In an industry full of hype, pretence and hot air, Melodine's Evan Frankfort stands as one of the few realists. Having toured and recorded with major label bands, he knows better than most what it takes to carve out a career in the music biz, but he also knows how damn tough it is to make it as an indie.
Maybe that's why I shouldn't have been surprised when, half-expecting a barrage of self-publicity and blind faith about Evan's band Melodine, I called his Hollywood Hills home to be met with a milder, more reasoned attitude. Throughout the interview, Evan was the embodiment of a guy with no illusions about his genuine passion for music. When I quiz him on his musical background, my question is met with an admirable and refreshing honesty: 'I come from a long line of musicians, but all of them gave up music because they failed. I guess it's possible it could happen to me', he says bluntly, before adding 'I don't know, I guess I could be a bank teller again!'.
Anyone who has heard Melodine's self-released debut record, 'Appreciation' or seen the rave reviews about it, knows that the world of banking is not somewhere Evan Frankfort should ideally be utilising his immense musical talent. Yet don't mistake his realism for pessimism. One of the many things that became evident during a riveting conversation with Frankfort is just how much he strives for sincerity, long-term respect and growth.
He elaborates: 'I called the album 'Appreciation' because it's the double meaning. Of course for people to like the music is one of the reasons why we do it, but also it's about growth. Like real estate's value will go up in time, hopefully the musical value of what I write will do the same. That's what I hope my music will do'.
That process started when Evan grew up in bands with long-time friend Greg Richling (of the Wallflowers fame), and continued as he joined LA acts Gingersol and Maypole as a full time studio and touring member. All this formed part of an interesting musical education, as he explains: 'I always wanted to learn from and work with other great songwriters. I worked with Steve Tagliere in Gingersol, who is a great writer, I played in Maypole and toured with the Jayhawks and the Wallflowers. I got to sit in with those bands on those tours as they didn't have a lap steel guy. It became real comfortable and I could have gone down that road as a permanent sideguy.'
But after dabbling more and more with production and engineering, as well as writing and recording his own material on Pro Tools, Evan decided on a change of direction: 'I got into Pro Tools 3 or 4 years ago, and that's when I decided to make a record', he recalls. 'I'd written a bunch of songs and then the Wallflowers asked me to tour with them for 2 years and I realised that wasn't what I wanted to do. They're great guys, but I felt happier working on my own things, like Melodine and producing and mixing for other people. My days as a sideman are probably numbered.'
The signs so far are good, as Melodine was a finalist in both Billboard Magazine's Best Unsigned Band contest 1999 and finished a more than credible third out of 40,000 entries in the www.garageband.com 'win a record deal' contest. However, it has not all been easy. Frankfort has found the transition from sideman to frontman often uncomfortable and uneasy. Again, with characteristic honesty and modesty, he says: 'I don't know that I'll ever truly adjust. I'm never gonna be Scott Weiland or Marylin Manson. I don't wanna draw parallels, but my goal is to be someone more about the songs than some larger than life stage personality. I fronted the bands I was in with Greg when we were kids, but I was much less self aware then and the older I got, the more I disliked putting myself out there.' He says, before adding optimistically, 'I want to do it and feel great about being up there, but it's always going to be a little bit awkward for me to be the main focus on stage.'
Such a lack of confidence is not really warranted, and does his vocal performance of 'Appreciation' something of a disservice. Yet Evan admits that the alternative pop/rock songs he writes are too personal for someone else to do them real justice, and that those same songs on 'Appreciation' form a personal catharsis for him.
'After I finished the album, I felt I had been healed to a degree', he says. ' The songs cover a range of situations - my divorce in '97, and other things like when I was car-jacked in LA. That was the inspiration for 'Even' as I had a Hot Dog stand in L.A. called Frankfort's Frankfurters, and one day I was kidnapped at gunpoint in a bad part of town. Those guys made me drive them around to do drug deals while they emptied my bank accounts. I didn't have a lot of money to empty, but it was a terrible experience. I was so angry with those guys.'
The songs that resulted from such experiences are testament to Frankfort's growing talents as a songwriter, and the fact that every song he wrote himself reaches the same plateau of excellence as 'Nothing New' (the tune he co-wrote with Wallflowers Greg Richling and Rami Jaffee), confirms that belief further. From chatting to him it becomes abundantly clear that he sees personal hard work and talent as the key to an opening in the industry rather than relying on his association with those famous friends: 'Greg, Rami, and Mario are really supportive', Evan acknowledges, 'but there's not a whole lot they are able to do. They mention me and the band whenever they can, but whatever I could have expected them to do, they've far surpassed. The best bit of advice they gave me was to release the record myself and just get it out there' he says.
The sound Melodine creates is one that stands up on it's own terms and Evan believes a song is an opportunity to have a voice. So much so that he anticipates the next Melodine record will be written from similar, personal experience and won't be written to pander to industry trends or fads.
'People like records like Melodine's because they are getting something unique. We don't wanna chase trends, and we're not really about getting rich, because even with a record or publishing deal, you still end up owing money. Someone came to me recently and offered me the chance to write songs for this 16 year old Christina Aguilera type singer. He was convinced it would make us rich, but whose to say it would, and anyway, I wouldn't have given a shit about it, and would rather make music for myself that I actually cared about.'
Instead of what he calls 'selling myself', Evan has continued pushing Melodine whilst using his 'Chicken Toes' home studio to produce albums for up and coming indie artists like Jeff Witzeman and his girlfriend, Lori Denae. With the realisation that he doesn't want to attract a label to Melodine for the sake of it, Frankfort even manages to admit to being pretty happy with his lot:
'Producing and mixing for me is just as much a passion as writing and recording. Things are better now than ever, and I'm comfortable with the guys around me. I don't have some big organisation stopping me from making records and even though I maybe can't market them as well as a major label, I can get them out for people to hear.'
He admits that it is a strange time for indie bands like his to be signed, yet also a time that holds great possibilities. He says: 'It's a weird time in the industry. People are signing bands that already sell huge amounts of records, and bands that are tuned down to C. On the other hand, it's cheaper and more convenient to make a record these days and there are more people that can be artists with technology like Pro Tools available. There's more music but also more saturation, I mean take a look at the Internet! A band no longer has to put all the emphasis on getting a deal and the exciting thing is good music is out there. I like to think a good song is a good song and will always rise to the top.'
Evan finishes by naming Crowded House, Neil Young, Daniel Lanois, Radiohead and the Beatles and Beach Boys as his fantasy festival line up. He admires their songwriting ability, and points to them as the reason why he is inspired to write songs and avoid a return to the bank teller's window: 'They're incredible songwriters. The most important thing when I write is to get that feeling of elevation. Like when you're playing tennis, you rise to the level of someone better than you. Sometimes I finish writing and think, 'maybe people will one day like my stuff as much as theirs'.
Coming from such a realist as Evan Frankfort, I don't think that's an idle dream.

Check out Melodine at www.melodine.net , www.goplay.com/evanfrankfort or www.cdstreet.com