Franko Fraize

Franko Fraize, straight outta Thetford, has had a pucka last year. Now signed to Parlophone, he’s released a wicked single, Oi Oi and will be supporting Rudimental this summer. He’s been busy helping to set up a recording studio in his hometown too and getting his local scene buzzing. Franko plays at The Cut at Open this month, so we had a chat with the most positive guy in music about  how life has changed for him recently.

So you’re from Thetford – is there a good music scene there?

The music scene right this minute is absolutely buzzing. We’ve got a group of like minded people who grew up together and who’ve been putting our efforts into music the last 3-4 years. My mate Tone who I’ve worked with closely since the word go has built a studio in Thetford and now we have all sorts of people coming to use it, like Jaguar Skills. None of us have got a pot to piss in, we’re all working class individuals, so we put any money we can into it and it’s now up and coming. It’s hopefully going to be a nightclub as well.  I know Thetford’s only a small town but once you get people making music and getting club nights we should be on the verge of an authentic scene here.

I know you started off posting your music online, but how did you get yourself noticed by the likes of Radio 1 who playlisted you in 2014?

It was the BBC Introducing campaign. I keep banging on about it year on year but it’s a massive thing for artists as it puts you in the shop window and without that I don’t think I’d have got the attention I did. Back then rap music was on the radio but the tunes they played weren’t out and out pop tunes if you know what I mean. So it’s good to get that channel of communication to get your music listened to by the big dogs. The other aspect is that BBC Introducing in Norfolk helped to learn how to carry myself on radio, how to present myself, how to do interviews, and they’re there to back you. They almost help to manage you right at that early stage and they’re really passionate about music. I think what they do is a massive thing for musicians in the UK. I was speaking to someone from the US and they said that there’s nothing like that in the States, it’s like opportunity gold dust, and it is.

You supported Mike Skinner in Norwich in 2012 – what was that experience like?

He was the first of my idols that I met. It was proper magic. Everyone loved The Streets didn’t they? And as an artist, to come out and do what he did, people were like “what is this?” but then they got onboard. No one’s done anything like what he’s done since. Sitting in the room with him, talking about music and he was telling me his experiences in the music industry..it was a proper mad experience. I remember he had a pukka watch on, and I’d not been into watches before that but when I saw his I thought, you know what, I’m gonna have to get myself one of those!

The video for your song Hand Me Downs was chosen for the BBC Music Video Festival – your videos are obviously really important to you. Who works with you on them?

I’ve been working with a guy called Tom Cronin since the word go, but it’s a proper group effort. We’ve got the whole brand going on, so there’s a consistency with it all. There’s a team ethos for sure. When I make music I can’t stop thinking of the video at the same time and that really defines it as a single. I like to feel that we’ve got a strong team with Tom doing the videos, Tony’s our studio producer and we’ve got a couple of DJ’s.

How has it been moving from doing the music just on your own to working with a full band?

Interesting you say that..it’s the hardest thing I’ve come across in music, not in a negative way. Honestly, when you’re making music, one of the biggest things you need is a strong work ethic, a get-up-and-go attitude and for me, when I started out there was no one else for me to answer to. I was writing the music, going to the studio to record it, getting the videos up, and it was all self driven. I wanted to get a band together cos I got to the point where I was a rapper making music that a lot of people could relate to, but a lot of older people were shut off from it as it was branded as rap. Going back to Mike Skinner and The Streets, the way they were presented were as a band, people felt they could enjoy it without being in a gang. And for me it’s presented my music better. Now I’m supporting Rudimental at these Forest gigs the band’s gonna be bigger that it’s ever been and I’m really gonna go in. But yeah it’s hard to organise so many people; the band are all individuals from round here, from Thetford and Norwich, and they all work full time as well, so it is difficult to manage so many lives at once. It’s nice to envision something and then a year later be playing to 2,000 people on the O2 Arena Tour. It makes you feel really good about life in general.

Who have you been inspired by?

I grew up listening to all sorts of music, like The Specials, The Pogues, Billy Bragg and The Clash. Predominantly I’ve been into UK grime and hip hop but as I’ve got older I’ve wanted to draw those earlier influences into my music as well.