Andy Frasco is one happy you know what…

What A Bunch Of Happy Bastards!

Andy Frasco & The U.N.

February 26th On Ruf Records

His Twitter profile says; “Party Blues with a touch of Barefoot Boogie.“

His music is just that.

And more.

You can’t miss Andy Frasco. The electric-shock hair. The megawatt charisma. The golden lungs, magic fingers and party-starting songs. When this twenty-something Californian bandleader takes to the stage with his band, The U.N., you’ll get an adrenaline shot of pure escapism. “We want people to be happy,” explains Andy of his musical mission statement. “To smile at their faults, love life for what it is; and follows the beat of your own drum.” 

“I’m here to build an experience.“ – Andy Frasco

Click here for: 30 Seconds of Frasco Greatness

The band’s fourth album, Happy Bastards will be ready for release on Ruf Records February 26, 2016, to shake your feet and skewers your woes. Produced by Rick Parker and John Avila and recorded at Lavish Studios and Brando’s Paradise, California, these twelve new songs are an industrial-strength blast of glass-half-full optimism, with the band’s self-styled brand of party blues jostling with funk, soul, rock and roots.

“I’m trying to bring a different interpretation of what people think the blues is,” says Andy. “Not all blues need to be sad and lonesome. I love acts like Wilson Pickett, Marvin Gaye, Buddy Guy, The Band, Samantha Fish, Houndmouth – all those acts made or make the blues their own style.”

Andy Frasco & The U.N. are surely destined to join that pantheon of greats. The band formed in 2007, but the front man’s backstory goes to his teens as he formulated his plan to become a full-time musician.

“I was living two lives,” he adds. “But it brought me the foundation to eventually book myself for the first five years of my career when nobody really gave a shit about me. I knew I needed to earn their respect, so I told myself I’m not going to stop until I see my dreams come true. I’ve been on the road for ten years straight, playing over 250 shows a year, through six countries, basically living in a van. It’s a toss and pull relationship, and I wanted to try and give commentary on those subjects on Happy Bastards.”

Andy has earned a reputation for his bandmates give a full-throttle, sweat-drenched, smash-and-grab live show. “We’re just trying to throw a party,” he explains. “Get people to turn off their phones, leave their stress and complications at the door, live in the moment and just celebrate life for a few hours. If, by the end of the night, I see 90 per cent of the room laughing and smiling, then I know I did my job.”

There have been great studio albums before – try 2014’s acclaimed third release Half A Man – but none has bottled the band’s frantic live energy quite like Happy Bastards. “We got the record produced by Rick Parker (Lord Huron, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Scott Weiland Band) and John Avila from Oingo Boingo,” says Andy. “Having those guys on your side was huge. They get that we are a live band, so they set all of us up live, and we played together until we all got it right. It was an amazing thing to make a record like how they made records in the ’70s.”

Co-written by the front man, guitarist Shawn Eckels and Kenli Mattus, these all-original songs are emotionally resonant and rip-it-up exciting, driven by the chemistry between the core U.N. lineup of Ernie Chang (sax), Andee Avila (drums) and Supaman (bass). “I basically picked my favorite musicians from around the world,” explains Andy of the cosmopolitan vibe. “I have a few guys from the Netherlands, Germany and guys from Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, and California. That’s my favorite thing about music. It’s so universal; it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what language you speak.”

By extension, these songs are universal, too, with everyday worries fueling everyman anthems. As Andy nears his thirties, the lyrics tell of a man accepting his mileage but poking maturity in the eye, with irresistible results. “The lyrics are really about being in a quarter-life crisis,” he explains. “Trying to adapt to being an adult without losing that kid in your spirit or soul.”

As such, there’s the reckless excess and reggae breakdown of stompy highlight “Mature As Fuck”. There’s the funk-bass mob chant of “You’re The Kind Of Crazy I Like”. Both ends of the romantic process are documented by the soul-drenched breakup tune “Good Ride”, and the acoustic-led alternative seduction ballad, “Let’s Get Down To Business” (“You know you make me want to climb the walls/You know you make me lose my shit”).

The modern world might be a cruel and uncaring place, but while Happy Bastards plays, everything seems momentarily brighter, better, drunker and more up for a dance. “I think it’s my strongest piece of work to date,” considers Andy. “I wanted to make an album that celebrates life. And I think we accomplished that.”

Follow them all things social by going to the website: www.anydfrasco.com

To download a photo – click here: http://wp.me/a4AfYg-6n

Did you see it? The teaser? Here it is again: 30 Seconds of Frasco Greatness

Join the band on their insane journey of tour dates starting January 2016 and watch the band burn some rubber: