Victoria at the moment, and there will definitely be things I'll be bringing up in our next meeting,” she says. “I think there are a lot of systems that need to be put in place that will allow musicians and venues to want to align with sustainability. I'm willing to campaign for it.”
Frasca knows that the Green Electric tour might seem like small-fry, or even viewed as inconsequential when the next arena tour rolls into town and stomps a fresh new carbon footprint. Living in the belly of the beast that is climate change, however, means she simply won't accept doing nothing about it.
“We can't avoid the reality of it any longer,” she says. “That reforestation group I was talking about? There's 0.5% of rainforest left in the Byron Shire.
“They're relying on volunteers to take cuttings from plants and work out how to germinate the seeds, with no funding. If this tour has done anything, I hope it's started conversations with people who might not be tuned into these kinds of things. We have this platform, and it's important to choose wisely what we do with it.”
Tickets to the final dates of the Green Electric tour this weekend are available now.
Sarah McLeod & Dallas Frasca – The Green Electric Tour
Supported by Music Australia, The Harbour Agency, Spank Betty Records, Green Music Australia and raising funds for Seed Mob
Friday, March 13th – The Bridge Hotel, Rozelle, NSW
Saturday, March 14th – Stag & Hunter, Newcastle, NSW
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
