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Freddie Friction, of Frederick’s Music Lounge, takes bartending
to strange new heights
By Brien
Seyle
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Media
Credit: Sarah Jones
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Fred Friction
pours a cold one at his establishment, Frederick’s Music Lounge. The bar
draws all kinds of folks, especially the rock-n-roll crowd. Others come
in for a frosty “Pabst-Smir,” Friction’s vision of what cheap beer and
vodka tastes like.
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Media
Credit: Sarah Jones
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All of
the art work at Fred’s is created by local artists and regulars. Fred also
has a hand in the process, adding a few pieces of his own work.
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Frederick’s Music Lounge, often called just “Fred’s” by regulars, is not
huge, but it’s packed with more fun than most venues twice its size.
Bands privileged enough to play at Fred’s also get unlimited free beer,
guaranteeing a pleasantly inebriated set by some of St. Louis’ hardest-drinking
musicians. Rarely is there a cover charge at Fred’s, except in the case
of touring bands who need to get paid more to get home. But, there is an
“exit charge,” out of which bands are paid. Patrons who enjoyed the evening’s
entertainment give a monetary token of appreciation upon leaving the bar.
The exit charge was Fred Friction’s idea. Friction is the proprietor
of Fred’s, the drummer for local band the Highway Matrons, an artist and
a general guru of lunacy.
“It was indecision mainly,” he said about his exit-charge policy. “We
didn’t know how much to charge for a cover. This way, someone comes in
and they don’t pay for the entertainment unless they really love it. The
problem is, it’s human nature to spend all your money on drinks.”
All sorts of music can be heard at Fred’s, which came as something
of a surprise to Friction.
“We’d envisioned solo and duo acoustic folk acts,” he said. “That’s
what we had planned on. What we ended up with was eight-piece ska bands.”
But, as Friction would likely agree, it’s not the size that counts.
It’s the rock factor. And most bands that play at Fred’s generally fall
into the range of hard rock, depending on the night.
Local ska musicians the Kickbacks are “on heavy rotation,” Friction
said. Other musical facets at Fred’s include Jenny Kavenaugh and Her Band
of Outlaws and Fred’s Variety Group.
But Fred’s isn’t just about music. What if you hate music? Some people
do.
Friction has provided for them, also. Monday at Fred’s is movie night.
Friction hooks up three screens and runs the audio through the public address
system.
“It’s theater quality sound,” Friction said.
Employees fling free popcorn around the room. Everyone can drink during
the showing. Friction shows movies, usually with a cult or punk rock theme,
which he obtains from various sources.
“We buy them or steal them,” he said. “We borrow them from friends
and never give them back.”
And if you don’t like music or movies, you can sit at the bar and enjoy
one of Friction’s colorful signature drinks.
Recommend “Fred Friction’s Cock Soup” to your friends and watch them
drink it. The drink consists of whiskey, Rooster hot sauce, and Cock Soup
brand chicken broth, among other things.
“Some people think it’s gross and disgusting,” Friction said. “I think
it’s nutritious and delicious.”
Or, if vodka more suits you palate, try the Pabst beer/Smirnoff vodka
combo, the “Pabst-Smir.”
And for the serious, no-nonsense drinker, the sloppiest of drunks,
there’s the “Preacher With a Hard-On,” which is a glass of O’Douls with
a shot of rail whiskey dropped into it.
There’s also beer in bottles and on draught, including Newcastle Brown
Ale. But few people want an expensive import or a cheap domestic when they
can drink their fill of Pabst-Smirs.
Friction came up with most of the recipes himself.
“Our research and development department helped,” he said. “I came
up with the recipes, but I’d force them on customers until I got it right.”
The underaged will have to wait a few years to sample Friction’s alcoholic
delicacies and are encouraged by Fred to stay at home and “Sip off Mom’s
Schnapps while watching ‘Full House’ reruns.”
“We card like Nazis,” Friction said.
If the signature drinks are not to your taste, then you can visit Fred’s
to join Alcoholics Unanimous, Friction and his friend Paul Stark’s self-professed
pyramid scheme to get people to buy him and his friends drinks. Stark helps
Friction out with the bar.
“Anyone who wants to be a member has to buy a drink for every card-carrying
member who’s present,” Friction said.
Frederick’s Music Lounge opened over 20 years ago by the late Frederick
Boettcher, Sr. — Friction’s father. Boettcher, also a musician and artist,
called the semi-private club “Frederick’s Restaurant and Lounge.”
“I guess he didn’t want to travel too far to go to a bar, so he designed
one,” Friction said of his father.
Fred’s features art by both Boettcher and Friction. Every Thursday
night is Bob Camp’s Noiseday Hootenanny, Fred’s famous open-mic night which
was voted the best in St. Louis by The Riverfront Times last year. Fred’s
place is located at 4454 Chippewa, a couple blocks east of Kingshighway
Boulevard. It opens at 6 p.m. and closes at 1:30 a.m. For more information
give Friction a call at 351-5711.
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