The Noise Archives: Ad Frank

The Man Who Fell to Earth
by Lexi

No one’s figured out a cure for the common cold. Teams of philosophers are still struggling with the chicken-or-the-egg problem. And it took generations of mathematic genius almost 400 years to solve Fermat’s Last Theorem. The world we live in is filled with complex, multi-layered puzzles.

One unseasonably balmy night in springtime, at the Druid in Inman Square, this writer attempted to figure out Ad Frank.

Call him an enigma, call him mysterious, but the Melrose-born singer/songwriter is at heart just a sensitive man who feels things deeply and takes nothing for granted. Though kind of shy, even sometimes tongue-tied, Ad has an endearing way of wearing his heart on his sleeve both in real life and in his work. At any Ad Frank show, be it his frequent solo acoustic performances at TT the Bear’s “Other Side of the Bear” series or his full-band rock onslaughts, you’ll find new fans that found him last week as well as diehards from his early ’90s Miles Dethmuffen/Permafrost days. He’s genuinely surprised when his solo shows pack the room, and finds it extremely funny when he’s compared to Barry White, Tom Waits, and Leonard Cohen.

Ad’s tuneful songwriting is part beat poetry, part offbeat pop, and as likely to ooze somber despair as wry self-deprecation. With titles like “Last Night Mark Eitzel Saved My Life” and “I Have Seen The Moment of My Greatness Flicker,” it’s clear that Ad’s songs are a backdrop to his own quest for understanding his world, his muse, and himself. To our great benefit, we get to come along for the ride.

These days Ad Frank plays either solo (though any of his endless bevy of talented friends will always join him for a song or two) or backed by Jake Zavracky (guitar), Shane Phillips (drums) and Eric Donahue (bass), a trio perhaps better known as glam rock gods Quick Fix.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ad Frank.

The Muse

Noise: Do you want to talk about inspiration? You seem to write from a place of heartache. Does disappointment drive you?

Ad: I think of it more as a release. And not just for me. The music I’ve always really loved, I’ve loved because it made me feel less alone. Hopefully that’s what I have to offer the world as well. You go to weddings to help celebrate people who’ve found the perfect person and there’s a ceremony, and music, and music is part of the ceremony to help celebrate their happiness. But I just feel like there needs to be a ceremony for the rest of us, where it didn’t quite work out the way we planned.

Noise: What’s your favorite song off the new CD, Mr. Fancypants?

Ad: “U-hauls and Ryders.” It covers a lot of ground. Off the record, I like it because it was a way to make sense out of something that happened. Put it into a three minute song and keep telling it to myself.

Noise: Why is that off the record? You’re intriguing with what creative impulses you want to keep close, and what you feel okay about sharing.

Ad: Okay but…the unspoken contract is that no one is allowed to assume that it’s auto-biography. For one thing, it instantly makes it infinitely less interesting. There’s a review of Mr. Fancypants in this online ’zine in England where the guy kept referring to the record as a log of my failed marriage. (laughter) So I was like, okay, he’s just assumed something that’s completely untrue about me. On the other hand, it’s irrelevant to the album whether I was married or not.

Noise: Are you working on another album?

Ad: Yeah, I have what I think is going to be the next record pretty much planned. We do three of the songs now live. But it’s probably about half new and half stuff that Permafrost never got to.

The Man

Noise: Do you know that there’s an Ad Frank discussion on The Noise message board at least once every few weeks?

Ad: No, what are they saying?

Noise: It’s all about your sexual prowess and general desirability.

Ad: Is it a “is he or isn’t he” discussion?

Noise: No, I don’t even think people care about that. Boys like you, girls like you. It’s irrelevant.

Ad: Good. (laughter)

Noise: What’s funny? Turning on a whole roomful of men and women? You work it, come on, admit it.

Ad: Well, yeah but…I don’t think anybody’s turned on. This is a fairly obnoxious compliment I’m giving myself, but I’m such a blatant Queen rip-off that I think I’m just a nod to that kind of thing. I mean Freddie Mercury, he was like my first rock star, my first hero, and HE was ridiculous too.

Noise: I see what you mean, but I’m not sure I’d have gone there, for you. Freddie Mercury. Hmm…

Ad: Who else would you compare me to.

Noise: Leonard Cohen?

Ad: He’s a sexy man. Who else?

Noise: I don’t know, I’d have to think about… hey wait, don’t ask ME questions, this is my interview.

Ad: Okay.

