Frankie & The Heartstrings
| Frankie & The Heartstrings | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Sunderland |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Labels |
Rough Trade Pop Sex Ltd Wichita Recordings |
| Website | www |
| Members | Frankie Francis Dave Harper Michael Matthews Michael McKnight Ross Millard |
| Past members | Pete Gofton Mick Ross Steven Dennis |
Frankie & The Heartstrings are a Sunderland-based indie rock band formed in 2008. The band's debut album, Hunger was released on 21 February 2011, and debuted at No. 32 on the UK albums chart.
Singer Frankie Francis and guitarist Michael McKnight were at college together. Drummer Dave Harper and McKnight had played in local bands for years. McKnight and Harper met Francis at a calypso night in a pub the singer was running at the time in Sunderland and formed the band in December 2008. Singer Francis had intended to play bass in the band, but Harper said that "He was the worst bassist ever". The band made their live debut in Christmas 2008 after friend Steven Dennis joined on bass. Former Kenickie drummer, Jonny X, now known by his real name Pete Gofton, joined as a keyboardist. Pete Gofton has since left (in 2010) and was replaced with Soundtracks for a B-Movie and Minotaurs guitarist Mick Ross. It has been said that Mick "adds steel, bite and panache to their musicianship". Other band names that were considered included Pop Sex and The New Groomers, but they settled on Frankie & The Heartstrings.
The band's debut release was a 10" 7 track live EP 12.09.09, released on their own Pop Sex Ltd records in a limited edition of 500 in November 2009. The following month they followed it up with a double A side 7" single Hunger/Fragile released on Rough Trade. That month they played their first major tour supporting Florence & The Machine.
In April 2010, the band released their second single "Tender / I Want You Back". "Tender" was written by McKnight and was originally called "Tender Is the Night". It was recorded with James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco. Further gigging continued throughout 2010 including slots at the Glastonbury Festival, Summer Sundae and Latitude Festival, overseas shows in Europe, New York and Tokyo and support slots across the UK supporting The Futureheads and Edwyn Collins, who produced the band's debut album in the late summer and early Autumn at his West Heath Studios in London. The band released their third single "Ungrateful" in October 2010.
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