Rock Nation, Italian online Magazine interviews Fabio Fabbri/ Slinky Vagabond guitarist, composer and producer, at Polimoida International Fashion Scool of Florence.
The interview was made June 2021.
" FabioFabbri is a rocker. There are few artists like him in Italy.
For him Music is everything.It’s attitude, it’s feeling, it’s a way for him to express himself much better thanwords.
Both as session man and solo artist,and 4 albumsas memberof the rock band General Stratocuster and the Marshals,Fabio has gone ahead withhis idea of Rock’n Roll where past and present blend together with the aim of reaching anequilibrium which will always be different.
The encounter with Keanan Duffty, musician and fashion designer, at Polimoda Fashion School of Florence, has been one of the manysurprises that has characterised Fabio’s career.
Their debut together as Slinky Vagabond and the debut album “ King Boy Vandals” , that was born during the pandemic, is a little miracle in whichillustrious collaborations such as Midge Ure ( Ultravox, Visage, Thin Lizzy ), Dave Formula ( Visage, Magazine), Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash) David Torn ( David Bowie), Richard Fortus ( Guns N’Roses) e Tony Bowers (Simply Red), have taken place.
Destiny is the keyword around whichFabio’ s history develops, and this is the story that today he is ready to tell us. "
Fabio thanks NS, Sara e Massimiliano at Polimoda for having hosted this interview in their wonderful school.
Stitched Sound interviews Slinky Vagabond. about their new album "King Boy Vandals ".
Stitched Sound, the online music website and magazine, interviews the two members of Slinky Vagabond : Fabio Fabbri , guitarist, composer and producer and Keanan Duffty, singer and songwriter. They discuss making music together, their love for fashion and music, their new album "King Boy Vandals" and what's next.
"Growing up in England, Keanan Duffty developed a love for fashion and music from a young age, inspired by artists such as David Bowie, Mark Bolan and Roxy Music. He graduated from Central St Martins in London with a Bachelors of Arts degree in fashion and textiles and in 1993, he moved to New York to his base for a career in fashion design. In 2007, along with Clem Burke (Blondie/The Ramones), Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols/Rich Kids), Earl Slick (David Bowie/John Lennon) and a collaboration with the late Pete Shelley, Keanan formed the band Slinky Vagabond, with their first show being played at Irving Plaza as part of Joey Ramones annual birthday bash. They also performed at Fashion Week’s Gen Art and Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp (2008) and Marc Bolan’s 30th Anniversary Show (2007) alongside Patti Smith, Tom Morello, Joan Jett, Ronnie Spector, and more. After playing many shows together, other engagements led the band members to part ways. In 2018, while lecturing at the Polimoda International Fashion Institute, Keanan met Italian guitarist/musician Fabio Fabbri, who teaches at the institute and heard Keanan speak. An instant chemistry led them to play music together and Slinky Vagabond 2.0 was born. “At the beginning, we didn’t have plans or projects,” adds Fabio. “I felt a great energy playing with Keanan: no limits, no barriers. Our different musical backgrounds created an exciting mix and we felt it was time to build a more structured project. I think the true essence of Rock’n’Roll comes out when you can work free from plans or deadlines.” May 6th will see the release of their album King Boy Vandals, the title being an anagram of Slinky Vagabond. Featuring guest appearances by Midge Ure (Ultravox/Visage/Live Aid co-founder), Dave Formula (Magazine/Visage), Richard Fortus (Guns N’ Roses/Psychedelic Furs), David Torn (David Bowie/David Sylvian), Tony Bowers (Durutti Column/Simply Red) and Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash), King Boy Vandals is an album born of musical alchemy, forged in fire and cooled in sweat. The album was recorded in Fabio’s recording studio outside of Florence, Italy. Adds Fabio, “Having a personal recording studio gave me the opportunity to work during the pandemic and also to get through that very bad period. I think that the pause of live concerts in 2020 made musicians more available to work on new songs and I think that is one of the reasons we had so many great musicians as guests.” Comprised of some songs that they each brought to studio, and some they wrote together from scratch, they recently released the first single “The Beauty In You”, featuring Dave Formula and Tony Bowers. Says Keanan, “It’s about the beauty in decay,” he explains. “Although it masquerades as a love song, it’s actually about abandoned ghost towns like Pripyat in northern Ukraine, which was evacuated after the explosion of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Also, The Salton Sea in California where the town of Bombay Beach was once a popular destination for Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, and Bing Crosby and it now is a derelict ‘living ghost town.’ I love that place. It’s like being in a deserted town on Mars.” With plans to promote the album and do a later release of the album on vinyl, this is definitely an album you will have in heavy rotation! You can connect with Slinky Vagabond via the following links. Photo credit: Ruggero Lupo Mengoni"
"The Beauty in You" is the new Slinky Vagabond single .
