It’s been a good number of years since Throwing Muses graced the indie charts and touched the minds of millions with their ‘Real Ramona’ album and slightly less time since associated Rhode Island music sensations Belly released their debut EP ‘Slow Dust’ (1992) and shot to number one in the United Kingdom Indie Chart, followed by Top 40 for ‘Feed The Tree’ and their debut album ‘Star’ (1993), reaching the top of the UK Albums Chart. The bassist in tow for all of these events – Fred Abong – then took a lengthy hiatus from music… So glad he’s back.
Now with seven solo albums under his belt, the latest of these being his recently released long-player ‘Fear Pageant’, Abong presents his penetrating brand of alternative folk-rock artist on his latest single ‘Fear Pageant‘. Earlier, he showcased the singles ‘Father’ and ‘My Way’.
“I have a habit of writing the title track for an album last, which is what happened with previous albums ‘Homeless’, ‘Pulsing’ and ‘OMOPH‘, and now again with ‘Fear Pageant’. I think it must be something about being steeped in the mood/vibe of the collection of songs that have slowly revealed themselves that makes it possible or even inevitable that a summation or capstone song would show up at the end,” says Fred Abong.
“In any case, though somewhat short, the song ‘Fear Pageant’ distills the various elements of all the tracks into a little nugget of mystery, romance, dread, and groove. The video is less realized – light as a feather and kind of thrown together and spare – but I still think it works as an ephemeral companion to the song.”
Fred Abong got his musical start in the 1980’s as a drummer, bassist and guitarist on the Rhode Island hardcore punk scene. In the early 1990s, he played bass for Throwing Muses and then Belly. He then put music on hold for academic pursuits, earning a PhD in Humanities and teaching at various universities for eight years before returning to music. Now back as a solo artist, Abong also plays bass in the Kristin Hersh Electric Trio.
A Filipino-American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Abong’s music has a raw and unpolished production aesthetic with an overall direct, though deceptively imaginative and oblique, presentation. Abong has also been a practicing Vedic astrologer for the past 20 plus years. Abong has a reputation for creating music that is a blend of “ragged Replacements and lyric-driven Bob Dylan” and “Elliott Smith with balls”.
Released via Seattle label Disc Drive, ‘Fear Pageant’ is out now and available across fine music platforms, including Bandcamp. The record is available on vinyl or as a digital download.
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