Get to Know Frankpollis

Brooklyn-based band Frankpollis -- comprised of James Pollis and Malcolm Perkins on the guitar, John Frank on the bass and Jackson Pollis (known as "the fourth MisShape") on the drums -- is already big in Japan (no, really, it’s true) and are about to blow up big-time in their hometown. They’ve garnered support from bands like Liars, Les Savy Fav, Adam Green and Brian Jonestown Massacre due to the near perfection of their noise/rock/surf sound. And if the fans are any indication of their staying power, they will be around for a while; a typical concert generally involves a sea of dancing girls and a slew of phone numbers given to band members post-show. Frankpollis’ nonchalant hipster-esque attitude translates on stage to a great show where the band does their thing and the audience does theirs. Recently, we checked in with them for a little Q&A action.

What’s your favorite NYC venue?
Malcolm: Definitely John and James’s house [in Sunset Park, Brooklyn]. We were supposed to have a show there with Adam Green recently but it got shut down by the cops before either of us could go on. We rehearse there, and there’s a lot of space, it’s so isolated. It’s like being away from the city when you’re actually there.

John: The problem with a lot of venues today is that they don’t give a shit about sound quality, as long as things sound good we’re going to be happy. Glasslands in Brooklyn is really great.

You guys play with a lot of other artists; Les Savy Fav has taken an interest in you and you’ve played with them a few times. What’s that been like?

James: They’re really nice guys, we always see them around our neighborhood—they’re great live and we’ve shared equipment.

What about other bands?
John: We love The Subjects; they’re like our favorite closest band friend. Liars are great too.

Do these bands influence you? Who would you say have made the biggest impression on you?
Jackson: By far, Stephen Malkmus has really inspired us; Pavement is an all around band favorite.

Malcolm: Other than that we’re really into the Athens scene, bands like Of Montreal and Elephant Six.

What about the Brooklyn scene?
Jackson: The Brooklyn scene is bullshit, all of these bands move from the middle of nowhere to Brooklyn for a year and all of a sudden they’re a Brooklyn band. They’re not. There is no “Brooklyn” sound and to have that kind of expectation of a band from Brooklyn is stupid.

But you guys all met growing up in Brooklyn right?
Jackson: Well, James and John met at LaGuardia High School, and then James and Malcolm met at a writing program at UVA. Malcolm ended up crashing on our futon for a while and during that time we decided to jam together, the rest is history.

How do you guys write songs?
John: It used to be that James would come up with something and then the rest of us would end up adding on to it, but lately it’s become more of a collaborative process -- we all just fool around and play together until we get something going.

Malcolm: Maybe somebody will have a loop stuck in his head and we’ll all work together to make it into something.

Where do you guys see yourself in the next few years
John: We don’t really care about fame and fortune, what we want is to be able to make our music full time and live off of it, that’s all we want.

James: We don’t care about being signed; it’s not that necessary anymore and we think it will inhibit us.

Who should listen to your music? Who is your ideal fan?
Jackson: A magical wizard living in the forest, he has to use his triangle discuses to cut down the bark.

What?
James: If you’re aiming for a certain audience you can just go fuck off, you know? We’ll take anybody as long as they’re into the music we’re happy. We’re writing music for our friends and ourselves, those are the people we know and care about and there’s nobody beyond that aside from people who like our music and want to be our friends.