Band Interview: Franck Carducci & The Fantastic Squad
Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life being you an interview with classic rockers, Franck Carducci & The Fantastic Squad.
1. How did you get started as a band?
I grew up in Lyon, France, in an Italian family where 70’s classic-rock music was part of everyday life. We would listen to the Beatles and the Stones as well as Billy Joel or Supertramp, Led Zeppelin and old Elton John records. As a teenager, I grew particularly fond of a band with very weird album covers. They had this cow with no band name on it, and another one had 2 guys shaking hands but one of them was on fire. My favorite one pictured a pig flying over an old London power station. They went by the name of Pink Floyd, and their music changed my life. So I started to play covers in pubs and clubs downtown Lyon, where I was not even old enough to be allowed in as a customer. I was also doing some studio sessions work in the area. In parallel, I was writing my own songs and recording some demos. Regularly, friends would tell me: “Hey, these songs sound good, you should make an album!” and I would always give the same answer: “What for? Nobody knows me and it’s never gonna work!”
Later on, I moved to Amsterdam and joined the local scene there. Then I got to meet one of my childhood heroes, Steve Hackett from Genesis. I opened a gig for him and we had a long discussion. At some point he said to me: “Your songs sound good, you should record an album!”. So I fired my usual response to this, but then he replied: “Well, just do it for yourself, that way you can’t be disappointed, if it works you’re happy, if it doesn’t, you’re still happy because you did it for you anyway!”
The next day, I started the recording of my first album “Oddity”. Steve was very supportive in the process and he apparently enjoyed the album because he then offered to play on the next one, which he did on “Torn Apart” in 2015. So I guess, everything I achieved as a solo artist, I owe it to Steve somehow, I wouldn’t be here without his wise words.
2. How would you describe your sound?
My music is widely influenced by 70s classic-rock, so I’d say I’m a new classic-rock artist with a lot of visual stage effects. Some call it “Theatrical Rock” I like that label a lot.
3. What bands/artists would you say have influenced your style of music?
I think my musical influences are quite obvious, Pink-Floyd, Led-Zeppelin, Supertramp, Kansas, Billy Joel, Elton John, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Genesis, … even Guns ‘n’ Roses. So my music is some sort of mix of all these.
4. Has the rise of YouTube & music streaming helped or hindered you as a band?
I’m not (yet) very popular on these platforms, even though I got a couple of Youtube music videos that did pretty well. I hope more and more people can discover us vis these channels.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making music?
I enjoy travelling a lot. Meeting new people. I also enjoy cooking, especially Mediterranean food!
6. What are your future plans musically? Tours?
I’m working on a long-due new album with new material I wrote during lockdown, plus a live album we recorded in September 2022 in The Netherlands.
We’re also working on putting up a new show for 2023 … so that’s quite a lot of things!!! But first, we will be ending “The Answer Tour” at the end of 2022, including a few dates in the UK in December:
🇫🇷 NOV-18 : ST-MARTIN LA PLAINE (42)
🇫🇷 NOV-19 : FEURS (42)
🇫🇷 NOV-30 : BOURG-EN-BRESSE (01)
🇫🇷 DEC-01 : PARIS
🇧🇪 DEC-02 : VERVIERS
🇫🇷 DEC-03 : ENSISHEIM (68)
🇬🇧 DEC-06 : NEWCASTLE
🇬🇧 DEC-07 : CAMBRIDGE
🇬🇧 DEC-08 : SOUTHAMPTON
🇬🇧 DEC-09 : WIGAN
🇬🇧 DEC-10 : LONDON
🇬🇧 DEC-11 : WOLVERHAMPTON
🇫🇷 DEC-16 : LA ROCHELLE
🇫🇷 DEC-17 : BORDEAUX
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