E-Crap Meets Dean Friedman

Singer/Songwriter Dean Friedman ("Ariel", "McDonalds Girl", "Lucky Stars") spends a few minutes with E-Crap.com

In the summer of 1977, a singer/songwriter named Dean Friedman released (in this writer's view) the best pop song of the decade, Ariel. The song went Top 20 nationally, and much higher in many listening markets. His follow-up in 1978, Lucky Stars, was also a huge national hit.

While maintaining his love for writing music and performing, Dean also went on to start his own highly successful business designing virtual reality software and state-of-the-art video games. 

Twenty-five year later, Dean Friedman continues to make great music. His songs have been recorded by such acts as Barenaked Ladies, paid homage to by Ben Folds, and have appeared on countless movie and TV soundtracks. 
In 2002, Dean Friedman released his first CD, The Treehouse Journals, since his 1998 release Songs For Grownups. The CD is a must listen for not only Dean Friedman fans, but fans of music.

The latest release from the new CD, George Washington Slept Here is receiving national attention, and is poised to put Dean back into the minds of music lovers throughout the world.

Dean Friedman was gracious enough to spend a few minutes with E-Crap.com, to discuss his musical career, and other interesting topics. 

The Interview

E-Crap - You have mentioned in interviews that the Beatles and Bob Dylan were among your musical influences. Have your musical influences changed over time?
DEAN FRIEDMAN - Regarding influences, I've never ceased being amazed at the level of sheer creativity that keeps rising to the top in spite of the profound inanity of the music 'business'. I've always been a fan of singer/songwriters, having grown up on artists like Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor etc..., who have a strong emphasis on meaningful lyric wedded to sophisticated music. And while today's artist definitely shy away from that label, I consider artists like Sting, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant, Joan Osborne, Ben Folds, to name just a few, to be writers following in that tradition, crafting rich lyrics to moving melodies. And at the risk of confusing everybody, I'd have to say I consider Eminem to be one of the most powerful lyricists writing today, taking honest risks and crafting impecabble songs. I continue to be influenced by all of them, in fact, by every bit of music I hear.

E-Crap - A basic Google Internet search on "Dean Friedman" shows hundreds of sites and links dedicated to your career. Among them, sites that list "misheard lyrics" from your songs, fan sites, sites that list the supposed guitar chords from your hits, and countless reviews. How has the Internet influenced your music and business ideas? And have you come across a link relating to you that either made you laugh, or scratch your head?
DEAN FRIEDMAN - The internet has done nothing less than revive my career and make it possible for me to be a musician again after more than a decade of being involved in other multimedia pursuits. By providing direct access to my listening audience, I've been able to bypass the onerous music industry machine and create music for the people it was always intended for. In fact, my latest album, 'The Treehouse Journals' was financed entirely by my fans via my website http://deanfriedman.com. Basically, I emailed everybody saying I was ready to record and inviting them to help pay for the production by purchasing in advance, 'limited edition' signed & numbered copies of the CD. Incredibly, it worked - I was able to finish my studio, write new songs and make a new album, all without having to deal with record companies, A&R guys, publishers, agents, managers... It was incredibly liberating and I hope more and more artists are able to adopt the same type of formula. Because art should be between the artist and their audience. The internet makes it possible to get rid of the middleman, once and for all!

E-Crap - Recently, two current pop music icons (Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds) have either recorded your songs, or made reference to them. Seeing the resurgence that occured for someone like Carlos Santana (duets with pop icons Michelle Branch and Rob Thomas), do you have any plans, or thoughts, to work with any other musicians in a similar way?
DEAN FRIEDMAN - I'm totally open to it. However, unfortunately, the artist you mention, being on major labels, are rarely at liberty to provide support to indy artists like myself, even if they wanted to; those prime slots are usually reserved for other major label artists. That's just the way it goes. But who knows? Anything could happen.

E-Crap - Who are some of the current musical acts that you listen to? And if we peeked at your CD player, who might we see playing?
DEAN FRIEDMAN - I listen to all sorts of stuff. The new Chris Difford (ex-Squeeze) album is great. Dan Bryk is a talented new artist. The Duncan Shiek record is cool. And there's always a Sade CD in my player.

E-Crap - Do you have anything you want to say to the many faithful E-Crap.com readers?
DEAN FRIEDMAN - Let's hear it for all us oddballs and misfits!!!