Fritz Helder & Starving Yet Full
Fritz Helder & Starving Yet Full
16-12-13
Starving Yet Full and Fritz Helder, the two former frontmen of Azari & III present their brand new endeavour The V5 Project. Which they'll be performing LIVE at Dalston Superstore, alongside Azari & III material. Ahead of tonight's free party, we caught up with the duo to find out more...
Donna Summer brought you together via the medium of karaoke… how does she keep you together now?
Fritz: That story was made up unfortunately... Starving and I never did karaoke together. Starving kills it when he does, but I don't think I've heard him do Donna.
What would be the best Donna Summer track to win karaoke with though?
Starving: I FEEL LOVE.
Your band Azari & III recently broke up- how has the fan reaction been to this?
Fritz:We've had an amazingly supportive reaction to the break-up. Obviously our fans were upset about the decision, but it's good to know that our fans have our backs and are ready for our next adventure.
Starving: Like Fritz mentioned, it's been a group support system around us, so that feels great...
And with that in mind, how have the last few shows been?
We have been so blessed to have the most amazing audiences. Kiev and Moscow were an absolute smash! We just played The Warehouse Project in Manchester... It was very emotional... intense... surreal!
Can you tell us more about the catalyst for the split?
Fritz: It was just time for all of us to explore other avenues. It had been 5 amazing year, but in that time we all grew to want different things. It's like you wake up one day and you're like, "ok I've had enough."
Starving: LOL. "yup"
Do you feel quite sad about it or are you totally ready to move on?
We all feel very proud of what we've accomplished together, and we all have an amazing future in front of us. The music of the Azari&III album will live on with or without us and that's the most important thing.
Your new project V5, can you give us a bit of the background to it, has it been in the works for a while?
Fritz: After so many years touring together, SYF and I have developed an addiction to the chemistry we generate together on stage. We wanted to create a platform for ourselves outside of Azari&III. V5. (pronounced versus) started out as an idea for collaborative creation with an eclectic mix of musicians producers and artists.
We are still in our incubating stage... and it's more about us flexing our creative muscles and work-shopping new music at small gigs with the people we love. We also liked the idea of V5. being like a friendly battle or a face off... We are both so different in our approach but so similar at the same time… it's all about harnessing that tension.
Starving: Couldn't have said it better myself.
Who are you favourite, most inspiring vocalists? And what for you has been a memorable performance from any vocalist that you've seen?
Fritz: We have a wack-load collaborations on the go right now... but we want it all to be a surprise. We are putting together a pretty ambitious album and conceptualizing a live show that truly reflects our diverse backgrounds and musical interests.
Starving: Maverick Sabre and Frank Ocean are my absolute favourite right now, Adele as well. I would love to work with any of the above, absolutely.
Do you intend to use Dalston Superstore's bar as your own personal catwalk again?
How could we resist?! Dalston Superstore was one of the first places we visited when we started gigging in London… It reminds us of the bars back home in Toronto…
Join Fritz Helder and Starving Yet Full TONIGHT, Tuesday 17th December at Dalston Superstore for The V5 Project from 9pm - 2:30am.
Fritz Helder & Starving Yet Full