Band Members:
Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/ Various: Mary Reynaud
Guitar: Barth Sky
Keyboard: Cédric Selzer
Drums: Léa Fernandez
Frank Carducci & The Fantastic Squad are a progressive rock band from France. After the release of his first album ‘Oddity’ came his second album ‘Torn Apart’, featuring special guest Steve Hackett from Genesis. Following this he hit the road on a European tour with 2017 seeing the release of a live DVD/BluRay of the tour, which, after about 100 dates, ended with a standing ovation on stage of the Loreley festival in front of 6000 people. Frank Carducci and his band are currently on yet another tour and Frank told us recently about the band and its forthcoming plans.
What got you into making music?
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. We even opened for Sting this year, how cool is that?
Who inspired you to make 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 🙂
What is your creative process?
There’s no process whatsoever … it comes when it comes. It can take me years to finish a song and sometimes it’s done in a day!
Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?
If I could choose a band to support, that would probabaly be Paul McCartney or David Gilmour or Roger Waters, but there are so many that I’d love to play with! I’d love to collaborate with Slash iii]; )’
What does Your Band Name Mean?
When I released my first album “ODDITY” in 2011, I didn’t have a band. That’s the reason the artist name was simply “Franck Carducci”. After that I got some gigs offers so I had to form a band. The lineup has changed several times since then, but that’s the life of any band I suppose.
What is your favourite song to perform?
That’s a tough one, because my songs are like my children, it’s impossible to choose. But I’ve got 2 crowd’s favorites that always trigger great reactions from the audience: “Alice” and “Slave to Rock ‘n’ Roll”. It’s always nice to witness the reactions!
What are you working on right now?
A new album with new material I wrote during lockdown, plus a live album we recorded in September 2022 in The Netherlands, plus putting up a new show for 2023 … a lot of things!!
But first, we will be ending “The Answer Tour” at the end of 2022
🇫🇷 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
Website: http://www.franckcarducci.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/franckcarducci
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/franckcarducci/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FranckCarducci
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/franckcarducci
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