Frank Howard Swart
Frank Howard Swart | |
|---|---|
 Mark Sandman, Frank Swart & Dominique Zar in Candy Bar circa 1991 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Frank Swart |
| Also known as | Funkwrench |
| Born | September 5, 1961 Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Genres | Electric Blues, Americana, Acid Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, Producer, Musician |
| Instruments | bass, guitar |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Labels | Ropeadope Records, Need To Know Music, Funkwrench Music |
| Website | [1] Frank Swart Facebook Page |
Frank Howard Swart aka Funkwrench (born September 5, 1961) is an American musician, composer, producer, and audio engineer. He is best known in the music community for his experimental blues jam band, Funkwrench, being the co-founder of the record label Need To Know Music and for being a founding member of American rock band SIMO. Swart also served as the audio engineer for American alternative rock band Pixies (band)’s first recordings (pre-dating the Fort Apache recordings).
Early life and education
Swart was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Nathan[1] and Irma Swart. His older sister Debbie[2] gave him a bass guitar for his 13th birthday, which, combined with her record collection, launched his lifelong obsession with music. Upon graduating high school, Swart attended Berklee College of Music.
Career
Swart began performing with and recording local bands in the Boston area in the early 1980s. In 1987 he formed the group, Who Be Dat?, a punk funk outfit with future G Love & Special Sauce drummer, Jeffrey Clemens, and poet/frontman Nate Solod. In 1988, he formed Ultra Blue, a band with Robert Holmes, guitarist of the band 'Til Tuesday. Later that same year, Swart formed a band called the Immortals with former Face to Face (new wave band) drummer, Billy Beard, and singer, guitarist, and future Kings of Leon producer, Angelo Petraglia. In 1989, Swart formed one final band during his time in Boston called Candy Bar with Mark Sandman of the alternative rock bands Morphine (band) and Treat Her Right. Swart engineered and mixed Treat Her Right's 1991 release titled What's Good For You?.[3] He later collaborated on Morphine's The Jury and Birthday Cake.[4]
In 1991, Swart moved to San Francisco, California. Upon arriving, he joined G Love & Special Sauce as front of house engineer for their first European tour. He also joined Morphine for their first West Coast tour. In 1992, Swart reconnected with an old friend and Who Be Dat? bandmate David Schumacher. Swart and Schumacher joined forces with Oakland funk drummer Malcolm Peoples and baritone saxophonist David Robbins to form the band Junk. The band released three full-length albums for label company Faffco Records.[5] The three albums were "Junk" (1995), "Kiss My Acid Jazz" (1996), and "Continuation of Madness" (1997).[6] Following Schumacher's departure, the band renamed itself Post Junk Trio.[7] Post Junk Trio released another three albums titled "Reservoir Fish" (2001), "Piano" (2003), and "Chinatown" (2007). During this time, Swart also began working with The Billy Nayer Show, with whom he played and produced "Goodbye Straplight Sarentino, I Will Miss You" (2003) and "Rabbit" (2004), as well as performing for the opening of American cult classic, The American Astronaut.[8] Swart also appeared in Stingray Sam, a feature film by The Billy Nayer Show frontman Cory McAbee.[9]
By 2006, Swart had moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he would play with artists like Patty Griffin, Angelo Petraglia, John Hiatt, Buddy Miller, The Indigo Girls, and Norah Jones.[10] Swart appeared on "Patty Griffin & Friends" on Austin City Limits on April 19, 2010.[11] He also played bass on her 2013 "lost" album Silver Bell.[12] He also continued to play with Angelo and Billy Beard in Angelo's band, Ragman Son Revue.[13] In early 2007, Swart had reached out to A-list session guitarist Kenny Vaughan to jam. Swart's wife had found local drummer, Adam Abrashoff, on Nashville's Craigslist weeks earlier. The three got together at Abrashoff's house in Nashville and found instant chemistry, giving birth to their new experimental post-rock trio band, Funkwrench.[14][15] In 2010, Swart reached out to guitarist and vocalist J.D. Simo, and after a three-hour jam session at a local Nashville pub, Swart, Simo, and Abrashoff formed the band SIMO.[16][17] While Swart was a member (2010-2014), he produced the album SIMO (2011), from which resulted the single, Shake It/Aoh (2011).[18] They composed 60 more songs in that time, many of which appear on the later SIMO and J.D. Simo releases, including the titles, "Long May You Sail", "Off At Eleven", and "I'll Always Be Around".In 2011, Swart and Abrashoff created Sonic Mining Company with Reeves Gabrels, guitarist for David Bowie, and the British band The Cure.[citation needed] The album, Sonic Mining Company, an improvised collaboration between the three, was produced by Rob Stennett and released in 2012 by record label Ropeadope Records. Swart moved back to San Francisco in 2014. There, he was introduced to Brian Brinkerhoff through a mutual friend and former Patty Griffin bandmate, Marco Giovino. Brinkerhoff is known for being the producer for Joe Louis Walker, Malcolm Holcombe, and Ian Noe. In 2017 Swart and Brinkerhoff formed partnerships in Skunkworks Studio and Need To Know Music, where Swart works as a producer and mixer as well as releasing his own instrumental blues compositions as Funkwrench Blues featuring guest soloists such as Leo Nocentelli, Mike Stern, Lucky Peterson, Albert Lee, Vieux Farka Touré, and more.
