Frederick Serafim
Primary Site for Frederick's Progressive Rock Fusion
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Down From the Sky
Feel good, classic rock regarding positive karma and UFOs, featuring multiple lead guitars, piano, synths, and a bit of electronic. A prayer for benevolent, extra-terrestrial, planetary intervention.
Fulfillment
Upbeat piano and synth guitar jazz-rock tune regarding life's best approach.
Not of This World
Mostly electronic mid tempo tune with vocals and some guitar, written for people who are comfortable feeling excluded from the mainstream world.
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Fill the Void
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Primary site for Frederick's progressive rock fusion incorporating elements of rock, electronic, folk, symphonic, world, blues, jazz, latin, and country influences, with lyrics based upon personal experience, informed agnostic humanitarianism, and political independence.
F. J. Serafim - Vocals, Electric/Acoustic/Synth Guitars, Synthesizers, Pianos, Bass & Production
Hi Frederick, I liked the lyrical concept, the musical arrangements, musicianship and vocals... ....you are on the right track with your songwriting. Wishing you success with your music, Mike (Moody Blues co-founder Mike Pinder, 2018 R&R Hall of Famers)
Song order is based upon technical considerations and not any intended sonic or creative merit.
Licensing only upon direct contact with artist.Band/artist history
I first started doing paid performances at the age of 16. My last string of performances was from 2005 to 2008 with Cryterion. However, for me, live performance always required too much dependence upon other people, and time being spent on cover songs, whereas I've always been much more attuned to writing and recording original material. I never relished the idea of ending up a "starving artist" and these days it would take an unrealistically attractive opportunity to get me out of my comfortable, hassle-free, retirement lifestyle. Though I still engage in a modicum of promotion, I've generally never been interested in marketing, though I do respond to feedback, and sometimes network with other artists. The music is here if people happen to be so inclined. It's representative of the successful culmination of my creative and ideological, self-developmental efforts.
My family came to Canada in 1908 after emigrating from a town in the Venetian hinterland, where the most celebrated member, Santo Serafino (also known as Sanctus Seraphinus, Romanized), was a graduate of the same artisanal college as Stradivarius, and in the mid 1700's produced Seraphinus violins. (I use the more common international spelling of my name for my music) Though he had no children and therefore no direct descendants, his instruments are still around today, and his best maintained top lines sell at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I only found this out fairly late in life, when it was brought to my attention. It somewhat explained my particular musical propensities.Your musical influences
I've always appreciated a wide spectrum of music beyond my own personal styles, and some of my early musical favourites, back when high economy of scale production costs necessitated label support, ranged through multiple styles and genres. However, my top musical as well as lyrical favourite, was always the Moody Blues, and in particular, the principal original co-founder and mellotron proponent, Mike Pinder (1941-2024). Therefore, when we exchanged emails when he first appeared on the net, I was very pleased. He was very singular artist and a wonderful man. At a time when synths were only capable of bleeps and squawks, he and the Moodys were fusing rock with symphonic elements using the analog tape based orchestral mellotron, - an instrument he helped develop while working as a quality control inspector at the Streetly Electronics plant; and then later introduced it to the Beatles on songs like "Strawberry Fields". Great voice and philosophy based lyrics too; and for a Hall of Fame rock star, quite genuinely modest and wise in his choice of hiring Hayward and Lodge as front men. I've always been uncomfortable with the idea of "superstar" status. It's a form of false idol worship, and though I generally don't blame the artists themselves, it's an unhealthy product of an overblown capitalist system and intrinsically flawed human nature, prone to cattle mentality behaviour. Some top stars have themselves scoffed at this phenomenon. Even when I was young, much as I loved the Beatles, I viewed Beatlemania with clinical suspicion; and now for me, the spectacle of superstardom has become a worn out cliche, symptomatic of a species on the road towards glorious extinction. I'm quite content with my low-key, somewhat purgatorial existence.What equipment do you use?
My main guitar is an electric/acoustic/synth access Godin LGX-SA. I use Roland keyboard-synth workstations, plus various microphones, processors and software applications. Although I occasionally perform and jam with other musicians, my chief interest and source of enjoyment has always been in embracing the entire recording process as a solo artist, from the initial creative spark, through arranging and performing the tracks, to engineering the final sonic masters. After decades of recording analog demos, I started throwing down digital tracks in the mid 90's, knowing that everything could be continually remastered at my leisure. My rationale at the time was similar to that of Dylan and The Band recording the Basement Tapes, but with the digital advantage, though without the commercial reach. Though I do use digital editing, I shun automatic arrangers, arpeggiators, vocal auto-tuners, and AI, and specifically compose or spontaneously improvise every note of my music, and generally record my vocals in 1 or 2 takes. I try to combine appealing melodies with more complex chordal progressions and arrangements, and strive to achieve the greatest stylistic variability I can attain within a rock blend framework, but not to the degree where it impinges upon quality, or the enjoyment I derive from the creative process.Anything else?
