OBSESSXNS. "NEXT" Issue #1: Fredo Disco

BEHINDOBSESSXNS. brad laplante • founder katy meininger • senior editor starr brown • junior editor in this mag.

graphic design/layout • brad laplante all photos • rachel malvich (IG/@sixsixr) fredo disco feature article • starr brown intro article (page 3) • facebook.com/fredo.disco.inc

online.

writers • sydney hunt photo • victoria de armond, dena gonzalez social media (@obsessxns) • brad laplante

table of contents.

page 2: this page 3: meet fredo disco page 4-5: fredo disco “cool as f**k”

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www.obsessxns.com brad.laplante[at]obsessxns.com

meet fredo disco

fredo • guitar/vocals max • guitar aidan • bass colin • drums hi im fredo. i am 18. my real name is fredo fosco but my phone always autocorrects it to disco so here we are. these are some songs that i write and record. in 2018 some of my friends joined fredo disco and their names are max, colin, and aidan. enjoy our tunes, eat some food, and stay cool.

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“cool as f**k” 4

written by starr brown

If you ask most musicians when they began finding their passion for music, it was probably around middle school. You’re able

to play their instruments in school and really start exploring music for the first time as an individual discovering the music you really like, and not just what your parents listen do on the radio. For Fredo Fosco, a musician from the suburbs of Chicago, it was exactly like this.

Growing up in a small Midwest town, when Fosco turned 10 he began playing guitar. That’s when his passion for music began taking off. By the time he turned 11, Fosco started writing songs and after that, pretty much the only things he could see himself doing in the future was music.

In 2016 Fosco started Fredo Disco as a way to express what he was going through musically and creatively. It served as a place for him to explore music and songwriting in a more meaningful way and share it with the world wide web.

Fredo Disco’s music is a reminder that people are people.

“Sometimes people piss you off. sometimes even YOU might piss you off.

So, when the bad times come and nothing feels good, a little reminder that you’re cool as fuck can sometimes help,” mentioned Fosco.

About a year into Fredo Disco as a solo project, Fosco wanted to add friends Max (guitar) and Colin (drums) in to grow the sound of the project. Having played music with the two since 2012, Fosco knew he wanted to do something with them, but didn’t want to risk ruining Fredo Disco making it a full band too quickly.

Disco Inc. was the stepping stone of Fredo Disco transition from solo to full band. They decided that if the EP and Disco Inc. did well, they would move into doing full band stuff with Fredo Disco. If it didn’t, Fosco could continue doing Fredo Disco by himself and forget the idea.

Fortunately, people seemed to like the sound of the Disco Inc. EP and Fosco moved forward on writing music for Fredo Disco for a full band for their 2018 release Very Cool Music for Very Cool People. Fosco wrote all the demos for the album, minus Wooden Spoon, over the course of his senior year of high school and recorded it over summer 2018 while freshly graduated and the emotions of the music was still raw and real.

Very Cool Music for Very Cool People was inspired from Fosco’s experiences as a 21st century Midwest suburban kid in his senior year of high school. It compiles emotions just about every almost-20-somethings feel trying to figure out what to do next with their life, relationships, and all the awkwardness of growing up in between.

“Pretty much all of the music I listened to was written by people that were older than me, and a lot of the time I found myself having no music or...

lyrics to relate to the exact way I felt,” replied Fosco. “I wanted to create music that would correctly reflect the way I felt all the time for people who fell that way too, and that’s what Very Cool Music for Very Cool People is.”

Over the course of nine songs, Very Cool Music for Very Cool People clearly depicts what it’s like to currently be a teenager with its rock angst and emotion driven lyrics.

From the attitude in opening track “Prom, Post Prom, Etc” about a failing high school relationship, to “Burnt and Worn Out” being about smoking weed, and over to “webMD” with it’s all too real lyrics “went to the doctor ‘cause the internet said I should,” every song is all too relatable and Fosco’s unapologetic personal experiences of being a 21st century teenager.

With the release of the first full band Fredo Disco record and the Disco Inc. side project, 2018 was quite the roller coaster for the three friends of the group.

Fredo Disco started 2018 with under 1,000 followers on Spotify and ended the year with over a million streams.

They group had also never played a single live show. By the end of the year, they found themselves playing shows with Michigan natives Hot Mulligan and Chicago neighbors Real Friends thanks to the help of their new team member– booking agent Jason Parent of APA Agency.

“I would 100% say that 2018 was a success for Fredo Disco,” remarked Fosco.

2018 was also a massive year for Fosco personally.

“2018 was chaos. I’ve been sitting here for like 15 minutes trying to explain everything that happened in depth and I can’t,” explained Fosco. “Absolute chaos all year long.”

Just like every other 18-year-old, Fosco graduated high school and had to make a decision about what he was going do with at least the next four years of his life. So, like most, he attended college.

Documenting small bits of his experience at DePaul University, such as moving in and his thoughts during his first few months of freshman year on Twitter and Instagram, in early October 2018, Fosco tweeted from the Fredo Disco account, “watch me drop tf out of college”.

Then Very Cool Music for Very Cool People released and Fosco dropped out soon after to peruse his burning passion for music and continue growing Fredo Disco.

“There’s a lot that went into that decision and I definitely feel happier now that I’m out, but it’s still scary as fuck to drop everything to pursue the dream you’ve had since you were a kid.” OBSESSXNS.

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