Frank Black
Frank Black
Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IVis an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black. After releasing two albums with record label 4AD and one with American Recordings, he left the label and formed a new band, Frank Black and the Catholics. He re-adopted...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth6 April 1965
CountryUnited States of America
I'm an untrained musician. Untrained musicians don't really have any music theory, they don't have a lot of rules. We break the rules, but it's mostly because we don't know what the rules are. It's easy for us to go to certain places, so I'm not surprised that a lot of people were amused by my songwriting style.
I'm just trying to record as much as I can, ... It's like a lifelong obsession with rock music that I've had since I was very young. I don't know what it is, but I like it and want to be around it and participate in it. It's the same today, a very youthful kind of feeling.
I've always liked P.F. Sloan's 'Eve Of Destruction.' It's the performance by the singer, Barry McGuire, and, um, I would say it's also the chord progression and melody.
I did start down that path some time ago,
She's gorgeous. She's got lips like Angelina Jolie.
It's just, you gotta pay your dues if you want to sing the blues. Not that I've never paid dues in my life, but I just paid a lot in the last couple of years. What can I say? It just gives your songs a whole lot more legitimacy. Or it causes you to write better songs or something, I don't know.
They may be afraid that if we make a mediocre record that it will still come out, because the money has been spent. That's fair enough.
They're so good. There are times when they're playing when it's just: 'Oh my gosh, these guys are like the Rolling Stones or something.' It's pretty stunning.
They're pretty good actually, Hall & Oates. I gotta give them credit. They got a lot of toe-tappers.
They're not too big on Thanksgiving up there. Our English tour manager, not really being familiar with the feast, did a nice thing and booked a private room for us to be served an American Thanksgiving. But they were these French-sized courses. It wasn't a bucket of mashed potatoes, the giant bird and piles of food. Instead it was like, 'And now, we present.. the pumpkin soup! Voila!' It was us and our crew so it was a little stiff.
A lot of the gentle singing style of (jazzman) Chet Baker I noticed more than once showing up in my delivery,
I remember at the time telling my therapist that it felt really good to be down, to be in pain or whatever. Because it was like: 'Oh yeah, I am human.' Not that I was devoid of emotion before, but to go that far, that deep, it's like: 'Wow, this is what it's like to be human.' In some sick way it felt good.
We've decided there is nothing to talk about unless there's some actual songs on the table. In our spare time we'll start to compile some demos, and if they start to sound good, we'll do something.
But the truth is that critics are by definition critical. That's their job.