In a brand new and exclusive interview, we got the opportunity to put some questions to the extremely talented electronic pop artist Dan Frau, all about his brand new sound, challenges he's faced and more.
Caralis
For those who may be new to your music, how best would you describe your sound?
In my head it's not too far away from a more accessible version of Radiohead. Or a male-fronted Bat for Lashes. The music can be challenging with different time signatures and textures but the melodies are very pop. There's electronic elements but always a live core with live drums being a big part of the sound.
What challenges have you faced in the music industry so far?
There are so many challenges in the music industry! Fortunately these days it's easier than ever to make music and get it heard in some way... But it's very challenging to get your music heard by a large audience, so as many radio stations/sites etc. will be completely led by online stations... How many followers/views you have etc.
Other challenges would include finding good gig promoters and getting ANY kind of funding.
How difficult would you say this career path is in terms of making a name for yourself?
It's ridiculously hard! And only a slim few will make it through. However, I don't personally see it as a career path. Unless you're very successful, making a living from this kind of thing is not really an option. Instead, I see it as a creative outlet, something that's good for the soul and NEEDS to be done... Even if just for ourselves, you then know that you've left something that is of meaning to you and [you] can be proud of.
How important is it for you to have creative control over the work you produce?
It's 100% important! I've been in situations with bands where there's pressure to make a certain kind of record or input from industry people to change aspects of the music. Now I'm way beyond any of that so what you hear is what you get. That's part of why playing in Caralis has been very liberating: it's making music completely for us with no restrictions on where we may go.
And to accompany that, it's also really important to me to produce visuals that are part of the whole aesthetic. So our promo graphics and videos are all thought about in great depth and all produced by members of Caralis, maintaining complete artistic control.
If you could collaborate with anybody going forward, who would you choose and why?
I would choose Kate Bush because that would be quite the catch, wouldn't it?! I think she's incredible and my favourite ever female vocalist by far. I also admire how fearlessly creative and boundary pushing she is. We listened to a couple of her tracks in the studio when we were recording 'Be Automatic' to try and work out how she got that intensity of backing vocals.
Tell us a random, funny fact about you that not many people know.
John and I went into the studio to record the first Caralis track 'Clicks In' with barely any idea of what we were doing. There was nothing recorded other than a really dodgy iPhone recording of a drum beat, so he was working completely blind! We still managed to forge it into something within six hours, though!
Do you have any definitive aims or goals for your career?
The goal is to continue producing music that we 100% enjoy and believe in. As long as we do that, I'm happy. The whole Caralis set up is a 'band' in the loosest sense and we're very fluid about how we operate. We've done a couple of gigs so far and I would love for us to play bigger and better shows in the future.
Where do you hope to be this time next year?
Hopefully making more music and attempting to play it live. It would be good to record a second EP where we go somewhere different with it.
What should we expect from you in the coming weeks and months?
The next couple of months are busy for Caralis, with the release of the 'Logic' EP on May 20 and the EP launch gig the night before at The Half Moon, London. So we will be gearing up for that with rehearsals and doing various promo. We will be bringing out another new single in advance of the EP too.