fifty II 50
Fifty II 50 is a dutch duo that performed the music of Frank Zappa at Zappanale #23, 2012/08/01.
concerts
2012/08/01 concert "Zappanale", Bad Doberan, Germany
2012/10/13 concert 'JJ's', Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
2012/12/13 concert 'De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
2013/01/12 concert 'JJ's Music House', Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
random notes
2012 08 - a short chat with fifty II 50
FiftyII50
are a Z-PowerDuo from The Netherlands.
Senne Bergsma (drums/samples/vox) and Marcel Chrétien (guitarsynth/loops/vox)
play Bits & Pieces from the ginormous Zappa catalog in their very own way:
with Enthusiasm & Electronics, these two guys almost sound like just another
band from LA (sometimes...)!
Reason
enough to ask them some questions !
UniMuta:
Can you tell me a bit more about FiftyII50? How long has the band been around?
Have you done any concerts?
Marcel
Chrétien: FiftyII50 started out as Fifty50. After I went to Zappanale in 2010 I was completely blown away, and
said to myself: "I want to come back here next year, but as a performer,
not only as a visitor". I tried to get a band together --Fifty50-- but I
never managed to get a complete line-up.
You
know how it goes: just as you've got hold of a percussionist, the bass player
bails out, you get a new one, and now the singer doesn't have time anymore,
etc., etc.
I
was ready to give up and abandon the idea, as I realised that the only constants
had been Senne and myself, and we decided to turn the problem into an
opportunity. This marked the beginning of FiftyII50, (pronounced as Fifty-fifty,
to confuse the Russians) a PowerDuo that pays a trick-or-treat tribute to the
music of Frank Zappa!
As
a duo, we have rehearsed since late 2011, and done a couple of performances. And
now we're about to play at Zappanale! So, we may not have made Zappanale 2011,
but 2012 is OK too...
UniMuta:
Does Fifty II 50 only play the music of Frank Zappa? Or do you perform music by
other composers or original material as well?
Marcel
Chrétien: Originally, my idea was to play half FZ, half original material
--hence Fifty50.
(You may want to browse http://www.mbcembassy.net/content/view/110/57
for some
impressions.)
Currently,
FiftyII50 only plays FZ stuff. We intend to play original material as well, but
we are still in the process of adapting this to the duo setting.
UniMuta:
How did the both of you get acquainted with the music of Frank Zappa?
Marcel
Chrétien: When I was 14, I borrowed Hots Rats. I've been hooked ever since.
Senne had an FZ chip implanted in his brain by aliens when he was 3.
UniMuta:
Gotta love those aliens :-)
Performing the music of Frank Zappa as a duo is not a small task. What is your
approach?
Marcel
Chrétien: For the content, there is not really one approach: it ranges from
singer-songwriter, that is, just playing and singing without backing, via
'classic' looping, so, recording and overdubbing until there is a usable backing
track, to downright karaoke, in other words, we start the tape and play along. A
returning element however is that somehow, we mostly end up with medleys or
collages, rather than with 'complete' songs.
As
far as the sound is concerned, I use a guitarsynth, so I am not limited to
guitar sounds only, and Senne uses a sample pad, for contributions outside of
the realm of percussion.
UniMuta:
Being at Zappanale is like wandering around on a different planet. What do you
expect?
Marcel
Chrétien: We expect to be blown away (again).
UniMuta:
Have you seen the line-up? What other bands do you want to see?
Marcel
Chrétien: Yes, we have. We want to take in as much as possible. George Duke and
Jean-Luc Ponty are obligatory, Magma also. But so is the rest, really...
UniMuta:
Can't wait to see you guys in concert. Thanks for your time. Have fun & see
you soon.
FiftyII50 will be performing at Zappanale on Wednesday, August 1, 2012.