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Pop tunesmith par excellence ***** Shindig!
British multi-instrumentalist and producer Nick Frater lives in a land of 60s/70s sophisticated-pop, a self-confessed obsession with vintage recording techniques, and a ‘more is more’ approach to production.
Based in Croydon, England, Frater’s music has drawn frequent comparisons to Bacharach, as well as Cheap Trick, Jellyfish, Beatles and Elliott Smith.
A prolific songwriter and music creator Nick Frater has released ten albums over the last decade, all of which have received critical acclaim in the underground music press including:
Aerodrome Motel (2022 ***** Shindig!)
Earworms (2021 album of the year Powerpopaholic)
Fast & Loose (2020 ***** Shindig!)
Full Fathom Freight-Train (2019 album of the year David Bash/International Pop Overthrow Festival)
Recent years have seen Frater release several adventurous side-projects to complement what he calls his ‘normal albums’ each year:
The Rebutles (2021) - the solo careers of The Rutles. An album of original songs by Frater who went down a meta-rabbit hole of realising the imagined solo careers of a spoof band!
59 Vignettes (2020) - the world’s first Instagram concept album. 59 original songs, accompanied by 59 films made from 8mm footage found in junk shops. Each of them 59 seconds or shorter. Released daily during the first UK lockdown.
The Croydon Project (finished - release date tbc) - an illustrated retro-futurist concept album of library-music about Croydon’s post-war regeneration.
Proudly immersed in the DIY music scene, Frater has become something of a ‘songwriter’s songwriter’ collaborating with several luminaries of the melodic-rock world such as Roger Joseph Manning Jr (Beck/Jellyfish), Darian Sahanaja (Brian Wilson/Wondermints), Johnny Echols (Love), Chris Farlowe, Mike Randle (Love/Baby Lemonade), Darren Hayman (Hefner), Lannie Flowers, Ex Norwegian, Fernando Perdomo, Dana Countryman, Wilkerson, and many more.
Signed to legendary independent label Big Stir Records, Nick Frater also works as a producer under the pseudonym Great Sheiks. He has produced albums and projects for artists including Chris Farlowe, The Armoires, Do Me Bad Things, Whelligan, The Sweat, Annexe The Moon, and The Rosemary Works.
Frater appears as musician on countless projects, notably as live keyboardist for Love (Forever Changes tours 2019 and 2022), and he even worked a night as Ray Davies’ guitar technician.