The Frank and Walters are one of the most recognizable alternative rock bands hailing from Cork, Ireland in the past 3 decades. The band: Paul Linehan (Lead vocal & bass), Ashley Keating (Drums) Rory Murphy (lead Guitar) and Cian Corbett (Keyboards) took the band name in honour of two eccentric Cork characters. Two decades on from the release of their very first record, and the Franks continue to defy expectations. With Indie hits such as ‘Fashion Crisis Hits New York’ & ‘After All’ (which reached the top twenty in the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at 11.
The group also appeared on Top of the Pops in support of the single, it went as high as 5 in the Irish charts). Their music today is as relevant as any of the new pretenders on the block and only a handful of bands anywhere in the world can lay claim to such longevity of popularity. Each year, the Frank and Walters perform sell out venues across the UK, Europe, and the US and their records, both new and classic, continue to sell across the world
The Frank and Walters frontman, Paul Linehan, first spoke on how lockdown affected him as a musician, stating that “It was obviously difficult…but at the same time, I could focus on writing and recording my own songs. It was a very inspirational time for me as well because it made you reflect on life a bit more and made you do a lot of soul searching and thinking and that was kind of inspirational. So I think I got a good few songs out of it, none of them have seen the light of day yet, but they’re there.”
The veteran Cork rocker expressed how excited he was to be back playing live shows again, as he “missed it enormously”. Although he has loved connecting deeper to writing music, there is a different energy that comes with performing in front of a crowd.
“When you write a song you’re expressing yourself at that moment and you’re trying to express new feelings in writing,” Linehan explained.
“But when you come up onstage, you’re going through all of the feelings that you’ve gone through in the last 20 or 30 years, and for me, when I do a gig and relive those feelings, I find it therapeutic. I always feel brilliant after a gig, kind of exhilarated. It’s like therapy, and I did miss that.”