All the albums I’ve heard from Nick Frater have been wonderful. The style is singer/songwriter, but power pop, which means smart and tough, gentle, but wry and ironic. If you, like this type of songwriting, then you’ll like him and want to explore more.
Nick was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.
Andrea Weiss: What came first for you with this album, the lyrics or the music?
Nick Frater: Songs are a mystery! I’ve been lucky to capture a few and there isn’t a routine way they arrive. That said, the lyrics on this album do feel like a step forward for me from a songwriting perspective. I’ve tried to push myself a little further than the regular rock’n’roll subject matter of love and loss - those are still there, but sometimes written from a character perspective instead of my own. But the rest of the album has felt a bit adventurous! Songs written from the graffiti on a toilet door, songs about baby names, songs about adult male mental health…but hopefully still catchy and enjoyable, while dealing sensitively with the subject matter.
AW: I hear a lot of Squeeze in your sound, which is great. Are they an influence?
NF: I love Squeeze! How they ever put up with Jools Holland is anyone’s guess, but despite some rogue band members, they wrote some great songs. Recently I’ve been writing a few "character songs" as a new (to me) way of expanding possibilities. It’s a frequent trick of Squeeze, with "Up The Junction," "Labeled With Love," etc. all doing the same. Martin White from The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra recently shared his theory with me that the greatest era of pop songwriting (e.g. 60s/70s) so many of the songs looked outwards. Observations of the world and people in it; yet particularly over the last few decades, lyrics of pop songs have been very self-centred. Once you notice that trend it’s quite surprising. That wasn’t what inspired me to look in the opposite direction, but feels like a strange coincidence!
AW: And I also hear a lot of Countdown to Ecstasy or Pretzel Logic era Steely Dan. Would you say the Dan are an influence too?
NF: Absolutely! I’m the least punk person I know….although making these sorts of albums for the most part DIY in my home studio feels pretty punk at times!
I guess the Steely Dan influence is possibly most felt in the range of drummers on the album. Lockdowns have led to an explosion in remote recording, which has given musicians like me the luxury of working with incredible musicians from across the world. Being able to tailor songs or arrangements to particular drummers is wonderful, at least for me. Although, I reckon I’m a bit easier to work with than Don and Walter!
AW: “Dancing With A Gertrude,” while i know it’s about defunct baby names, could also be a scene from a film where all the chapters are introduced by an unseen narrator. Would you say that’s a good characterization of it too?
NF: I’m so pleased with the way the lyrics on "Dancing With A Gertrude" turned out. They kind of just appeared in my head fairly well formed, with a few tweaks as I tried to sing them. But then when I was typing them all out ahead of the album coming out, and reading them purely as words, I was surprised that they stand up pretty well. I guess they could be scenes narrated, but I try not to get too tied down to technicalities with lyrics. Sometimes the sounds of words feel better than their technical correctness. Never let grammar get in the way of a good rhyming couplet!
AW: What is “American Expressways” about?
NF: "American Expressways" is a non-political war song. I realize that might not even be a genre that exists. The song was written in response to the abrupt exit of the USA and UK from Afghanistan. However, it isn’t about the rights or wrongs of that exit. It has hopefully a more universal emotional center. It is about the sudden change, the unexpected retreat, emotions of a veteran from any conflict, who has been told to stop. The battle they’ve been focused on, is no more. Mixed emotions of returning home against deaths they will have witnessed; potentially for nothing. Politics and songs are often dubious territory, but the human side, to all sides of a conflict, are universal.
AW: Your relationship songs seem to be for grown ups, people who are no longer young adults, which I like. Or are they for young people too?
NF: Who knows!? I’d never underestimate the emotional experiences of anyone. There are life changing events that many humans experience; growing up, becoming parents, losing parents, and generally trying function as a human in the 21st century. As someone rapidly approaching the end of their 30s, my life experience is pretty deep, which has inevitably filtered into songs, and outlook. However, songs are universal, and in some ways that is the point of them. It’s the ability to empathize with the voice and story of the song that draws the listener in. I love Johnny Cash, but am yet to experience shooting a man in Reno just to watch him die.
AW: Any plans to tour with the new album in the US?
NF: I would absolutely love to do some gigs in the US. We’re looking into possibilities at the moment. As a small scale DIY artist, bringing a band over is terrifyingly expensive. But if any readers have influence with SXSW or similar events then message me, let’s try and make it happen!
AW: How do you think your new album builds on your last one, Earworms?
NF:Aerodrome Motel is my tenth solo album, which feels like some kind of milestone! Don’t worry, I’m already working on albums 11,12, and 13, so plenty more songs in the pot!
Each album feels it has progressed in some way on the one before. Songs, production,
ambition, have all pushed further with each one. Earworms was such a fun record to make, despite being in the peak of lockdown here in the UK. I was able to make music with several of my musical heroes. Looking to the future, I absolutely love working with other musicians, so if you played bass in the Beatles, and you are reading this, then give me a bell! Your place or mine is fine with me!
