NEW To Q
FRANKMUSIK
Some people like to keep their private lives private. Vincent Frank,aka Frank Musik,is not one of them.The 23-year-old performer,producer and re-mixer of songs by Radiohead, Pet Shop Boys and Keane talks intensely and makes no attempt to edit himself. Within a minute of sitting down with Q, he's covered his parents' messy break-up ("They had a massive row at their wedding reception and my dad sodded off. I didn't see him until I was I5") and discussing his ex-girlfriend's abortion in a national newspaper ("She doesn't talk to me any more").
The "she" in question is Olivia, Frank's muse and the inspiration behind his debut album, Complete Me. The pair met on his last day studying art at St Martin's College in London and had a "passionate, explosive" relationship for two years. Songs such as the trancey Time Will Tell and twitchy Better OffAs Two were written for her. "We'd split up and I'd write songs to get her to take me back," he says wistfully.
Frank was unsuccessful, but with the help of former Madonna collaborator and electronic whizzkid Stuart Price, he's created a record that marries his love of' 8os synths with a classic pop sensibility.
His relationship with Olivia over, Frank admits to worrying about what he'll write about next. But he's already planning a new direction ("I want to write a futuristic rock'n'roll record") and reasons that he'll just "have to live a little bit more life and see what comes from that".
As he casuallychats about a recent tryst with an "insane" model he met through MySpace and flew over from the States (inspiring a new songcalledMissJekyllAnd Hyde), it's clear that Frank's fear of running out of material is utterly unfounded.
MIC WRIGHT OUT SOON
Complete Me album, out 22 June, on Island Records. More info: www.frankmusik.com
(1 JUNE 2009 qthemusic.com)
