Frank Turner

Infobox musical artist
Name = Frank Turner


Img_capt = Frank Turner at The Park in Peterborough, September 26th 2007
Landscape = yes
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Francis Turner
Alias = Frank Turner
Born = Birth date and age|1981|12|28|mf=y Bahrain
Origin = London, United Kingdom
Occupation = Singer-songwriter
Instrument = Guitar, Vocals
Genre = Folk
Years_active = 2004 - present
Label = Xtra Mile Recordings
Associated_acts = Million Dead, The Record Buying Public, Kneejerk, Dive Dive
URL = http://www.frank-turner.com

Frank Turner is a musician born in Bahrain. He lived out part of his childhood in Winchester before moving to London. He was educated on a scholarship at Eton College, and studied History at the London School of Economics . Since the demise of his former punk rock band Million Dead he has pursued a solo career in folk music. He has toured the UK extensively, and has completed several tours of the USA and Central and Eastern Europe.

History

Frank Turner served his musical apprenticeship playing in the hardcore punk band Kneejerk which he had formed while still at school. It was while in Kneejerk that Frank came out as homosexual. Although young, Kneejerk released an EP entitled "I'm Sorry I Left Them There (I Didn't Know They Were Yours)" and two full-length albums "These Can't All Be My Hands (I've Only Got Two Hands)" and "I'm Only Joking, It's Cancer!".

After Kneejerk disbanded in a 'flurry of words and non-word sounds' Frank joined Million Dead, a vanity project for the Hollywood actor Ben Dawson off of Dawson's Creek.

Frank Turner started acoustic shows prior to Million Dead's break up. The first official performance was at the first Smalltown America alldayer, at London's 93 Feet East venue on September 18th 2004. The solo performances were initially a sideline to Million Dead and allowed Turner to display some of his own songwriting capabilities (without a band) as well as some covers of bands he enjoyed; in some cases the songs were much re-worked to fit an acoustic atmosphere. Solo performances were also used to help bolster or expose Million Dead to new individuals as well, with some acoustic in-store and radio performances of Million Dead songs. When Million Dead broke up in September 2005, he went solo full time.

In February and March 2006 Turner recorded the "Campfire Punkrock" EP, with Dive Dive as the backing band for three of the songs. This EP was released on May 15 2006 on a limited run through Xtra Mile recordings. It sold out after only a few months on sale and had to be re-pressed to meet demand. It is now available from various on-line music stores.

Turner supported Jonah Matranga in June 2006 to promote Matranga's CD/DVD album "There's A Lot In Here", and this tour lead to the creation of a Jonah Matranga and Frank Turner split 12" vinyl. It was released in the USA on Welcome Home Records and in the UK via Xtra Mile Recordings. The release features Turner covering two songs by American songwriters and Matranga covering two songs by British songwriters. On September 18 2006 he became the last ever artist to perform on BBC Radio 1's Lamacq Live program, unveiling two new songs from his debut album "Sleep Is For The Week".

"Sleep Is For The Week" was recorded in August and September 2006, with Dive Dive as extra band on a selection of the 13 tracks. The last track, "The Ballad Of Me And My Friends," is a live recording from a show at the London Barfly and features the vocal contribution of the audience during a verse.

Turner then completed an extensive UK tour in support of his debut album, with Dive Dive (as support and backing band) and Beans on Toast. This was followed by a tour supporting Biffy Clyro and . He also completed 2 US tours (including shows at SXSW) and a further UK band headline tour, coinciding with the release of a new EP, "The Real Damage", released on May 7th 2007. As well as the title track it included four otherwise unreleased songs.

In September 2007 Frank Turner toured with Jonah Matranga, Joshua English and Jacob Golden on the "Softcore" tour around the UK. The last date was at The Park in Peterborough; they closed the tour singing a cover of Abba's Dancing Queen. A DVD, "All About the Destination", was released in October 2007, and afterwards Turner went back to the USA for another tour with Florida's Fake Problems.

By the end of the year, recording sessions in Hampshire had yielded the second album, "Love, Ire and Song", which was released in the UK on the 31st March 2008, followed by a UK tour with Andy Rourke, Chris T.T and Ciara Haidar. Chris T-T later joined the backing band. The tour was largely sold out, including a London show at The 100 Club. A further UK tour supporting The Holloways followed in May. Summer 2008 saw festival appearances at nearly 30 festivals, including Cambridge Folk Festival, Truck, Beautiful Days, Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds.

Discography

Albums

* "Sleep Is For The Week""' January 15, 2007 Xtra Mile
* "Love, Ire and Song""' March 31, 2008 Xtra Mile

EPs

* "Campfire Punkrock""' May 15, 2006 Xtra Mile
* "The Real Damage""' May 7, 2007 Xtra Mile

Demos

*Frank Turner Demo (2005)

ingles

*Vital Signs (December 25, 2006)
*Photosynthesis (March 24, 2008)
*Reasons Not To Be An Idiot (June 23, 2008)
*Long Live The Queen (October 20, 2008)

plits

*Xtra Mile Singles Club Split (January 30, 2006)
*Jonah Matranga / Frank Turner Split (July 17, 2006)

Compilation appearances

*Public Service Broadcast #8 (April 17, 2006)
* "Photosynthesis" - "2000 Trees - Cider Smiles" , (Hide & Seek Records, June 2008)
*Xtra Mile High Club (Xtra Mile Recordings, 2008)

Videography

*Casanova Lament (unaired)
*Vital Signs (2006)
*The Real Damage (2007)
*Photosynthesis (2008)
*Reasons Not To Be An Idiot (2008)
*I Knew Prufrock Before He Was Famous (2008)
*Long Live The Queen (2008)

DVDs

*All About the Destination (October 22, 2007)

External links

* [http://www.frank-turner.com Frank Turner's official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/frankturner Frank Turner's official myspace]
* [http://www.rocklouder.co.uk/articles/1185.html 'Think Black Flag'] written by Frank Turner
* [http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?entity=podcast&media=all&submit=seeAllLockups&term=nvtv FREE ACOUSTIC SESSION by Frank Turner from NvTv]