Frankie Banali
by Deb Rao
Staff Writer
HRH: Frankie, Thank you for checking in with Hardrock Haven. Freakshow recently unleashed their debut album on Retrospect Records. How has the response been so far for the band and the release?
FRANKIE: The critic reviews have really been wonderful and positive. Listener response has been tremendous, which is really gratifying to hear for a new band these days.
HRH: How did Freakshow come to fruition? I know you toured with Cinderella and Jeff in the past, but how did you meet the rest of the band?
FRANKIE: Oddly enough, it didn’t have anything to do with me knowing Jeff or having toured together, though I love Jeff’s playing and had hoped to work with him for many years.
Markus Allen Christopher called me, explained who he was and that he wanted to know if I would be interested in recording with him. I told Markus that I would have to hear the material first to decide if I was the right drummer for the songs. We talked over a period of time, and he sent me a four-song demo, which was very well done. It was obvious that he could write great rock songs and record them well, could play great rock-crushing guitar, and could sing as good as any of the majors within the genre. We talked on the phone a number of times, and I decided that I might be a good fit for the songs with my particular style and drum sound.
HRH: Freakshow is made up of some of the best talent in the business. Every musician in the band has made an impact in music today. How did each musician’s style reflect in the making of the new Freakshow release?
FRANKIE: Everyone, I think, just played and recorded the parts that best fit the type and styles of songs that made up the entire Freakshow CD. It’s easy to record great songs; it’s difficult to make songs that are just OK into a great song. Everyone did their best to leave their individual style on each of the tracks.
HRH: You are greatly influenced by the late John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. How did this play a major factor in the recording of the Freakshow debut?
FRANKIE: It neither did nor didn’t. There are some tracks like “It’s Really Over” and “Mistreat Me” that lend themselves to that style, a somewhat common thread to the style of Led Zeppelin and the great John Henry Bonham, and that is a great comfort zone for my style of drumming. That also applies to the track “Welcome To The Freakshow” to a lesser degree. Then there are tracks like “Ripper,” which is by and large very removed from a Zeppelin-esque style of songwriting and drumming.
HRH: The music industry has changed so much since the the ‘80s. Tell us the story behind the signing of Freakshow to Retrospect Records.
FRANKIE: We signed on to Retrospect Records after shopping the major labels, none of which are really signing rock bands of this genre to any great degree. I feel sorry for bands now trying to get a real record deal with an advance because they rarely, if ever, exist anymore. It was easier to have Retrospect release the Freakshow CD than it was to self-release it, but the end results, as far as exposure, are about the same.
HRH: What was the vibe in the studio like working with Jeff, Tony, and Markus?
FRANKIE: The entire “band” was never in the studio at anytime. We sort of worked on shifts. First, I went in with Markus, then Jeff and finally Tony. Markus had thought that he and I would do pre-production for two or three days, then take four days to record the drum tracks. He played me the additional six songs that I had not heard when I arrived at his house with just a guitar in San Jose, and I gave him my suggestions and ideas. We went to the studio that same night, and we ran down all the songs with me behind the drums, and we fine-tuned it. That was the extent of the pre-production. It was just a handful of hours in one day.
We then went into the studio the next evening, set up the drums, got drum sounds, and I recorded the drums to six of the songs in one six-and-a-half-hour session, came in the next day and tracked the following four in two and a half hours. So, all in all, it was less than three days to rehearse and track the drums. The eleventh track, the acoustic “Mistaken” was something that Markus sent me as an MP3 demo after I returned to LA. I liked it so much that I booked a small studio in LA, recorded percussion to it, timpani, shakers, conga and cymbals and sent Markus a data file of the tracks and gave him the option to use the percussion or not. He decided to use them.
HRH: Tell us about the songwriting process for the band? Did each member contribute to the writing of the Freakshow release?
FRANKIE: Actually, you would have to ask Markus about the music and lyrics since he is the primary writer of these songs. The music and lyrics, for the most part, were already well on their way to completion when I got involved. The six he and I worked on when I first arrived for the sessions were sorted out rather easily, and Markus felt that the contributions that I made on “It’s Really Over” and “Four Leave Clover” were above and beyond what I had done on the recordings overall and merited songwriting credits on my part, and therefore I am a co-writer on those two songs. It was great that Markus appreciated and understood the value of my input on those two tracks in particular. The bottom line is that I treated the drum parts to each song so that they would complement the feel of each song to the best of my abilities.
HRH: How did the band come up with the name Freakshow?
FRANKIE: One day, Markus had an addiction to sending me text messages with a variety of different names. I reciprocated by sending him back some text name ideas. At one point, he texted me something, I don’t remember what it was, but it triggered something in my mind. That something was “Freakshow,” and he loved it. No hidden meaning, no brew-ha-ha!
HRH: Every member of Freakshow has their own accomplishments. What was your goal when putting the band together? Did every member want to create a sound that was different from their previous bands?
FRANKIE: The Freakshow songs just happen to be a great vehicle for each of our individual styles. Since we all came from different backgrounds, the sound is different from what each of us has done in the past, yet there is still a thread of each of our musical histories without the loss of the essence of what each of us brought to the songs stylistically or individually.
HRH: The marketing and launching of a new band have changed so dramatically since the ‘80s. Now, newer bands today have MySpace and iTunes versus MTV. What are your thoughts on this?
FRANKIE: MySpace is great to have, but I think of it as more social than business insofar as exposure on a professional or industry level, though they are immediate and far reaching nonetheless. ITunes and Amazon, in a way, fill the void of all the record stores and outlets that have simply ceased to exist.
HRH: Speaking of iTunes, the new Freakshow release is on iTunes, correct?
FRANKIE: Yes, they are indeed. Start your Freakshow shopping engines now!
HRH: Back in the ‘80s, there was vinyl. What are your thoughts on all the new technology that has been developed since the heyday? What are some of the pros and cons of vinyl versus digital?
FRANKIE: The only “pro” is that the audio quality of the CD product is excellent. The disastrous “con” is that, unlike the sound issues with vinyl and the generational audio loss on cassettes, a CD is representative in audio quality of a “master” recording. This and the advent of home recording, copying of released CDs has killed the music industry by providing a “product” that can be copied, shared and illegally downloaded over the Internet. The labels make less money, and the artists make even less than ever. This has a stifling effect on every aspect of the music industry. There is no secret that there is barely a music industry that is active any longer, or active as we once knew it. It is becoming increasingly impossible for bands to tour these days and make any sort of living doing it.
HRH: Frankie, you are one of the most influential drummers in the business. What drew you to working with bassist Tony Franklin?
FRANKIE: Thank you, but I don’t know about being an influential drummer; I certainly try hard! As for Tony, it’s a well-known matter of record that he is entirely my favorite bass player to work with. We’ve recorded together on more records than I can recall, starting with the Gary Hoey “Animal Instinct” in the mid ‘90s and as recent as a few weeks ago on another session. I can’t say enough great things about Tony, both as a person and as a musician. Top shelf in every respect.
HRH: What has the highlight been for you in launching your new band project Freakshow?
FRANKIE: That we made a great rock record when many are not bothering with the genre anymore. The Freakshow record stands on it’s own.