Let’s jump right in. Let our readers know who you are. Where you are from. And what style of music you create.

This is Les Fradkin. I’m originally from New York City. I have lived in Colorado since January 2000.

My current music, is a mixture of various influences and signposts from Rock, Guitar Instrumental, Electronic, Progressive and Classical music. I call it “Symphonic Rock”.

Your music could easily be mistaken as something from another world…

Thank you. I’m flattered you feel that way.

Can you give us some insight into your instrument, the Star Labs Ztar?

The Z-tar is an electronic musical instrument that you connect via a MIDI cable to synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, and computers. The main difference between the Z-tar and other MIDI guitar controllers is that there are no strings on the neck.

Instead, the fingerboard is actually a specialized keyboard with a touch-sensitive key each note position. You can play the Z-tar like a guitar where you fret with one hand and strum with the other hand, or you can tap the fingerboard keys to play them as you would a keyboard, only you’re playing the same scales and fingerings that you use on guitar.

The Ztar also has 8 nested multi layered tuning maps which I have personally developed into a new playing method and approach, to permit the discarding of the chromatic scale, chord stacking on a single button and complete left and right hand counterpoint on each button under a single finger, if need be. This new technique allows me to be a One Man Orchestra, both Live and in the Studio.

Who or what influenced you when you were young?

Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Niccolo Paganini, Mozart, The Beatles, ELO, The Left Banke, The Ventures, Phil Spector, Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Jeff Beck, Bob Dylan, The Byrds.

Who influences you now?

Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Niccolo Paganini, Mozart, The Beatles, ELO, Jean Michel Jarre, Yes, King Crimson, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Trance Music

Do you engineer, record, and mix your music or do you work with others when creating your art?

I engineer and record all my music by myself. I play all the parts myself on Ztar, which triggers Guitar, Keyboards, Orchestral, Percussion and Bass sounds. I mix the records in collaboration with my wife Loretta.

You were chosen to play George Harrison in the 1976 Broadway musical “Beatlemania”. First off, what was that experience like?, and how did that role affect the path of your career moving forward?

The experience was fantastic and one I would never trade or regret. It was particularly important to me for various reasons:

Beatlemania, effectively, started the Tribute Band Industry, I toured in many exotic places, played Broadway, met lots of famous and interesting people. I was actually, quite prepared to assume those challenges, what with 12 years of playing Beatles licks on guitar and deep Music Industry experience, as an Artist, Composer and Session Musician, already behind me.

It allowed me to gain worldwide fame, without sacrificing my Intellectual Property to do so. However, it did sidetrack me for awhile with typecasting, which led me to abandon the Record industry and move into the Jingle and TV music industry. So, no regrets there either!

What inspired you or led you down the path of becoming such a virtuoso at not only guitar but MIDI guitar?

Guitar? Well, I saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan (I suppose everyone else did as well) and said to my parents: “That looks like a good job!” I made up my mind to be a world famous guitarist. (I’m still on that quest!).

With respect to MIDI Guitar, I had already mastered the Mellotron and fooled around with the Moog Modular Synth. So anything to do with the possibility of Synthesized Orchestrations, was of keen interest to me. By 1983, when MIDI was invented, I could clearly see that was the wave of the future, and a possible way for me to attain my goal of controlling Orchestral parts from a guitar.

In those early days, producers were so obsessed with the Yamaha DX7 and MIDI sequencing, that they didn’t want to hire real guitars for awhile. So I had to get expert on MIDI Guitar to continue to work. The SynthAxe and the Roland GR Guitar synths provided me with an edge in the Television music industry to get more work. And there was almost no one else in New York who could play Midi Guitars like I could. So that, if you will, provided the means and the motive to get behind MIDI Guitar, way back then.

How did you end up among the circle of people who pioneered tapeless MIDI recording?

My MIDI knowledge and prominence began to become quite extensive while working for ABC-TV and Score Productions. I acquired the nickname-Dr. Midi! This gave many composers and Television Music Producers, the opportunity to rely on me for complex solutions to sessions which involved MIDI, Sequencing and Tapeless recording, which I helped pioneer.

