Head to Head with Yves Frulla

When it comes to hands on experience (pun most definitely intended!), few keyboard players could boast a greater résumé than Yves Frulla. As the resident melody maker for Celine Dion's touring ensemble, Yves has played to packed houses at many of the biggest venues in the world. With this in mind, you can well imagine we were more than happy when he said he wanted to take the Lounge Lizard for a spin.

AAS : How did you get your start as a musician? Who were some of your early influences?

YF : I started piano studies at the age of 8 years old and studied classical piano until I was 20. I started playing in cover bands when I was 14 or 15. My early influences were the late Nicky Hopkins, Billy Preston, Ian Stewart, Keith Emerson, Tony Banks and the like... 70's players.

Having worked on quite a range of diverse projects, which were the most exciting for you personally? What does it take to really get you into the groove and having a good time?

I think that every project has a challenge that can be interesting if you're open minded about things.I think that every gig I have done , either with Sass Jordan, Celine Dion, Laurence Jalbert etc. brought something exciting because the dynamics of the bands I played with brought that vital element that makes music a fun experience; It's a human contact thing and it's all about having fun.

You've done alot of touring with Celine and the rest of the band over the last few years, what events or shows stick out in your mind as highlights over that period ?

Definitively the 1995 French European tour we did to support the album "D'eux". That was a trip! Also, the "Stade de France" show we did in 1999. There are so many memories. It's hard to pinpoint a favorite really.

Would you say you enjoy that sort of live situation most, or are you more at home in the studio? I definitively try to achieve a balance between playing live and studio work. These days I'm doing more of the latter but when I have a chance to play live, I try not to pass it up!! What's your studio setup look like these days? Well... It's a combination of hardware and software.I have an Apple G3 running Studio Vision Pro as sequencer and a PC running Gigastudio. I also have an Akai S3000xl, an Akai S-5000, and and old Prophet VS rack which I love very much. I also use the Yamaha Motif 7, the Cs-6X, and the A-5000 sampler but I'm migrating towards the all virtual studio like every one else these days. I think it's again a question of balance between hardware and software. I think Yamaha makes great stuff but the convenience of software is hard to pass up. Computers are getting more and more powerful every day, it's definitely the wave of the future!

I understand you've been using the Lounge Lizard in some of your recent studio work with Garou, how's your experience been with it ?

I love the Lizard! Great tone and great playability, sure beats a sample based Rhodes or Wurly! The track I've done for Garou's next record was done with the Lizard using one of the distorted Wurly patches, and it worked out perfectly! I've been using the PC version.

Now the big question that we ask everyone, would you feel comfortable getting on stage with a laptop and your favorite MIDI controller at this point ?

Honestly , it depends. I would feel safer with a Mac laptop than a PC. I think the OS for the Mac is more stable. I had weird stuff going on with XP... it is reliable but, live, you can't afford a crash. I'll probably have another opinion in 6 months or so, but for now I'll stick with my hardware keys.

Finally, what projects are in the works for you right now ? Any chance we might see a solo project in the future ?

Things are moving fast these days. I will be performing in Las Vegas for Celine's new show scheduled for next march. So there will be pre-production this fall for that. I'll also be doing some jingle and film music work with my buddies at Dazmo music. There's demo and album session I have to do this summer, AND probably a show with the Montreal symphony orchestra with Corey Hart headlining late October.

Maybe I'll squeeze a few days off in there if I can!

Thanks a lot Yves, and good luck!