FREE DESIGN were the secret treasure of the american sixties pop. Luckily, today, are a revelation for the international indie pop comunity. Their angelic vocal harmonies and their beautiful melodies have shown the universality of their music. Souvenir was talking with Chris Dedrick -the leader of the band- about the peace and love philosophy, "the expression real", the old good times and the stress... And don´t ask us about the soft rock, please.

Interviewed by Juan de Ribera Berenguer

What do you remember of the Free Design days? Were they the best days of your life?

Chris Dedrick: It was most exciting because of all the new opportunities, yet also difficult because at such a young age the maturity is not always there to know how to deal with all the personalities and responsibilities. It was also a revolutionary time in American history, which was both inspiring and demanding, artistically and personally.



Why did Free Design beguin? What were your intentions and ambitions? Did you think that Free Design could be a successful band?

Chris Dedrick: We sang first for the fun of it. Then I began writing original songs and arrangements for the group, and that's when the feeling came that we had something special in sound and musical attitude.



What bands did you like when were a Free Design member? Do you think that Free Design were a very different band of your comtemporaneous?

Chris Dedrick: I was raised on Ellington, Basie, the Hi-Lo's, Sinatra, Armstrong...but I came to like some pop music: Motown, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, for example. Free Design was unique in sound and vocal arrangements at the beginning. Groups that followed, like the Association and the Carpenters seemed to borrow from our style or perhaps just had similar roots.



Were you a bit hippies? Did you believe in the peace and love philosophy?

Chris Dedrick: Yes.



Today, How do you see this ideas at the present?

Chris Dedrick: I see peace and love as practical in the world and not as a cause to "drop out". It's very inclusive and powerful, the idea of brotherly/sisterly love among all people.



Japan and Spain have been the countries where The Free Design revival had begun. Isn´t it a bit strange?

Chris Dedrick: Maybe because the vocal sound has a kind of universality?



Why do you think that Free Design can be a very interesting band for a young public? My theory is that pop music of the nineties is centralized only in rythmn and forget the melodies... and the good melodies never die... And the Free Design music is ideal for attacking the stress too...

Chris Dedrick: I agree. I'll never forget, after we made our first album, I was living in Flushing, New York. There was a man who had an office across the street and he offered me, a stranger, some free space to park my motorcycle. In return I gave him the "Kites" LP. He later told me that he had been in World War II and was left with a nervous disorder, would get the shakes and have to take heavy medication. But he found that every time he felt the problem coming on, he would put our record on and he was fine! No more pills--he could work, etc. It was very moving to consider what music could do.



Today, Many people is always talking about Free Design like a soft rock band, What do you think about this? What do you think that soft rock means? Had you heard these words (soft rock) anytime?

Chris Dedrick: It's a phrase that has been around a long time. I guess soft rock is simply not as loud as "hard rock". It also tends to be more family oriented, more positive in outlook and message (also, unfortunately, can sometimes be rather banal).



I know that "Kites are fun" was a minor but charting hit in 1967 but Why didn´t Free Design get more hits? What did it go wrong?

Chris Dedrick: One problem was record distribution: people could never find the records in the stores, so we couldn't get the sales necessary to climb the charts.



What was the expression real? I have heard that was a Free Design basic concept... and What does it mean Free Design?

Chris Dedrick: To me it means breaking out, being uninhibited, but not without a plan and not without discipline.



Were Free Design a studio oriented band? Why didn´t Free Design play live often? Were you a perfectionist?

Chris Dedrick: We started in the studio, but did many live concerts and TV appearances. We were probably best suited to the studio.



What is your fave Free Design album? and the worst? Do you heard the Free Design albums often now? what do you think about them now?

Chris Dedrick: My fav's are the first ("Kites Are Fun"), second ("You Could Be Born Again") and last Project 3 album ("One by One"). I don't really have a "worst". I still find them fresh and exciting, though our voices have developed a lot since those days.



Two Free Design albums were destinated to Children, Why are they "very important people"?

Chris Dedrick: All the obvious reasons: you gotta love kids, and give them the best of everything.



What did Free Design break up? When the band broke up, Were you out of fashion?

Chris Dedrick: After so many recordings and performances without a real hit, it became too difficult to make enough money to make it a full time profession. We all had things to pursue.



I Know that today you keep working in music. Could you tell me your activities? What did it happen with your brothers? Where are they now?

Chris Dedrick: My brother Bruce teaches and has a band on Long Island, New York. Sandy and Ellen sing in a wonderful concert group called the Star-Scape Singers (see the Sun-Scape Records website); I also sang with that ensemble for several years, wrote many vocal compositions for them, and continue to do so. If you've seen my website, you know I do a lot of composing for film and TV, as well as for the Canadian Brass and many other recording artists. Incidentally, a solo album that I recorded in 1972 will likely be released in Spain, Japan, and the U.S. before long.