Lars Erik Frederiksen (born August 30, 1971) is a guitarist and vocalist for the punk rock band Rancid, and the frontman of Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards. He is also notable as a producer, having worked with the Dropkick Murphys, Agnostic Front, Union 13, The Forgotten, The Gadjits, Pressure Point, and The Business. He joined Rancid in 1993 after the band was searching for a second guitar player and was present on their second album Let's Go. Lars' surname was originally Dapello after his father, who abandoned his family at a young age so he took his mother's maiden name, Frederiksen. Lars had an older brother named Robert who died in the early 2000s from an aneurysm; the song "Otherside" by Rancid was written in memory of his older brother.
Personal life
Family and background
Frederiksen is half-Danish, his father was Italian - his birth name was Lars Dapello, (his mother, Minna, was a Danish immigrant) and was reared in Campbell, California, a town near San Jose, California. The sixth track on his 2001 album, Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, is titled "Campbell, CA." [1] He is a notable drop out of Westmont High School.
His mother came to the US as an immigrant, barely able to speak English and with very little money. Lars' father, John Dapello abandoned the family when Lars was just 3 years old. Life was a constant struggle for Minna and she worked two jobs to try to support her two sons; Lars and his older brother Rob, who was four years older than him. However seeing his mother struggle gave birth to his survival instincts for later in life and instilled in Lars a working-class punk rock ethic. His first introduction to music was by his brother, who introduced Lars to punk as well as cementing his early rabid fanaticism for KISS. Lars' brother Robert died in 2001, and this is referenced in the songs "The Viking" (Lars Frederiksen & The Bastards) and "Otherside" (Rancid). On August 31, 2006 (a day after his 35th birthday) Lars suddenly collapsed onstage at a Rancid show in Montreal. He was reportedly taking antibiotics at the time for an upper respiratory infection.[citation needed] The collapse and seizure resulted from a combination of fatigue and a methamphetamine drug reaction. The band had to cancel four shows, but continued the rest of their tour as planned.
He later learned to play guitar both by pausing fretboard close-ups in MTV rock videos and from the former guitarist of San Jose glam rock band The Shattered.
He married his girlfriend Megan in 1998. They divorced, and he is now very happily married to Stephanie Snyder, who gave birth to their son, Wolfgang Erik Anders Frederiksen on September 11, 2007. [2]
SKUNX
Lars Frederiksen has "SKUNX" tattooed on his forehead by world famous tattooer Tokyo Hiro, who is also a member of Skunx. Skunx is a crew that Lars belongs to, led by Gordy Carbone and started by Brent Callahan and Sean Gregonis who Lars got his first punk record from. SKUNX stands for skinheads, punx and drunx. Skunx has active chapters in El Paso, TX; Las Cruces, NM; Montreal, East Coast, and London, UK. The original core members from the late 80's all met at the Tinker's Dam in San Jose, and all have the same "S" shaped brand or SKUNX tattoo. He is also a member of U.S. Thugs as it is tattooed on his stomach.[citation needed]
Guest appearances
The following is a list of songs that Frederiksen has appeared on where he was not a member of the band.
Guitars and amplification
- Lars has an Alpine White Epiphone Les Paul Custom that a group of friends purchased for him for his 21st birthday. It has been embellished with several stickers; including a Danish flag, The US Bombs, and The Nerve Agents band logos. He's also played other Epiphone Les Pauls, one Sunburst, one Black and one Goldtop.
- The Alpine White Les Paul Custom is his only recording guitar as stated in the Rancid Webisodes on youtube.
- Lars uses these other guitars live... Mostly SGs because he says they're "lighter" (maybe just half as heavy as the Les Paul)
- Lars has two 1964 Gibson SG Specials in Heritage Cherry. One has a U.S. Roughnecks sticker behind the bridge section, and "Bastards" stenciled over the bridge section in white; the other is plain.
- Lars has also got a 1965 Gibson SG Special in Polaris White, which is adorned with a Charlie Manson sticker, directly under a large CMLL Sticker.
- He has a red Gibson SG Classic in heritage cherry
- Lars has a white Epiphone G-400 with a Millwall F.C. Logo
- Lars has a blue Epiphone G-400 with a Millwall F.C. Logo also (as seen in "Last One To Die" video)
- Lars plays these guitars through a Marshall JCM 900 100 watt amplifier head, and a Marshall 1960A 4x12 Celestion-speaker-packed cabinet.
- Lars' Marshall head and cabinet amps have the M cut partially and the HALL removed so that they spell LARS.
- He uses no effects pedals or processors of any kind. Just the amp's two stock channels, clean and crunch.
References
- Davies, Mike. "The Lock Up", BBC. Audio interview with Lars Frederiksen, requires RealPlayer. (February 16, 2005)
- Cummins, Johnson. "Lars Frederiksen takes stock of his hard knocks", The Montreal Mirror. (December 2, 2004)
- Ashare, Matt "Pretty in punk: Rancid's Lars Frederiksen steps forward", The Boston Phoenix. (March 15-22, 2001)
External links
