If you've ever peeked at our Top 100, then you're familiar with Frankie J and his Flapjack record label. You also might be familiar with his former project The Sound Republic with John Mork, or his remixes of artists like The Inland Knights, Johnny Fiasco, Sonny Fodera, and Real Time Hand Motion.
The latest EP he curated for Flapjack is Little Man Big's "Four Score", and we threw 15 Random Questions at him to find out what makes him tick.
Stompy - What was the first song that got you interested in House music?
Frankie - “Pump Up The Jam” by Technotronic….actually no that’s not it. I honestly don’t know because when I first got into dance music I was a Drum n Bass head. This was back in ’96 though and house was hitting it hard on the radio then. It was mostly main stream hard house at the time but they would drop some underground jams in those sets. Memorable tunes of the time were “Rollin N Scratchin” by Daft Punk and “The Percolator” by Cajmere. I rocked DnB for years, then was on a 2-Step UK Garage for a 2 year stint, then back to Liquid Funk DnB. then after playing DnB every night of the week to the same 15 dudes wearing hoodies and bobbing their head with scowls on their faces I got burned out. That is when I was turned on to the beatin post deep house movement around 2004-2005. I started trying to make house tunes like the ones I was hearing, utterly missed the mark, failed, but became wildly successful for the sound that came of it.
Stompy - What's always in your fridge?
Frankie -Right now there is 18 pounds of maple glazed turkey that I just cooked, Two Brothers Domaine DuPage beer (local Illinois brew), a case of pampelmousse flavored La Croix, about 6 or 7 different open jars of salsa, lots of fresh vegetables, shredded cheese made of rice, two barrels of maple syrup, lamb & rice dinner dog food, jars of pickles, and cod liver oil.
Stompy - What was your first job?
Frankie -I worked in a snack bar of a swim club in the town I grew up in. Serving the food blew balls but I slacked like a pro, ate tons of free pizzas and always chatted it up with the fine ladies in bakinis.
Stompy - What's your favorite pair of shoes?
Frankie -I have two pair of Bata – Benidorm, one pair white, and one blue….got the first pair in Venice, and three years later the second pair in Rome….I absolutely love the style and they are only sold in Italy.
Stompy - What was the last piece of music you bought?
I still buy a lot of vinyl from Gramaphone’s used house section….killer selection and right here in Chicago. I find a ton of jams from back in the day I missed or got promos of and never bought. Last thing I got was Fetish 001: Joey Youngman – “Studio Maintenance EP” and Dirty Bird Special 01: Cajmere – Percolator Re-mastered.
Stompy - What did you do after your last gig?
Frankie -I got rip roaring wasted on Wild Turkey with my good friend Wattie Green and ended up passing out face down on the hotel room floor and totally missed my flight the next day. Pretty routine weekend.
Stompy - What's your most prized possession?
Frankie -My Butterscotch Blonde 1952 Fender Telecaster 6-string electric guitar
Stompy - Do you have any mottos?
Frankie -I have a couple that I live by…the first one I was told by Woody McBride a long time ago. When I was a young and still crapping in my pants and rubbin it in my face, I asked Woody how do you become such an awesome touring DJ? He responded with “You are only going to get out of this what you are willing to put into it.” Truer words have not been spoken. My second motto I came up myself and it mostly had to do with music production at first but also came to apply to everything else worth doing in my life. It goes something like this….”When you try something and it totally fails it’s not actually failure, it is progress, because now you know what not to do.” This motto has gotten me through a lot of tough remixes as well as other larger life situations such as different haircuts n such.
Stompy - What do you usually have for breakfast?
Frankie -Lately oatmeal or sunnyside up eggs. I dig fresh strawberries and homemade breakfast sausage too.
Stompy - Do you play any instruments?
Frankie -I sing and play guitar in a rock band. Been playing guitar since I was 13 and singing since I was 17.
Stompy - If someone sends you a demo, what should they do to make sure you DON'T listen to it?
Frankie -Send me a link to more than 4 songs, a file that is close to or over 100MB, or a sound cloud link that also says it’s been shared to 2,735 other people.
Stompy - What do you carry your music in?
Frankie -It’s on my laptop, hard drives, and vinyl all smashed into a backpack
Stompy - What's your favorite DJ Mixer?
Frankie -Pioneer DJM-800
Stompy - Beer, Wine, Liquor or Water?
Frankie -I usually stick to drinking tasty beers, but every once in a while ill get liquored up and I usually pay for it.
Stompy - What would you rather be doing right now?
Frankie -DJing at Stompy+Sunset ;)
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