City Sounds: Dominique Fricot
In this edition of City Sounds we were lucky enough to catch up with genre-defying musician, Dominique Fricot. We discussed his humble beginnings, the remarkable The PEAK Performance Project, and his artistic development, which has shaped him into the musician he is today.
LMPR: How did you get started in music?
Dominique Fricot: Woah.
LMPR: Yeah we know, loaded question.
Dominique Fricot: I don’t really know if it was picking up the electric guitar when I was 13 or 14, but I was really taken by alternative music at the time. Around the time I started playing the guitar and taking lessons, my dream all of a sudden was to be a singer/ songwriter – to be and a band and be the front man. It all kind of developed from humble beginnings.
In high school I started writing songs, and when I started university in 2001 I went to an open mic night. There were a few other singer songwriters who were singing songs and one of the guys approached me and said we should start a band – so we did! We did that for about two years and me and that guy became really good friends. His name was Josh and we formed my second band The Painted Birds together – we did that for about five years. It was basically one open mic night that lead to a whole range of different projects.
LMPR: How did you make the transition into a solo artist and what factored in to this decision?
Dominique Fricot: A leap of faith. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I wasn’t ready to give up. I didn’t feel like I had accomplished, what I had aimed to. Not necessarily in terms of success, but more in the sense of creativity. It was really scary coming out of the band because I didn’t book the shows or do a lot of those things. I was thinking so, I guess I go to open mic night’s again? So I went to one at the Backstage Lounge in Vancouver and the guy who runs it said that he books other shows, and asked me to come play this other show. At that show I ended up meeting other artists and booking other shows – I really just went form there.
LMPR: The PEAK Performance Project is so important to up and coming artists. What are your thoughts on the initiative?
Dominique Fricot: It is one of the few competitions that really makes a difference. There are a lot of contests going on right now, and I think that they all have good intentions. However, The PEAK Performance Project, really does help new artists. They give all the bands money – they start them all off with small grants once they are accepted in. They give them a whole bunch of industry knowledge and there is a lot of mentorships, everything from stylists to publicists and producers. You just kind of get a boost into the industry at a much larger level. I came in third in 2012 and I got $50,000, which went into music videos, making an album, travelling, and touring. I think that contest is really head above shoulders of a lot of the other ones.
LMPR: What’s next for you?
Dominique Fricot: A couple projects on the go, I just try to keep as busy as I can. I’ve started a side project, Regal, with my bass player Mike Young and his brother David. Solo wise, I went out to Canadian Music Week and I’ve booked a tour this summer.
I did a tour last fall called The Folk Road Show and it was me and three other singer song writers – one Australian, and two Dutch friends of mine. I went over to Europe and it was a very loose concept, loose idea of a tour. We just went and we would each play a short solo set, and in the end we sort of formed this folk band where we all played. Peter played trombone, then we had the guitar, mandolin, the banjo, and we would all sing harmonies. We had such a great time that we decided that we would flip through Canada again. The Folk Road Show is going to be in Western Canada, from the coast to Winnipeg, from late June to early August
Stay up to date with Dominique at dominiquefricot.com
Categories: MPMG