Having already played some huge stages, Download Festival being one of them, The Franklys have been garnering masses of recognition. Comprised of two members from Sweden and two from England, The Franklys are loud, powerful and pretty kick-ass. They’ve just released the attitude-packed first single to be lifted from their forthcoming album, ‘Castaway’, and if it’s a taste of what’s to come; we’ve got very high hopes.
Their debut album will be hitting stores in early 2017.
We caught up with the girls ahead of their UK tour with hard rock band Airbourne to get to know The Franklys a little better.
To those unfamiliar, how would you describe your sound?
Jen: I’d say we play frenetic and heavy garage-punk-pop-rock.
Tell us who your biggest influences are…
Jen: We all have different influences, so I’m just gonna mention one influence per band member and you can get the idea:
Fanny- QOTSA
Zoe- GreenDay
Lexi- Le Tigre
Jen: Mando Diao. I can only speak for myself, and Swedish band Mando Diao was the main reason I started playing music. I began listening to them when I was in my early teens and just got obsessed. I bought a guitar and started covering all their songs and went to all their gigs. Their first three albums are still my top favourites of all time.
Can you elaborate on some of the main themes that run throughout your music?
Jen, Franklys: We have so many different influences that we just mix and match so many different genres as we go. We do have something we call the “red thread” when we write. Basically, we’re always trying to write all our songs so they sound different from one another, but there has to be a “red thread” running through it that still hints at that it’s a Franklys song.
You’re heading out on a big tour with Airbourne soon. How are you preparing for this?
Jen, Franklys: Buying loads of new stage outfits, stocking up on coffee and running. It’s going to be an intense week… in a great way.
Sounds fun! Can you talk us through your latest single, ‘Castaway’?
Jen, Franklys: Frenetic! At least that’s how it feels playing and singing it live. I believe it’s one of the best songs we’ve every written. It just has that energy that we’ve been trying to transfer from our live shows on to record so many times but failed. We finally did it though!
How did you guys first get together?
Jen: Me and Fanny have been pals since we were like 7 and moved to London together about 8 years ago after we finished high school. We had a band then, but later on reformed as The Franklys. We met Zoe and Lexi in London and we all just clicked on a personal and musical level.
How would you say the sound of your music has grown/progressed over the years?
Jen: We still love to mix and match as we always have done, but we have definitely gotten heavier and the vocals have gotten angrier. Not that we’re an angry bunch in any way! I guess we have just opened up and grown into our individual parts more.
Do you think it’s important to help establish more female bands?
Jen: I think the world needs to be more equal in general. It shouldn’t be about ‘male’ and ‘female’, it’s such a neanderthal way of looking at people and we should be way past that stage by now. We’re all people and the only thing that really separates us is what we have between our legs. Since the rock music industry still, unfortunately, is male-dominated, it definitely needs more females but mainly it needs to be more encouraging and open-minded towards women.
Where do you guys hope to be in a year’s time?
Jen: In a year’s time, we’re probably in the middle of writing our second album, and hopefully we’ve had a jam-packed gigging year with plenty more support tours and festivals. Doing music full-time would be a dream come true!
If you want to catch The Franklys live, you can do so here:
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Facebook.com/thefranklys
Thefranklys.com