"The Beauty in You " came out as Slinky Vagabond's new single April 16th 2021, and it is a track from the album "King Boy Vandals" out May 6th 2021.
It may seem unusual to introduce a rock band with a ballad and not with a faster track. But "The Beauty in You" is the Slinky Vagabond new single and it's the song that the band love for many reasons.
"The Beauty in You" was one of the rough mix tracks recorded with drum machine programmings, that Slinky Vagabond had some musician friends listen to for an opinion. One of them Mario J.McNulty, Grammy Award-winning music producer, mixer and engineer, greatly encouraged them to go ahead.
"The Beauty in You" is about the beauty in decay, Keanan Duffty explains: “Although it masquerades as a love song, it’s actually about abandoned ghost towns like Pripyat in northern Ukraine, which was evacuated after the explosion of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Also, the Salton Sea in California where the town of Bombay Beach was once a popular destination for Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Bing Crosby and it now is a derelict ‘living ghost town.’ I love that place. It’s like being in a deserted town on Mars.”
The soul atmoshere of the song, highlighted by Duffty's original vocal interpretation that is well mixed with Fabbri's powerful guitar, created a very original sound that is even more emphasized by the contribution of important guests.
Dave Formula (Visage/Magazine/The Finks) on keyboards, who has created a particular atmosphere that has given the song a very special sound. Tony Bowers (The Durutti Column, Simply Red) on bass guitar who has brought a unique sound with his original style . And the English drummer David Maher who has left his signature on the track switching between powerful drumming and more elegant softer parts.
Mario J. McNulty's mixing of the track enhanced the sound of the song even more.
The new live acoustic version of “The Beauty in You” was recorded during the pandemic.
Fabio Fabbri, guitarist, composer and producer of Slinky Vagabond recorded at his Wolfmount Home Studio. Keanan Duffty, singer and songwriter of the band, recorded in New York City.
This new live acoustic version of the "The Beauty in You", is different from the track that is included in the album "King Boy Vandals" (click here to listen to), that is the new Slinky Vagabond album released May 6th 2021.
While the origional version of the acoustic version of "The Beauty in You" features Dave Formula and Tony Bowers, "This live acoustic version is stripped down to its rawest elements – a simple acoustic guitar played by Fabbri and the gentle, almost angelic vocals of Duffty. Because the two band members are on other sides of the globe under lockdown – Duffty in New York and Fabbri in Italy – the video was recorded via Zoom." (Matt Matasci, Mxdwn Premiere, May, 11th 2021).
“The live acoustic recording of our single “The Beauty in You” was conceived and edited by Fausto Fabbri. We wanted to capture a live, intimate stripped-down performance and since Fabio is in lockdown in Italy and I am in New York, we recorded it using Zoom,” said Duffty. “Fabio recorded his part in his Wolf Mountain Studio and I recorded mine in my apartment. Fausto spent about a week editing the performances and the song really lends itself to this spacious, simple ‘less is more’ approach. This modality, using Zoom is truly the result of the circumstances we all find ourselves in.”
The music of "The Beauty in You" is written by Fabio Fabbri, the lyrics by Keanan Duffty.
About the song, Keanan Duffty said that he was inspired by "Finding beauty in decay. All those living ghost towns and abandoned zombie malls that litter the urban landscape. Derelict places like The Salton Sea in Southern California’s Coachella Valley. "
"The Beauty in You " is the first official video of the Slinky Vagabond new album.
"The Beauty in You" is included in the album "King Boy Vandals" out May 6th 2021.
The video is produced and directed by Fausto Fabbri a young italian vodeomaker and sound designer who was inspired by the times gone atmoshere of the song.
