RS: That's from the label perspective, in the whole house music game the way it was seven years ago versus how it is now, how has the vibe of house music affected what you've done on this album?
Frankie: Well technology has changed a lot of things, making it possible for just about anyone to make music. But not everybody is a songwriter, so that puts me in a completely different ballpark than the other DJs out here that are writing and producing tracks. I don't stop at tracks, I try to complete the whole package with the song. So working at that level has put me in a completely different place.
RS: That goes back to anyone can write but it's a matter of writing well.
Frankie: I would love to be a lot more prolific about the things I do write but I can only do the best I can with what I've got. Considering that I taught myself a lot of this and I have some great influences around me, when it comes to doing it, I think I'm holding my own.
RS: I think you're doing a damn fine job, I love the album. Who are some of your influences that you've learned from?
Frankie: Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson are probably the biggest ones.
RS: Ashford and Simpson, I can hear that. OK, just like with house music different than what it was seven years ago versus how it is now, how has club culture, the way it was seven years ago and the way club culture is now, affected how you pursued this album project?
Frankie: Well seven years ago this wasn't global, but it is global now. I spend more time out in the rest of the world touring, DJing everywhere, as opposed to being found in just one spot like the Sound Factory bar in New York City. Ultimately it's changed the scope of how I approach making and writing music. When you're doing a residency in one small club in the cities like New York, you could have several hundred people beat a path to your door every week and it's very nice but when it comes to approaching and doing a project like that, you are limited by the things that are around you. Your scope is what is around you, but when you get out traveling throughout the world, week in and week out and seeing everything, and you're everywhere in the world, you start seeing things from a completely different perspective. That changes the scope of what you want to say musically.
I think I'm still pretty much in the same places I've always been musically but my approach to it is probably a lot more sensitive than before. My perception of it all is a lot more clearer than it has ever been. But then again, that might be attributed to age as well. The older you get, you really begin to see things a little bit more clearer than you did when you were much younger. I think all those things are probably part of it.
RS: Yes, I noticed on your calendar that you recently played in Russia. When they flew you to Russia and you're playing this club in Russia, what goes through your mind, is the crowd radically different?
Frankie: That was one of the things I was really concerned about because I had never been there before. I know a number of different UK DJs have been through there but those are all your trance/techno guys. So, of course, I'm nervous because I know what they're used to, when it comes to all those other guys like Sasha, Digweed, and Oakenfold. I know what for the most part what they've been exposed to and what they're used to. What I'm bringing to the table is a completely different scenario, and my biggest concern obviously is how well it will be received. It wouldn't surprise me because it's what they've been waiting for for a long time from what I hear, from everybody there.
RS: And how did they react?
Frankie: Enormously. They were completely over the moon about it all and they really made a big deal out of it. The kind of response I got from most of the people that were there is that, now we know what real house music is.
