“One Night Only” rockfest I Helsingør – interview m. Bob Fridzema

Vi har haft en snak med det “danske” medlem af bandet. Den herboende hollandske hammond og keyboardspiller, Bob Fridzema.

 

RZ: Hi Bob. Thank you for taking your time to talk to us! We have talked to you guys before, Johnny and Frank that is. At that time you didn’t quite know where this band would take you. Is that still the case, or have you become more settled?

BF: We haven’t really talked about it much. Right now we’re just doing these gigs and focusing on the present. We’ll see how the future turns out.

RZ: You knew and had played with Johnny, but did you know Frank and Conny?

BF: I did not, actually. But we’re all kind of linked in a way. Johnny and I are good friends, and Frank reached out to him to connect and do something some time. Johnny and I had already talked about doing something together. Frank knew Conny from working together not that long ago, so they had a relationship. Conny knew Matti, and Johnny knows Conny as well. So we all know each other, just not always directly. It made sense because we share the same circles.

A funny thing is, I recently met this legendary sound guy, NiteBob, who did sound for Aerosmith for years. Found out he’s a good friend of Frank’s, and I met him about a year ago on a cruise. Great guy, full of stories. So again, we all know each other through other people. It’s a small world.

RZ: And you all have the same taste in music, sort of…

BF: Yeah, sort of. We share a useful common ground—we like a lot of the same music, but we also have our own influences and come from slightly different directions. There’s a lot of overlap, which is good. If we were all exactly the same, it would be limiting.

RZ: Hard to grow?

BF: Exactly. Those different influences makes it interesting.

RZ: And now you have got a new singer, Matti Alfonzetti…

BF: One thing we realized last time was that we needed a dedicated singer. What we’re doing now works better than having Conny handle most of the vocals while also playing guitar. After the last round, we talked about how having a proper singer would let us do more. Conny knew Matti and recommended him. He’s a phenomenal singer and wanted to do it. It was a no-brainer.

RZ: It seems that this project still feels good?

BF: Yeah, absolutely. We talk almost every week—about songs and how we’re going to do things. Everyone is on board and aligned.

RZ: So far you have had your jobs in Sweden. I mean, that’s a little unfair—you are the “Danish” part of the band.

BF: haha I agree. Martin Karlsson from Concerts Alive in Sweden is handling the booking, and most of the band is based there with Conny, Johnny, and Matti in Sweden. So it makes sense, and he’s been able to line up a solid run of gigs. Right now, it works. If things go well, we can take it to the next level. We should definitely come to Denmark more, though. You have to start somewhere, and I’m not complaining about ten days like that—hopefully next round.

RZ: When we heard you in Sweden we were quite excited. It seemed though, that people had special expectations?

BF: I understand that. We talked about how people might have expectations about what we would play. We saw it as an opportunity to play material we’ve always wanted to play, but hadn’t. Maybe we got a bit carried away with that and didn’t think enough about expectations or overall flow.

Now we realize that people do have expectations, and the show needs a certain flow, a thread that ties it together. The first shows were a learning experience, so we could step back, talk it through, and decide what to do differently next time.

RZ: Right, because the expectations that people might have are Slash, Guns N’ Roses, Glenn Hughes and so on—and that might not be what you want to play?

BF: Exactly. It’s not that we don’t want to play that material. On this tour, we’ll definitely include some of it. We’ve listened to the feedback and realized it’s important to shape the show around those expectations. It’s music we’ve played and enjoy. This time, we’re mixing what we’ve done with what has influenced us, instead of focusing only on influences.

RZ: So you guys are gonna take us rockin’?

BF: For sure. I know one of Frank’s favorite bands is Led Zeppelin. We’ve got some Rod Stewart and The Faces, and some Whitesnake, which has been a big influence on all of us. There’s also a bit of Thin Lizzy and The Allman Brothers. And more.

With Matti on board, we can explore much more vocally. We can do pretty much anything. If we want to do something like Glenn Hughes, we now have the singer for it. That’s where we are, rock ’n’ roll is the common thread that ties it all together.

RZ: So Matti is a permanent member of the band now?

BF: Yes. I haven’t played with him yet, but Conny knows him very well. It’ll be my first time playing with him, but from our conversations, everyone seems to be on the same page. I think we’ve got something really good going.

RZ: The whole thing sounds just great. You have grown, and seem to have found which path you want to go.

BF: I think so. When you saw us last time, everything was brand new. We were very excited, almost like puppies, just eager to play. Now we’re more focused. We know what we want to do and what we want to present on stage. We have 90 minutes and could play anything, but now we have a clear idea of how to shape it. It’s going to be cool.

RZ: This can’t be anything but good!

BF: We’ll see. But it’s a good team—a really good band.

RZ: So now I bet you are looking forward to the first Danish concert?

BF: Yes, I am.

RZ: We are really, really excited to hear you guys again. Thank you for talking to us, Bob!

BF: Absolutely, anytime. I hope you like this new version of us. See you soon.