Side 33 kan her præsentere et dugfrisk Q&A interview med Pete Lincoln – en af de tre frontmænd i Frontm3n – der i den kommende uge gæster og giver tre koncerter i Amager Bio, på Fermaten i Herning og på Hindsgavl Slot. Noget der dufter af et must for modne musikelskere, der er glad for akustisk baseret soft-rock med masser af lækkerlydende sang og vokalharmonier.
Frontm3n er et engelsk band, der er samlet på baggrund af en fælles historie og fortid som korsangere for Sir Cliff Richard og for deres respektive roller som forsangere i historiske band som 10CC, The Hollies, The Sweet og Sailor. Alle bands som de også fortolker i FRONTM3N, men også på en mindre låst måde end da de selv stod i front for de nævnte band. For mens de enkelte bands fans havde nogle ret klare forventninger om hvordan de gamle klassikere skulle lyde, så kan de i Frontm3n formatet tillade sig at lege lidt mere med arrangementerne – ikke mindst fordi de som en akustisk guitar trio har deres primære fokus omkring vokalarrangementerne, og ikke mindst vokalharmonierne.
De tilføjer så selv nye kapitler i form af helt nyt materiale, der i lige så høj grad er inspireret af den amerikanske vest-kyst/soft-rock lyd, som havde sin storhedstid i 70’erne og 80’erne, med navne som America, Seals & Crofts og Chicago som nogle af bannerførerne. I interviewet afsløres det også at der arbejdes på deres andet album – som forventes at blive udgivet i 2021 – og igen bliver en god blanding af cover versioner og eget materiale.
FRONTM3N ser frem til for første gang at besøge Danmark i denne konstellation. De har alle gode minder fra tidligere besøg, og især Pete Lincoln har et blødt punkt for Danmark, som han også besøgte som helt ung, hvor han spillede på diverse små barer i København.
Læs det fulde interview her :
The studio-recorded part of your debut album “All For One” contains both original material and cover versions. How did you choose how many cover songs – and which ones – you wanted to include?
PL : “The cover versions for the album were simply the ones we could not leave out, the biggest hits of our respective bands,plus of course a couple of our favourites from Sir Cliff Richard ,the reason being 25 years ago that’s where we all first met and sang together touring in his band. “
“You Got It” – originally with Traveling Wilburys – was a little surprise for me on “All for one”. How did it find its way to the album – is there a story behind?
PL : “Yes there is, quite a while ago in 1995 Peter Howarth played the part of Roy Orbison in a successful musical in the west end of London firstly at the Picadilly Theatre, Followed by the Whitehall Theatre it was simply called the “Roy Orbison story“. It was quite a major event in Peters life and as we are all fans of Roys music we thought why not play a tune , it’s proved to be very popular.“
In your own material of songs, I also feel that there is a kind of “american-west-coast” and “70s soft-rock” feeling – as the sound from bands like America, Seals & Crofts, Chicago. Are you also inspired by that time and that scene, or is it primarily the UK music scene that you can identify with?
PL : “All three of us are big fans of that kind of “Americana” music, so when it came to writing our own material, it was natural that we would go down that route. Also, with the emphasis on the three-part harmony vocals and acoustic guitars, it’s only natural to be compared with those West-Coast type bands. It’s difficult to grow up listening to that music and not be inspired by it, so when it came to writing songs for the album, we intentionally didn’t want to stray too far from that guitar and vocal-influenced music as it really suits the FRONTM3N sound and fits in with the way we play the other material in the set. There’s a lot of good stuff coming out of the UK at the moment, but we’re not overly influenced by that market.“
It’s historical artists you have been a part of – The Hollies, 10CC, The Sweet and Sir Cliff Richard. The catalog of these artists is quite significant. Can we expect that you will be picking more from these catalogs in the future – or are you looking forward to presenting more of your own material in the future – also LIVE?
PL : “We are certainly very lucky to have a huge catalogue to choose from when it comes to the bands that we’ve played with and we know that the audiences would like to hear more of that, so yes, we will be putting some more of those tunes into the live set and also on the second album. The release is planned for early next year (2021) and we have already written some new material for that. So, as before, it will be a mixture of some classic songs from the three bands and Cliff, plus original FRONTM3N material.“
You are three established musicians – who after years of friendship – finally made this band together. What do you feel you can do as FRONTM3N – that you couldn’t as sidemen in the other bands?
PL: “Obviously it’s a real honour to take on the role of frontman in an iconic band. However, a large part of your job is to serve the legacy of the original artist, and your performances have to remain true to those original recordings. Fans of the band don’t want to hear something that’s a million miles from what they know and love.
With FRONTM3N we can change the arrangements around in an acoustic setting, while still being respectful to the original song. But more than this, FRONTM3N provides us with a platform for our own creativity and for new original material.“
All of you have in other contexts played in Denmark before. Do you have some good memories of these visits – and are there something special you look forward to by visiting Denmark again?
PL : “I have always had a soft spot for Denmark. I visited Copenhagen as a very young man, spending some happy times busking in Stroget and playing small bars. In my professional career I have visited Denmark many times through the years, with Shakin Stevens, Sir Cliff Richard, Sailor and of course Sweet, playing everything from major festivals to small theatres, and I have many good friends there. The Danes make great audiences and are always very welcoming, and I’m really looking forward to bringing the FRONTM3N project to Denmark.“