TRUMP'S CANADA AS 51st STATE IDEA
So President Trump is intimidating Canada with tariffs of 25 percent, while at the same time is suggesting that we could avoid these tariffs by becoming the 51st State of the Union. Well of course, most Canadian politicians are outraged and busy drawing up lists of retaliatory tariffs. I suppose it's only prudent that this be done, but I would also recommend a more cool headed, pragmatic approach, before heading into a full blown trade war which benefits neither country. Let's face it, Canada already is a de facto part of the United States through our intensive economic and cultural ties, which force us to seriously consider US actions and influences when making many of our own political decisions. It's just that we don't get to vote in US elections and thereby exert at least some degree of control over how their actions impact us. Well, I'm not ready to chuck the Canadian flag and raise the Stars and Stripes, but I'm sure Donald Trump would be less likely to impose punishing tariffs on a Canada that is at least willing to try and negotiate union with the US - and who knows, there might actually be some very tangible benefits if we negotiate in an erudite and shrewd enough manner. Right now, Canadian opposition is more of a reaction against Trump's antagonistic approach, rather than against the potential substance. I do actually doubt that a union of the two countries will occur in the foreseeable future. Many Americans are also against the idea, and Canadians would obviously vote against Trump. However, the true value would be gained from the intrinsic worth of reasonable diplomatic discourse. Otherwise if not careful, Canada could at some point see Alberta alone become the 51st State, and take their oil with them.
For starters, Canada would not become the big dumb 51st State. It's far too large and both culturally and geographically diverse a land mass for that. We would have to bring the number of states up to around 60 (10 Provinces plus Territories), and we would add, say 20 Senators plus the proportionate number of House Representatives to Capitol Hill. We'd also have to be very careful to protect such things as our health care systems, gun control laws and state border check points. I'm sure Trump would be very skeptical of all this, and deep down it's likely that what he really wants is a Canadian subjugated territory, rather than a 51st state. However, I think most of Trump's aggression is aimed at Justin Trudeau, rather than Canada as a whole. Trump sees Trudeau as being a spoiled, woke-liberal, school teacher, tromping around Ottawa in daddy's shoes. So do most Canadians. Trudeau has already resigned and his replacement, Mark Carney, possesses impressive credentials, and should be able to garner at least some respect from Trump. Carney has made some disparaging remarks about Trump, but probably more for domestic consumption to win the nomination, then as his intended style of negotiation. He's a well known economist with international ties and it appears that he's resigned to the tariffs and intends to matter-of-factly respond by restructuring Canada's domestic and foreign trading relationships, rather than beg Trump for relief. We'll see how serious Trump is when Canadians prove willing to endure the pain.
To be honest, I first took a dislike to Donald Trump back in the 80's, when he was in the news building his NY Trump Tower. He's a narcissistic bully, and bullies typically only pick on people smaller than themselves. However, his analysis regarding the Ukraine crisis has been essentially correct and he's less likely to get us into WWIII than any of his Democratic counterparts. Therefore for now, I'll give Trump the benefit of the doubt, and frankly, my country Canada, including Carney, developed some very bad national karma by ardently supporting the insurrectionist, anti-Russian regime in Kiev, and fuelling the deaths of hundreds of thousands, at a time when a peaceful settlement was still within reach. We also gave two parliamentary standing ovations to Ukrainian WWII Nazi SS officer, Jaroslav Hunka. Also, like the US, we allowed notable WWII Ukrainian Nazis to emigrate to Canada where they've built multiple monuments to top Ukrainian Nazi war criminals, Roman Shukheyvich and Stepan Bandera. Therefore, I'm battening down my hatches, while still hoping for the best. However, the karmic wheel of retribution is turning for all of the world's nations.
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Comments (24)
Great song, Frederick! I am very flattered, thank you!
Sure that sooner or later reason and justice will prevail in this world.
Congratulations,,,,,Ready and Set is Number One.
Very beautiful music you have played.....Your voice is amazing, and you have great vocal presentation. Great song.
Magnificent song.
Very Good .
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