In 2020 Swart released the single, George Floyd (feat. Rahsaan Barber & Roland Barber), with all proceeds benefiting the Movement for Black Lives.
Personal life
Swart and his wife, Julie, have two children. His son, Izzy, is the creator of the "Fizzy" distortion pedal.[19][20] Swart used a "Fizzy" prototype on Norah Jones’ Grammy nominated single Chasing Pirates.
Discography
| Year | Title | Artist | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | What's Good For You? | Treat Her Right | Engineer, Producer |
| 1995 | Super Sex (The Jury) | Morphine | Bass, Engineer, Co-Writer |
| 1995 | Junk | Junk | Producer, Bass, Composer, Engineer |
| 1996 | Kiss My Acid Jazz | Junk | Producer, Bass, Composer, Engineer |
| 1997 | Continuation of Madness | Junk | Producer, Bass, Composer, Engineer |
| 1997 | B-Sides & Otherwise | Morphine | Bass, Engineer, Co-Writer |
| 1999 | I'd Rather Eat Glass | Bijou Phillips | Bass |
| 2001 | Reservoir Fish | Post Junk Trio | Composer, Producer, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals, Engineer |
| 2002 | Memory Girls | Warren Zanes | Bass |
| 2003 | Piano | Post Junk Trio | Composer, Producer, Engineer, Bass, Keyboards |
| 2003 | Goodbye Straplight Sarentino, I Will Miss You | The Billy Nayer Show | Producer, Engineer, Guitar, Bass |
| 2004 | Rabbit | The Billy Nayer Show | Bass, Guitar, Producer, Audio Engineer |
| 2004 | Impossible Dream | Patty Griffin | Bass |
| 2008 | Songs I Wrote Before I Knew You | Andrew Duhon | Bass |
| 2009 | The Fall | Norah Jones | Bass |
| 2010 | Wreck Your Wheels | Kim Richey | Double Bass |
| 2011 | Beauty Queen Sister | Indigo Girls | Bass |
| 2012 | SIMO | SIMO | Co-writer, Producer, Bass |
| 2013 | Silver Bell | Patty Griffin | Bass, Co-writer |
| 2015 | The Essential Sonny Rhodes - Songs and Stories | Sonny Rhodes | Co-Producer, Mixer, Bass, Co-writer |
| 2018 | Strange Conversation | Mandy Barnett | Guitar |
| 2019 | I'm Just A Country Boy | EJ Matthews | Co-Producer, Engineer, Guitar, Bass |
| 2020 | Need To Know Badass Blues Instrumentals Series | Various Artists | Co-Producer, Writer, Engineer, Bass, Guitar |
| 2020 | George Floyd | Funkwrench Blues | Co-Producer, Writer, Engineer, Bass, Guitar |
References
- ↑ "Nathan Swart". legacy.com.
- ↑ "Debra Schmabbs L. Swart Obituary - Brookline, MA". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
- ↑ "What's Good for You - Treat Her Right | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
- ↑ Snyder, Michael; Writer, Chronicle Staff (1995-06-25). "LIVELY ARTS -- Jefferson Airplane Takes Off Again". SFGate. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- ↑ "FAFFCO Records | Junk". electronspin.com. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- ↑ "Junk | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- ↑ "Post Junk Trio - 02/11/2004". SF Weekly. 2004-02-11. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- ↑ "Billy Nayer Show: Band, studio, movies, surfboards, more..." tapeop.com. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- ↑ "Stingray Sam", Wikipedia, 2019-09-25, retrieved 2019-11-05
- ↑ "Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller". lichtyguitars.com. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
- ↑ "Patty Griffin on Austin City Limits". Austin City Limits. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
- ↑ "Patty Griffin's Unreleased, Sought-After Album, 'Silver Bell'". www.radiosubmit.com. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
- ↑ "Our Critics Picks". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2019-11-05
- ↑ "Funkwrench Tour Dates and Concert Tickets". JamBase. 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- ↑ "Funkwrench Exclusive - The Wire". The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
- ↑ "SIMO (band)", Wikipedia, 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-11-05
- ↑ February 04, Michael Ross; 2013. "J.D. Simo: The Bandstand and The Bible of Classic Rock". www.premierguitar.com. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
- ↑ "SIMO". www.maximumink.com. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
- ↑ "Holiday Guide 2009: Impress your musician friends with custom local gear". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
- ↑ "The Fizzy - This is what happens when a 7-year-old is addicted to LEGO". gearnews.com. 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
External links
- "Frank Swart | Credits". AllMusic.
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