When Wasabi Media Group was preparing to launch in June 2008, I needed to hire a writer or two.  After placing an ad, I received a handful of responses.  Among the initial batch was an email from John Frazzetta.  Since that time, he has been provided informative and amusing articles for our readers.  He’s our ABC writer, as he focuses on reviews of albums (and artists), beer, and concerts.

You may already know his opinion on the items above; now it’s time to get to know him a little better.

MPK: When you aren’t writing articles, what do you like to do with your free time?

JF: About 18 months ago I gave up all of my free time to be a dad.  This means that when I’m not at my job or writing, I’m chasing around my daughter and making sure she doesn’t get in too much trouble.  Because of her there has been an influx of Lady Gaga, Adele and Carly Rae Jepsen around the condo and part of me can’t help but snap my fingers.  I’m amazed when she steals my wife’s iPod and can navigate to the songs on her own, then gets up to dance.  When I do have free time I still like to go to concerts, read, hit the movies or try to sleep.

MPK: You’ve written reviews for a number of concerts.  What is your all-time favorite concert, and why?

JF: I think about this question quite often to be honest.  There are a few candidates: Hootie and the Blowfish in 1996 was my first show ever with my family; seeing Beck in Boston with friends in 2005 was one of the best nights ever; being up front for Tool the first time they played Manchester; watching CAKE play a small theater in Northampton; hanging backstage at Ozzfest 1999.  Yet they are all trumped by the first time I saw Pearl Jam in 2000.  This was the first show I ever drove to by myself with a friend and it was the first day of my senior year of high school.  We were crowded around a mass of college guys that blew hits off a joint in our faces while standing on the lawn at Great Woods.  My friend and I loved Pearl Jam so this was a spiritual moment for both of us and it was during the song ‘Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town’ when the crowd was singing along that I realized how much I loved going to concerts: the energy, the connection and the atmosphere.  It was incredible.  This was the tour that the band began to record their shows and sell them a few weeks later as bootlegs so I can revisit that moment at any time.  This would also be one of the last nights I would hang out with this particular friend and that hurt me the most.  I’ve been to plenty of shows where I’ve been trampled, surfed on, elbowed and sweated through my clothes but Pearl Jam on that August night will always be my favorite.

MPK: How vast is your music collection?

JF: If I had to ballpark my music collection it would look like this: CD’s close to 700 or more, vinyl must be near 100, I have a small selection of tapes, a few gigs of MP3’s I’ve accumulated over time and one sad little 8-track.  The last piece was sent to me by a band when I was a Music Director in college, it was a promo gag and I can never find an 8-track player to use so I can listen to it.

MPK: Is there any style of music you don’t like?

JF: Funny you should ask because that is the same line I tell people when they ask me ‘what do you listen to?’, I say to them why don’t we start with what I don’t like to listen to.  After reviewing albums in college for some great and terrible artists I will give anything at least one spin.  For a fact I do not enjoy modern country.  Be it the twang, drawl or the emotional quality there is something about it that just turns me off.  I’ve tried all sorts but I can’t handle it.  If  you stopped by my desk at work you’ll see albums by Luciano Pavorotti, Tortoise, Gershwin, Aphex Twin, Shellac, Miles Davis, Fugazi, A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Shadow, Dusty Springfield, Portishead all sorts of stuff.  I don’t want to claim that I ‘like everything’ instead I like to say that I’ll listen to anything if it can hold my attention.

MPK: You wrote about making beer at home a while ago.  Do you still brew at home?

JF: Please see above when I mentioned that I live with a small child.  I would love to get back into home brewing at some point in time, but when you live in a small condo with a little girl that likes to run around, keeping beer supplies available is tough.  One day I’ll get back to it but we’ll have to wait until she moves out or our family moves to a larger space, whichever happens first.

MPK: What fun fact would our readers be interested to learn about you?

JF:My nickname is Fizz, and it has been since I was 12 or 13.  It came about when a kid in middle school couldn’t figure out how to pronounce Frazzetta so he butchered it to sound like Fizz-etta, then decided to call me Fizz and the name stuck.  In college when I worked radio that was my DJ name, and soon that was how I introduced myself to Student Government, Student Affairs and the President of campus.  Even now most of my friends will call me Fizz because saying my first name is just weird for them.