INSIGHT Magazine March 2017 | Page 7

Q : Let ’ s talk about young Fred , what were your earlier influences in New Orleans ?
A : You can ’ t live in New Orleans and not be musically influenced because everything slides through there . There were two big influences for me when I was young . The first one was Mardi Gras parades because of all of the marching bands , they ’ re so loud and powerful . You can ’ t help but get that feeling , people in New Orleans kind of move to their own rhythm . For me , Oscar the Grouch was a personal hero when I was a child . He never cleaned his room , and he got to tell everybody off , and he did what ever he chose . When I was
https :// www . youtube . com / watch ? v = NEfpoUuKFOY
everybody in the place leaving feeling one hundred times better . We also did Xfest in the late 1990 ’ s too . I always focused on being a live performer , that ’ s the one thing no one can steal from you .
Q : Let ’ s talk about young Fred , what were your earlier influences in New Orleans ?
A : You can ’ t live in New Orleans and not be musically influenced because everything slides through there . There were two big influences for me when I was young . The first one was Mardi Gras parades because of all of the marching bands , they ’ re so loud and powerful . You can ’ t help but get that feeling , people in New Orleans kind of move to their own rhythm . For me , Oscar the Grouch was a personal hero when I was a child . He never cleaned his room , and he got to tell everybody off , and he did what ever he chose . When I was

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