Meet Island Frank

When I was just knee-high to a grasshopper, 2 to 3 years old, I yodeled off the porch to people sitting on the steps, who put small change in a jar for me while my mother played accompaniment on the piano. This came from mimicking my relatives who would sit around the house yodeling to each other from room to room. Needless to say, my ancestors came from the Tyrolean Alps where this was common practice.

The good nuns took me under their wings and started the 15 years of piano lessons from several mildly amused but often stressed piano teachers. One after the other they admonished me for changing the classics or any other written music and suggested that I go elsewhere, where creativity during the learning process would be appreciated. My last teacher could hardly contain her laughter as I continuously grumbled under my breath about the lack of color in her selected songs for me to practice. Finally, my piano teacher told me to stop my lessons and develop my own style.

While attending college, I played at various bars and dance resorts to help pay for my education as a physicist.

Many things come together to shape, mold and influence a life. There were three major ingredients used to bake my life: a natural closeness to nature and its many rhythms, an unquenchable need to be near and on the water, and the need to be creative – especially with music. So, living on a boat that I built while going to school and playing the piano on the Put-N-Bay Islands on Lake Erie was the start and promise of larger things to come.

The aerospace industry scooped me up and suddenly the world seemed to get smaller. Sailing in the oceans was the start of a long love affair with sailboat racing and cruising. The rhythm of the seas became my basic beat. Florida sailing out of Cape Canaveral brought the Bahamas and all of the other islands into my music while the endless surf on the hot sands of many islands brought me their catchy melodies in the wind.

New Orleans and space rockets brought a mix of sound as tasty as the foods served behind old and rustic exteriors surrounding antique furnishings and indoor courtyards, and the beat goes on. A very big part of my musical life started here with the cross breeding of ethnic music in and around the Mississippi Delta.

The designing of spacecraft and training of astronauts brought me to the modern and hip town of Houston. I learned the true meaning of hustle and bustle. Raising a family, working hard and lots of air travel blended together, and time meant only deadlines.

My two great kids, Laura and Scott, along with music and sailing kept me going even at this pace. But many of my co-workers dropped out for one reason or the other and some made the big step – too young. I could see the warning signs in me – ailments that couldn’t be diagnosed, health problems that shouldn’t be at that age. I had been in martial arts for some time but even with working out it still wasn’t enough. I had heard of the internal martial arts based on teachings of the original naturalists of the world, the Taoists. I made this a lifetime study, working hard at Aikido and Tai Chi. I believe that this lengthened and enhanced my life. I learned to stop rushing from one place to the other and to enjoy the journey. I learned to feel the energy of the flowing tides and the rest of nature.

Little by little more creativity came in all phases of my life, and music came flowing out. My style had slowly evolved based on my experiences gained in every port and every island. I never realized exactly what my style really was until a close friend described it for me. It starts with the basic rhythm produced by the left hand and then the melody is played along with a continuously changing counter rhythm with the right hand. This is the essence of my style.

I spent many years visiting Mexico and developing close relationships with people from a different but beautiful culture and philosophy of life. I learned early on in my many trips south of the border that the reason Mexicans are late for meetings is because they don’t want to leave the people they are with. Every Mexican seems to be a musician looking to make friends and enjoy every moment as if it were the last. This was a much-needed ingredient in my life. Science taught me about the boundless energy in the universe; Tai Chi taught me how to feel the energy and use it. The island people and the deep-feeling people of Mexico taught me how to put emotion and passion into music, and boats are my vehicle for the journey.

What is the allure of island music, and where does it come from? Music is an emotional stimulus, and we all respond differently just like with the other arts. This is particularly true if we compose, arrange and perform the music. A good example is a storm: many people respond with some level of fear or apprehension. In my case a storm is part of the yin-yang relationship in nature. It’s an energy exchange that maintains a balance in nature, so my response is a very strong release of harmonious, positive and exciting rhythms.

Most of my life I have watched people’s response to music, and to my music. No matter how sedate, people cannot resist a strong and exciting rhythm and will eventually move in some basic responsive manner. And, if the melody contains a counter rhythm, the response is even more enthusiastic. If you really love music and enjoy making music, you have a wonderful way of fulfilling your basic needs for creating something.

Many people have asked why not provide words to the music. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this question. Why do we enjoy a painting? Because we can let our senses and imagination run wild weaving our own lives into the artwork, creating our own story line. This is most certainly true with music, which is like a painting that is continuously changing for several minutes. It can also be enjoyed while we are doing other things without having to listen to words which would interrupt our own private thoughts. Therefore, I have concentrated on putting expression into instrumentals only.

How do we get real expression and emotion into music? Being out in nature, for example the sea, away from all other influence and assistance brings out our inner emotions. Nature doesn’t know or care who we are so it can roll right over us and also make us witness to the extraordinary beauty and wonder of the universe. This prepares and opens us up like no other experience can.

Each song comes from unique sounds from interesting circumstances that provide memories that are brought out each time I perform the song.. A typical example of deep emotional stimulus and its effect on my music occurred during a 730 mile sailboat race to Veracruz, Mexico, and the cruise back home to Houston. The Mariachi street bands and roving musicians around the many sidewalk cafes had a huge effect on me. Some of the roving bands would have up to 6 trumpet players placed strategically around the huge city square. The Marimba bands played everywhere, and all the sounds blended and echoed off the cathedrals and government buildings surrounding the square. This music in varying degrees went on for 24 hours a day during the weekend. While sailing back home from Mexico, I kept hearing strains of the music in my head and I would actually look back over my shoulder for its source while many miles out at sea. These kinds of experiences never leave me and continuously guide my fingers over the keys.