Metal Anarchy

Time for the next edition of Metal Anarchy’s “new music showcase,” the feature where I introduce you to artists that readers of this site may find interesting. This time I have a Q&A with Franck Carducci & The Fantastic Squad.

METAL ANARCHY: Tell me a little about your band:

CARDUCCI: My name is Franck Carducci, I’m a french rock musician, singer and songwriter. 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.

METAL ANARCHY: Who are your main influences?

CARDUCCI: My musical influences are quite obvious, Pink-Floyd, Led-Zeppelin, Supertramp, Kansas, Billy Joel, Elton John, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Genesis, … and The Beatles of course

METAL ANARCHY: What is your latest release and why should readers of this site check it out?

CARDUCCI: In 2023 I released an acoustic album as a duo with Mary Reynaud were we cover some of my old song but completely acoustic with just a guitar, a percussion and our voices (sometimes a piano)

We called the album “NAKED” because that’s how the songs are 🙂

It was a very difficult exercise for me, since I’m used to more complex arrangements, but Mary was very supportive and I think it came out quite well.

Then later in the year I released a live album with my Fantastic Squad recorded in Holland in 2022 and this one has all the extravaganza you would expect to see at my show 🙂

I’m now currently working on my next studio album.

METAL ANARCHY: What can people expect when they go to your live shows?

CARDUCCI: Well, when we tour in the UK, a lot of people tell me we should be playing in stadiums, and that they’ve never seen a show like this in a small and intimate venue 🙂

So I guess if you want to experience a full (sound + visual) rock ‘n’ roll show like they used to do in the 70s, but with the proximity (and the price) of a club gig, well that’s your chance!

Plus, when we opened for Sting last year, he said we’re “a really tough act to follow!” so, let’s listen to The Man!! 😉

METAL ANARCHY: Where do you see your band heading in 5 years?

CARDUCCI: In 5 years, obviously we’ll be touring the big stadiums 🙂

In the meantime, we’ll be touring the UK in 2024:

FEB-28 : LONDON – The Bedford
FEB-29 : SWINDON – The Victoria
MAR-01 : PORT TALBOT – Seaside Social & Labour Club
MAR-02 : STOURPORT – Fusion Festival
MAR-03 : SOUTHAMPTON – The 1865
MAR-06 : LEICESTER – The Musician
MAR-07 : LIVERPOOL – Cavern Club
MAR-08 : GLASGOW – Ivory Blacks
MAR-09 : NEWCASTLE – Innisfree Sports & Social Club
MAR-10 : OUNDLE – Queen Victoria Hall

More info on my website: www.franckcarducci.com

And of course Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Apple, Bandcamp, Amazon, Deezer, … you name it!