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FRASE brings summer festival beats to Revelstoke

FRASE plays the Summer Street Festival on Tuesday, Aug. 8

By Emily Kemp, Special to the Review

A summer festival style set is hitting Revelstoke’s Summer Street Festival next week.

With this coming week’s lineup including Australian band Feelds on Thursday night, indie-artist Emily Rockharts on Friday, and local country darling Joanne Stacey with her band on Saturday, FRASE stands out as something a little different.

FRASE, short for Fraser, is squeezing his Revelstoke gig in on a Tuesday after the popular Kaslo Music Fest and before Shambhala Music Festival.

He has a degree in jazz guitar and many years playing in a band before going solo. He discussed his uplifting music style, what he calls “analog future soul,” with the Review.

How do you describe your music?

It’s organic and dynamic, chill but upbeat and danceable. I like to blend the classic sounds of soul, hip-hop, dub, reggae and blues with the modern dance floor flavours of house and bass music.

I start the show solo with my voice, guitar, keyboard and beats and as I pick up the tempo my partner EmBody (Emily Honegger) gets on stage and dances. She is an urban/contemporary dancer with some wild style party moves that will get everyone going. Crowd favourites so far are my songs Soul Up, Big Smoke and Cali Gold, and I will also be playing a lot of material from my new album FRNZ.

Do you enjoy life on the road and how do you keep sane?

I do love to travel and be on the road. Seeing new places and meeting new people from all walks of life and cultures is very exciting. It does get a little rough but as long as I eat well, get some exercise and sleep I could keep going forever! My partner Embody started joining me on the road last year and that just made everything better. To have my love with me while on tour though Europe was super romantic and she got me out exploring and sight seeing a lot more.

What entertains you outside of your music?

I love the Kootenays because there are so many outdoor pursuits! We just bought some old mountain bikes and strapped them to the back of the van so we can bike anywhere. I also love to long board, surf, snowboard, swim, canoe and go camping.

What is your most valued material possession?

We recently bought a 1976 Chevy20 camper van we have named Curtis Mayfield, aka The Mayfield. It is a slow car but a really fast house! Playing 11 festivals in two months, the van has been essential to having personal space and some comforts of home while being on the road. I just found out that we will be playing at Burning Man in September so hopefully The Mayfield will bring us all the way down there. It will be our first time at the Burn, because I never really considered going to a festival like that without a van!

How did Montreal influence your creativity?

I am so thankful for growing up in Montreal. It is such a culturally rich and diverse community with a ton of free outdoor music in the summer. Montreal Jazz Fest shaped my ear form an early age and then later in my twenties, sinking into the local music scene pushed me to become a better musician.

It is very hustle bustle though, and the scene is so over saturated. It’s very hard to gather momentum behind a small independent English project like mine. When I came out west for the first time last year I was blown away at the audiences’ reactions and participation in the shows. The scene out here is something super special that I have yet to see anywhere else on my world tours. So we will be laying down some Koots roots here for the winter again (I just got my BC drivers licence!)

FRAZE will play at the Summer Street Festival in Grizzly Plaza this Tuesday, August 8, from 6:30–9:30 p.m.