4 March 2024
Every Monday I will be bringing you an interview with an independent band, duo or music artist. This week, I caught up with London artist frankie to find out more…
Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I grew up in London doing musical theatre and it was something I always wanted to go into. During COVID, I ended up teaching myself guitar and slowly got better and better at the piano. I would listen to music and always had such a strong desire to write something similar, something that could also discuss exactly how I was feeling. I’ve always loved poetry, and to me, lyrics were a certain brand of poetry that I just felt I understood so deeply. So, during lockdown I just started to write and write and caught the bug. I haven’t stopped since.
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
I have to credit Taylor Swift as my number one influence growing up, ‘The Best Day’, was the first song I ever learnt on guitar and in so many ways her emphasis on storytelling has influenced my hugely diaristic style. Joni Mitchell has become a huge influence on my lyricism, and I place Lorde as one of my top ever musical idols. Gracie Abrams, Holly Humberstone, Wolf Alice, and folk musicians like Adrianne Lenker are some of my other favourites.
How would you describe your sound?
I would say that my sound centres around the lyrics that I write as it has always been the most important part of a song to me. I love very synth and pad-like sounds. My self-produced work has been more intimate but I’m now breaking into music with a stronger heartbeat and pulse to it.
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
My latest release is called ‘knees’. I first started writing it three years ago after my friends and I had gone out one night and it had all ended rather badly. It started as a joke between my best friend and I, but it grew into something else entirely. Over the last three years, I’ve added different lyrics to it and altered it as I witnessed things happen to those around me. I took each way that someone might say ‘knees’, either being “knee deep”, being “on your knees”, or bringing something down to “its knees” and incorporated that into the song.
What’s your local music scene like?
I live a little bit outside of London so it’s quite quiet in this area, but I grew up in London and travel into the city most days. It’s where I have done all of my gigs so far. I’ve played at The Troubadour and Nell’s, and those are such amazing venues.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
Knees is the first song from my latest EP ‘Growing Pains’, which will all be hopefully released by this summer. I’m performing further gigs at The Troubadour, and planning on some more in London.
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Gracie Abrams or Holly Humberstone would probably be my dream collaboration.
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
There’s no particularly funny stories, but you can always count on my mum to be up in the front row screaming along to every lyric.
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
I think that for me, my most important thing about my music will always be my lyrics. I’ll have probably spent hours over each little line and everything that I write has been chosen to be there for a very specific reason. So, when anyone ever listens to my songs, I always love when someone mentions how much my lyrics resonated with them, because it’s the thing I identify with the most. I’m someone who has always struggled articulating verbally how I feel, but it is in my music that I am always unbelievably honest because it’s the only space I know how to be.
You can find out more about frankie via Apple Music, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, TikTok, X (Twitter) or YouTube.
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