Q & A with Dallas Frasca

Dallas Frasca are a female fronted Alt-rock blues band from Melbourne’s suburbs - but you already know that. They’ve just announced a cracking run of dates that kick off on the Sunny Coast, QLD all the way down to the Snow fields of Victoria on their ‘SURF to SNOW’ TOUR this July/August.

Whilst they’ve just taken their first break in 11 years to brush the dust off; Dallas taking 9 weeks in remote communities in N.T where she works and finds inspiration and Jeff spending his downtime in Indonesia & recording an E.P w/ Ugly Kid Joe’s front man, Whitfield Crane + Hall of Fame’s legendary, Ross Wilson (Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock).

The band and are coming off the back of a mega last 12 months. Two European tours (including supports w/ Ugly Kid Joe (US) + The Bellrays (US)) + Two national tours + launching their own record label; Spank Betty Records + releasing an album and a EP and they recently hit the incredible 900 gig mark in 11 years since the band was founded.

Hello you rockin’ legends. Wow… 11 years in this industry is a long time, so congratulations on being so kick arse in this scene. A lot of artists/bands tend to wane after half that time, so what would be some of the highs (and lows) that keep driving you along?

Thanks Rhys! You rule. We feel really lucky and one of very few bands to have survived this long without shriveling up to a dry crustacean. Like everyone we totally have our ups and downs like with anything in life but I think the key to our chemistry and magic is that we are persistent MOFO’s that genuinely love the art of making and playing music. Jeff and I definitely bring some pretty wild dinner table/camp fire stories that are pretty hard to beat and probably not repeat. A few honourable mentionables would be recording and touring with the upmost legendary Ugly Kid Joe on the nightliner bus around Europe last year which was pretty rad. We once supported Patti Smith on Corsica Island, FR which was surreal and playing in front of 40,000 people at Le Mans 24hr Circuit race is the stuff you dream of when you’re busting your little vocal heart out in the many rehearsal rooms. Singing through tonsillitis on tour when you would rather be dying in bed with a hot water bottle were bad times, being groped by weirdos backstage are truly unforgettable moments but it’s the lows that make the highs so good right?

You’re about to head off on the Surf to Snow tour (maaaan… hope you’re packing some seriously warm gear, given how this winter is behaving down south), and you’ve chosen (guitarist) Jeff’s hometown of Eumundi to kick it all off… what’s one of the best things about these ‘hometown’ shows?

Visiting a tree you kissed your first boy under, seeing familiar landscape, feeling the warmth of family and being ragged out by your mates are pretty much the best things. I haven’t felt the cold for a while as I’ve been working out in the heart of the Australian Desert in remote communities for the past 9 weeks with indigenous woman who want to engage with music so it will come as a bit of a punch in the face once we hit the snow fields but I think the blow will be softened by seeing old mates & my traditionally riding of a skidoo inside the roof frame of The General Hotel, Mt Hotham (sounds weird, but true).

The latest EP, ‘Dirt Buzz’ came out late last year (on vinyl too… so good)… personally, I think it’s the grittiest and moodiest release you’ve done. What was the headspace like when writing for this release?

Iron Deficiency, lack of oxygen to my brain and tour burn out….

This is the first release for your own record label, Spank Betty Records. Independents, I’d have to say, are the future of our industry. However, do you think there’s extra pressure on yourselves now? And what are the benefits vs the cons of doing your own label?

I totally agree. The music industry has shape shifted into it’s own little thing that involves an enormous basket of fiercely independent artists driving their own ships. Being involved with the music community is important as it’s made up of human beings that can offer advice, support and education. There is a lot of extra work being independent and it can also pretty hard to see outside yourself but I suppose the one thing you can count on is that you’re not going to fuck yourself over.

This one’s specifically for Dallas - there’s a surge of female-fronted/completely all-female bands coming through the scene over the last 18 months… do you think we’re actually beginning to see a shift in gender-bias in this industry, or do we have a while to go? 

I’m excited that the last number of years, there has been a noticeable shift in the female representation on stage and within the music industry and that women are stepping up into roles that in the past have been occupied by men. Women have really cemented their place into the matrix of the Australian music industry across many job roles; promoters, publicists, managers, TM’s, street press editors, bookers and I don’t think it’s going to slow down any time soon. We’re starting to see a conscious effort to level out the imbalance of female artists being represented on event & festival lineups and the industry supporting it.

Like Brody Dalle famously once said, "The say women can't play guitar as well as men. I don't play my guitar with my fucking vagina so what difference does it make?" I think by all working together we can remove the stigma associated with being a woman in the music industry, and in turn, inspire other industries to follow suit.

Us ladies are already getting the job done and done well, it's just time to make sure everybody else knows. While others embrace gender equality, us ladies should be supporting one another, cause we work best when we’re working together x

Thanks for your time, guys… and glad to see you heading back to the Coast very soon. Will catch up with you at the Imperial Hotel on July 28th with Hobo Magic and Los Laws!

Don't miss Dallas Frasca's return to the Sunshine Coast on July 28th... and if you haven't got you hands on 'Dirt Buzz' yet, get it here.