John Frank

John Frank, a local singer/songwriter, started experimenting with music at on early age. Like many musicians, he went from playing music at home to playing for people at bars. Now, the natural progression has taken him to a recent tour and a second album, which will be released in May. In Orlando with band mates jared Leevanus and Cesar Frisoli, Frank and his guitar are back In full force. Together, they're proving once again that you can't hide from the rock, it will-find you.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN MUSIC?

I had been playing guitar and writing songs since high school, but never really took it further than my bedroom It wasn't until college that I started writing songs that I really believed in. So I started hitting the open mic circuit and it just kind of went from there. I actually quit my job as an adolescent drug counselor to pursue music full-time.

THATS DEDICATION YOU CITE TONS OF INFLUENCES. WHICH ARE NEAREST AND DEAREST?

I'll go by decades.The 60/70's would have to be Led Zeppelin, '&Qs would have to be Duran Duran and Guns n Roses. The '90s is a train wreck of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Counting Crows and Matchbox Twenty. I also went through a period where I listened to nothing but Am DiFranco, but that was my lesbian phase.

LOTS OF YOUR MUSIC HAS TO DO WITH RELATIONSHIPS AND LOVE. WHAT EXPERIENCES ARE YOU DRAWING ON?

Mostly the bad ones, unfortunately. It's not that I've never been happy in a relationship. I just find it easier to write about the hard times. I think there is an expression that says "pain is art," and I tend tn agree.

YOU DID A GOOD AMOUNT OF TOURING.WHAT WAS THAT LIKE FOR YOU?

It was a huge confidence booster, just getting out there and really doing it made'me believe in what I'm doing even more. It's a great feeling when a complete stranger in another city approaches you after a show and says that they loved the music. It really helps validate why you're doing it And then there's the gigs where no one shows up, but we won't talk about those.

WAS THAT YOUR FIRST TIME TOURING?

For all intents and purposes, yes. I had done a couple out of town shows before, but nothing as extensive.
WHICH CITY WAS YOUR FAVORITE?
That's easy: New York City. It's just my kind of place. Believe it or not, Pittsburgh was one of the most beautiful cities we played in. And I have to mention Columbia, SC they're good to me there.
WHAT WAS MOST SURPRISING OR DIFFICULT ABOUT THE TOUR}
The most surprising thing about the road was that most of the local bands we were billed with couldn't get their own mothers to come out to the shows.The most difficult part was just organizing the whole thing and then making sure it all went smoothly/Then there's always money (or lack thereof) issues to deal with.

YOU HAVE A LOYAL FOLLOWING. WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOU AND YOUR BAND THAT YOU THINK FANS CONNECT W ITH?

Hopefully the fact that my music comes across as honest, and that I'm not much different than they are. Or maybe they just feel sorry for me. [Laughs]

WHAT ABOUT YOU AS A PERSON OR MUSICIAN HAS CHANGED FROM THE LAST RELEASE TO THE UPCOMING RELEASE?

Like with anything else. I think the second time around you have more confidence in what you are doing, and-have a clearer vision of what you want to accomplish. For this record I didn't worry if the chorus came in at exactly 45 seconds, or if the songs went over 4 minutes. Musically, as a singer I have definitely started to find my voice, so hopefully that will be more evident on this record. I also wrote a couple of songs on piano, so this album is not so guitar based.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH MUSICALLY BEFORE YOU HANG UP THE GUITAR?

That's a tough question because I don't think I'll ever hang it up. I guess we'll just have to see.
- Patrick Alcine
- Axis Magazine: August 2008