I noticed that producers and composers wasted a lot of studio time dropping MIDI sequences to Tape. This sheer force of production habit, I suppose, led me to conclude that it might be possible to do things a different way. I routinely was doing Tapeless MIDI sequencing as far back as the Roland MSQ-700 and the Yamaha QX-1 back in 1984. But to record, vocals and guitars, one still had to Sync to Tape.

The New England Digital Synclavier opened up new possibilities and I purchased one in 1986. My Synclavier, at that time, was capable of recording large amounts of music to RAM memory without tape. This led to my personal experiments with that system to determine, how one could record, say, a 30 second jingle, without laying back anything to tape.

I recorded the first Tapeless Synclavier recording in 1987 for L’Air du Temps Perfume. This led to demonstrating this to New England Digital (they were, to say the least, quite astonished) which led to them developing “Direct-To-Disk” Recording by 1988. I was interviewed by CNN for this in 1988, I’m proud to say.

What was going on in the industry during that period which led to developing this technology?

At the time, there were a lot of musicians using Synthesizers but there was no easy way to sequence them and it was pretty difficulty and time consuming to get different instruments to “talk to one another”, let alone stay in Sync.

Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits and Roland Corp put their heads together to come up with that system-MIDI. You know, in retrospect, and with 20/20 hindsight, this early MIDI era, now, appears to have been a gradual and incremental setup to get musicians to become accustomed to using computer technology, first thru hardware, and then thru a personal computer, as the cost of chips and the technology came down from the initial stratospheric heights to everyday use. I embraced these advances without reservation, and still occupy the “bleeding edge”, if you will, even today.

What role is the Internet / social media playing in promoting your music and connecting with new fans?

Well, it’s a whole new world out there, isn’t it? Social Media forms a key component in my Marketing of my music. But I keep my private life off social media. I use Facebook, Twitter, ReverbNation, CD Baby, TuneCore, My Space, The Indie Music Channel, etc. I must say, this “Social Media” thing is beginning to spin out of control. If I had to Market on every possible site, I’d never have time for music. So I keep my communications, under strict time control, and centralized to a few sites, for the sake of my creative time.

Are there any challenges you are facing or have had to overcome?

Oh yes, indeed. My age, for example, sometimes plays an impactful part on certain elements of public perception. For me, it’s the seasoned reason for my innovations, as I believe, my current music is, by far, the best of my career.

Secondly, Public expectations with respect to my Beatlemania past, to some extent, dictated my early solo CD musical choices. But not anymore.

Thirdly, Music Piracy forced me to change up my previous business model. And mainly, taking the last Six years to learn how to play the Ztar in an utterly distinctive way. That was a challenge I felt was the only way to progress forward. You don’t get to where I’ve gone by standing still. I share this type of outlook with Robert Fripp, who remains, a constant mentor of my thinking.

And lastly, it’s been an interesting experience watching Classical Musicians get turned on by my approach. I have over 78 Orchestras and Conductors following me on Twitter. I must say, the reaction to what I’m doing has been most positive. I’m most grateful for everyone’s generous support.

Where can we find your music?

Links for Buy are:

http://www.amazon.com/One-Link-Between-Them/dp/B00198K2SM
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/one-link-between-them/id276863281
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lesfradkin17
http://lesfradkin.bandcamp.com/album/one-link-between-them
http://www.reverbnation.com/store/view_item_album/artist_183574?item_id=215391

You Tube Video Channel Link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/lfradkin

Where can readers connect with you online?

Websites are: http://www.lesfradkin.com
http://www.reverbnation.com/lesfradkin
https://www.facebook.com/lfradkin
http://www.youtube.com/user/lfradkin
http://twitter.com/lesfradkin

Do you actively gig?

I gig, occasionally. The music I play is difficult to perform live and I’m still developing the newly invented method to do so. My gig schedule is on my Reverb Nation page: http://www.reverbnation.com/lesfradkin

Can people catch a live show anywhere?

I have plans to perform on Stageit.com in the near future. Hopefully, Touring to follow.

Any last thoughts? Shout outs?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to have my music heard by your readers.