"The Beauty in You" official video is dedicated to our friend and drummer David Maher who played in all the tracks of the album and unfortunately passed away in 2021.
"The Beauty in You" is about the beauty in decay, Keanan Duffty explains: “Although it masquerades as a love song, it’s actually about abandoned ghost towns like Pripyat in northern Ukraine, which was evacuated after the explosion of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Also, the Salton Sea in California where the town of Bombay Beach was once a popular destination for Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Bing Crosby and it now is a derelict ‘living ghost town.’ I love that place. It’s like being in a deserted town on Mars.”
The soul atmoshere of the song, highlighted by Duffty's original vocal interpretation that is well mixed with Fabbri's powerful guitar, created a very original sound that is even more emphasized by the contribution of important guests.
Dave Formula (Visage/Magazine/The Finks) on keyboards, who has created a particular atmosphere that has given the song a very special sound. Tony Bowers (The Durutti Column, Simply Red) on bass guitar who has brought a unique sound with his original style . And the English drummer David Maher who has left his signature on the track switching between powerful drumming and more elegant softer parts.
Mario J. McNulty's mixing of the track enhanced the sound of the song even more.
Fabio Fabbri's Wolfmountain Home Recording Studio is the place where Slinky Vagabond recorded their album “ King Boy Vandals”.
Fabio Fabbri and Keanan Duffty started working in 2019 at Fabio’s Wolfmountain Home Recording Studio near Florence, Italy.
Luckily, they completed all the vocal lines before the lockdown. Duringthe pandemic some great musicians had the possibility to listen to the tracks and wanted to be part of the projectplaying their instruments. Having a personal recording studio, Fabio Fabbri had the possibility to work on the tracks and continue producing and mixing also duringlockdown.
The result is a new music project that has its roots in the ‘70s and ‘80smusical genres, butwith various different influences that givetheir music a contemporary sound.
In fact, Slinky Vagabond music is not conceptual or experimental, it is a recording studio output, produced as overall direction of the creativeprocessfrom beginning to end, where Slinky Vagabond have taken control of everything: have written the songs, supervised the arrangements, masterminded all phases of the recording process with most painful attention to detail and released the result on their own online distribution.
This use of the recording studio is one more element that characterises Slinky Vagabond music. Fabio Fabbri is a music producer who considers the recording studio as an additional musical instrument used to aid the process of composition, as Jimi Hendrix and other artists used to do.
If, during the ‘70s, rock was in counter-tradition to traditional music, nowadays we could say that Slinky Vagabondmusic is in counter-tradition to the vulgarisation and the exaggeratedmarketingof disposable music.
The result has been that many great musicians from ‘70s and ’80s have recognised themselves in Slinky Vagabond music and have been delighted to participate as guests in theproject
Regarding the Slinky Vagabond experience,Fabio Fabbri says “ It has been incredible: each musician played his instrument live at his own recording studio, in Great Britain, in Ireland, in the USAand we exchanged files directly using modern technology to create a real live performance. It has been the most exciting experience I have ever had in my musical life ! “
And Keanan Duffty says; “Fabio Fabbri is one of the most gifted and genuine musical talents that I have ever met and I have been very lucky to work with some legendary musicians, who also happen to be my heroes. Fabio’s guitar playing is a pleasure to experience. His melodies are sublime and unique and he is one of the kindest people I know”.
All the recordings were produced by Fabio Fabbri at his Wolfmountain Home Recording Studio.
Mario McNulty, a New York City Grammy Award winning music producer, mixer and engineer, was delighted to participate in the project doing the mixing of the track ‘The Beauty in You’ .
Fabio Fabbri is not only the producer and the composer of most of the songs, he is also the lead guitarist.
About his experience with Slinky Vagabond he remembers: “ I was used to playingthesame guitar - Fenderor Gibson - all through a live performance or the recording of an album. But the experience with Slinky Vagabond has givenme new insightinto the useand choice of the instruments. I havealways played a Fender Stratocaster, looking fordifferent tones and sounds throughthe guitar touch that at that moment inspired me. But, during the work with Slinky Vagabond, while the recording was going on,it was as ifI was gradually castingoffclichés concerning the various ways ofusingthedifferent kinds of guitars.”
