November '09
Artist Spotlight: Richard Z
of Rammstein
September '09
Interview: Shaun Glass and Dirge Within
Artist Spotlight: Doc Coyle
of God Forbid
August '09
Artist Spotlight: Will Adler (Lamb of God)
July '09
Artist Spotlight: Page Hamilton of Helmet
Winner's Circle: Mayem Sweepstakes
AVAILABLE FALL 2009: The new James Hetfield Truckster... now in black!
ESP and Spinefarm Records bring you Children of Bodom Fall 2009 North American Tour
Download Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 Go for free and enter for a chance to win an LTD KH-602
Coming Soon: ESP Artist Podcasts
June '09
Hot New Models Coming This Fall!
Winner's Circle: "No Fear" Music Tour Sweepstakes
Get Rockin Now with an LTD Guitar or Bass Pack!
April '09
ESP Congratulates Metallica for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction
ESP Artists Top Guitar World Reader's Poll!
New ESPs at 2009 Musikmesse Show!
March '09
Will Adler Appearance at Sam Ash Hollywood
ESP Gets in the Game with Guitar Hero: Metallica
February '09
Artist Interview: Ted Aguilar of Death Angel
ESP mourns the loss of Metal Mulisha rider Jeremy Lusk
January '09
ESP Announces New Models for 2009
New Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield Signature Series
ESP's Signature Series Gets 18 New Models at NAMM 2009
Artist Spotlight: Fred LeClercq of DragonForce
20 Years With ESP: Page Hamilton
ESP Artists Receive Grammy Nominations
ESP Artists Featured in Upcoming Comic Series
ESP on MySpace: Are you our friend?
Some people like to focus on one thing, and that becomes what they are known for. But Frédéric Leclercq of DragonForce took a slightly different route than the usual guy. Not only is he an accomplished bass player, but heʼs also a guitarist, keyboardist, and singer as well. Not only does he speak his native French, but is also fluent in English and German (and claims to know the dirty words in most other languages as well).
And, of course, most people are satisfied with being in one band, but in addition to his Grammy-nominated work in DragonForce, Fred is also the frontman in his own metal band, Maladaptive, where he sings and handles guitar duties. Previously, he held down the keyboard duties for French band Heavenly. But in his better-known role as the bassist for English power metal band DragonForce, Frédéric was originally contacted to help the group out only as a live musician on the bandʼs North America and Japan tours, having been a friend of the bandʼs guitarist/ producer Herman Li. But things went so well on that tour that in 2006, he was asked to become the permanent bassist for DragonForce, an opportunity he accepted
immediately.
Being the renaissance man of metal, Fred continues to perform as an in-demand session musician around the world. However, the success of DragonForce is inarguable; in December 2008, the group received a Grammy award nomination in the Best Metal Performance category for "Heroes of Our Time". The bandʼs latest album, "Ultra Beatdown", sold 24,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 18 on The Billboard 200 chart.
While he may have a variety of music applications for them, Fredʼs choice of bass and guitar comes from just one company: ESP. Fredʼs played a variety of ESP basses and guitars, including his well-known F-Series bass and custom Eclipse guitars. But no matter what the instrument, this is one guy who knows how to rock,