Noise: So, DO you get a lot of “is he or isn’t he”?

Ad: It really blew up…Aaron Tap [Stop Pop and Roll] says it’s because of the Mr. Fancypants album cover. Though you’d think the other one would have caused more questions.

Noise: The first one? The one known as My Boyfriend is Gay?

Ad: (laughter) Yeah. Some people say it’s overtones in the lyrics, but I think they’re working too hard.

Noise: You like to maintain the mystery.

Ad: Um… I think like you said, it’s irrelevant. At the record release party, I had Paula Kelly introduce us? She had made her own Mr. Fancypants shirt and on the back it said “Is He Or Isn’t He?” My mom was at the show, but she didn’t really ask me about that. (laughter)

Noise: Clever. I like that. But this is starting to sound like a discussion with Gene Dante.

Ad: He should talk.

Noise: Do you carry around a lot of anger? What pisses you off?

Ad: How much tape have you got? (laughter) Where do I start. Um…it pisses me off that there aren’t any mid-level labels left that will work toward big time selling. The last one I can think of is Matador. Where about forty thousand units is a pretty good sales figure.

Noise: What makes you happy?

Ad: I’m always happy when somebody thinks the songs are funny. I think “Last Night Mark Eitzel Saved My Life” is hysterical. I think “Bay of Fundy” is very funny.

The Act

Noise: You’ve been doing this awhile; do you still get nervous onstage? When you perform you put so much of yourself out there, you don’t hold back.

Ad: In my solo shows I’ve been trying to work some piano in, and I get deathly nervous. The only way I’m going to conquer that is to keep doing it. It’s fun being nervous. It’s just been so long. It’s like I’m eighteen again.

Noise: In Permafrost and even in the early post-Permafrost Ad Frank bands, you played guitar and sang. In the present lineup that you’re calling Ad Frank and the Fast Easy Women, you leave the guitar playing to Jake Zavracky.

Ad: One of the things I said when Permafrost broke up was that I would only ever do one or the other again, play guitar or sing. Not both. It’s a lot easier. In Permafrost I used to make so many mistakes.

Noise: Without the guitar, you’re so dynamic. You’re writhing around on the floor and playing to every corner of the room. Where does that come from?

Ad: This isn’t going to answer your question, but three nights before our first show, I went out to see Butterfield 8 and I studied Leah Callahan. I was really amazed by her and how she could just command an audience by standing there and staring them down. I kind of built on that. That’s the fallback just to make sure I can do it even if I can’t move an inch, even if I’m tied up in front of the microphone. Once you’re at that level, you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want.

Noise: Do you ever feel ridiculous up there?

Ad: Constantly. But the audience paid eight dollars. You have to give them something.

Noise: Since it’s Quick Fix that’s backing you, you don’t get to have them available all the time. Is that a problem?

Ad: It actually works out well for me. I’m pretty much happy to play once every two or three months and not play out of town and not work it too hard. I don’t think I could find a bunch of people willing to do that if they weren’t already in a band they were putting everything into. I also don’t think I could find a band that would be willing to take it down as much as they do, if they didn’t have their own band to turn it up to eleven. They can do all kinds of things. Consider where they came from, with Jake having been in Boy Wonder and Eric playing in the Mothers. Quick Fix is one of my favorite live bands.

Noise: It’s a fun dynamic. At a T.T.’s show the guys dressed up in sports jerseys and you said, “Usually when I’m surrounded by three guys dressed like this it means I’m about to get my ass kicked.”

Ad: Yeah, that’s fairly typical. I have to train myself to not say things like “wouldn’t it be completely ridiculous if…” because they’ll do it. (laughter) The second to last show at the Lizard Lounge residency last month, we did an arena rock singalong for “The Ticket Was Non-Refundable.” It was like, “Alright the people between that post and that post!” That’s an example when I said to the guys, oh my God wouldn’t it be stupid if we did a three-part singalong at the end? The residencies are great for stuff like that. And the Lizard Lounge in particular, it’s so small and homey. It’s like playing in your friend’s old basement.

Noise: Do you remember what I asked you as I was leaving the last night of your Lizard Lounge residency?

Ad: Uh oh. No.

Noise: I asked “what makes you so good,” and then I said to save your answer for this interview. So I am now asking that question.

Ad: Jeez. I guess I should answer from the presumption that it’s true, rather than argue whether the question itself is fallacy. It’s… um… God, it’s just so fun.

www.adfrank.com