In fact, within the guitarist community there is the tendency to choose the specific kind of guitar in relation to the the genre or the kind of sound or riff or solo the guitaristwants to produce. Many guitarists and specialised magazines, tend to advise a guitarist to choose a specific kind of guitarin relation to the kind of sound or riff they want to achieve, also remembering the choices thatlegendary guitarists made in similar situations.
“Actually, -Fabio says- having almost always used my Fender Stratocaster, I have never had to consider which guitar to use to produce a particular riff or sound. I have always looked for the best sound using the touching and the phrasing while playing my Fender Stratocaster also in situations where itwould have seemed more suitable to use a Gibson Les Paul timbre.”
That means that the possibility to experiment doesn’t only refer to the use ofnew recording technologies or electronics, but also to a different wayto use the instrument in relation tothe arrangement of a track.
Fabio continues:“I think that the habit many guitarists have in choosing a specific guitar in relation to the soundthey are looking for, is probably more apsychological questionthan a practical one. I think that this approachisdue more tothe influence that specialised magazines have onthe guitarist’s approach, than on a realistic reason.”
In fact, if you take a glance at an iconic guitarist like Jimi Hendrix, whose image was closely linked to Fender Stratocaster, a kind of guitar that has a very recognisable sound and that Jimi used for most of his tracks also because he could use the lever, it’s very impressive to see him playing a Gibson SG Special onthe albumBand of Gypsy, with which he produced a different sound whilemaintaining the typical characteristics of the Hendrix phrasing.
We can say the same for Mick Ronson who especially loved Fender Telecaster, while during live concerts he mostly used a Les Paul, leaving us doubtful about which guitar he had really used during the recording sessions.
Therealquestion iswhetherthe guitarist chooses the guitar according to the sound he wants to achieve, rather than be influenced by the way in whichgreatguitarists used that particular kind of guitar.
Fabio says: “ Recording with electric guitars, in my Wolfmountain Home Recording Studio,I have alwayspreferredflatrecordingwhich meansrecording directly without the use of special effects. I have also used this approachduring the recording of the Slinky Vagabond album. This determined my choice of the guitar that would guarantee the sound I was aiming at. I must say that during the recording of King Boy Vandals, I changed my usual habit and I used different guitars during the recording of the tracks, more than I used to do in the past, looking for the right feeling for anytrack or riff or solo. I must honestly say that I’m satisfied with the result, that encouraged me to develop a different, wider and more varied ,approach to the instrument. During the recording of sometracks of "King Boy Vandals" great guitarists like Midge Ure, Richard Fortus and David Torn joined us on the project. It has been a great experience because, despite the fact that everyone used different guitars and differentrecording methods, the result is fantastic.The variety of the soundeach guitarist createdand the different styles of playing guitar mixed and interconnected perfectly, producing excellent results. To confirm the fact that for a good soundthe choice of the guitar is not crucial but it’s the guitarist’s taste and the way heplays that counts."
A special section should be dedicated to acoustic guitars. In the album there is an impressive acoustic version of “The Beauty in You”.
Fabio Fabbri is used to playing a Taylor and a Sigma Est 1970 12 Strings.
He thinks that when using acoustic guitars the touch impact is essential, even though the quality of the hollow body is also important.
“ Recording and equalising acoustic guitars, - says Fabio- I think that you have to pay much more attention to the type ofarrangements of the songs rather than when recording electric guitars. In fact, when the sound of an acoustic guitarprevails as in folk music and in acoustic ballads, the sound produced by the recording must be rich in harmonics. Differently when the sound of anacoustic guitar is drowned out by the sound of other instruments - especially when the sound of the electric guitar is distorted- you have to optimisehigh frequencies that allow the acoustic guitar not only to mix with the other instruments butalso to emerge.”
Regarding the recording of the sound of an acoustic guitar, we must remember that itrequires not only a mic of good quality but also it being in the right position in relation tothe sound source.
Nowadays, the use of sophisticated microphones requires more care during the recording because if the equipment - mixers, analog/ digital converters , pre amps etc - are not all of the same quality, the result, in home recording, regarding the width and warmth of sound, could be belowexpectations.
This means it is necessary to reach the bestquality level equilibriumof the various components of the equipment.
Acoustic recordings made during the 70’sare still benchmarks even now !
