Interview: Griffith Frank displays remarkable emotional depths & musical chops
The talented musician and songwriter discusses grief, growth, and transformation.
Griffith Frank was already in the throes of mourning, as he watched the slow passing of his mother, when he wrote “You’ll Be There.” Wrestling with the meaning of existence, and wondering why nothing seemed to make a lick of sense, he channeled his anguish across a set of piano keys. “If I fall apart for a moment, please understand / Things haven’t gone quite the way that I would have planned,” his voice seems to penetrate the barrier between worlds. Frank’s voice is silky-smooth, but it isn’t without a proper emotional injection, coursing out of his soul and onto paper.
Originally written in 2013, “You’ll Be There” seems to strike a red-hot resonance these days, as literally everyone has either lost someone to COVID-19 or knows someone who has suffered crippling tragedy. Through the years, Frank “never could quite execute the song in a way I felt completely happy with,” he tells B-Sides & Badlands over email. “As the country shut down last year, and people close to me were losing loved ones to the virus — saying nothing of the global devastation that was and is occurring — I felt like I needed to reimagine the song… even if it was just for myself.”
“You’ll Be There,” just shy of 100,000 streams, might be the start of creative renaissance for the budding songwriter. Feeling his “soul sing” again, dabbling in musical experimentation and “more frequent creative output,” Frank is on the verge of seeing his hard work pay off. It was only a matter of time.
Below, Frank dives into his growth as a songwriting and vocalist, personal transformation, and growing up in Topanga.
What did you learn most about yourself last year?
I think 2020 was a year of reassessment for me. I took a look at what I wanted from life, what I wanted from music, and my mindset and approach for my future. I also took the time to consider who and what was most important to me. Luckily, my immediate family lives near me, so we had many opportunities to (safely) connect through the year.
I know you’ve dealt with some tremendous pain in your life. Does writing a song like this make you further process pain and past losses in a new way?
Absolutely. There are times when writing songs is very much a therapeutic exercise for where I’m at and can serve almost as a journal entry. I can also look back at what I wrote as a reminder to myself when I’m going through other difficult times. I also view songs very much as stories; so revisiting this song and releasing it was like retelling a very important story of my past.
What has grief taught you?
So many things… I could write an entire essay on how radically different each experience of loss has felt for me. But by going through my personal experience and witnessing other’s processes, I’d say my biggest lesson is that there is no right, wrong, or “normal” way to deal with loss. I will never truly understand another’s grief, but I will strive to appreciate and support them however they need in the best way I can.
Have there been moments in your life when you became so overwhelmed by pain that it felt like you couldn’t possibly move on?
Honestly, not yet. But I feel I am extremely privileged to be able to say that. I’ve always found a way to express myself and move forward when in pain — whether it be through music, writing, or simply connecting with loved ones. And I’m unbelievably blessed to have a strong support system of friends and family. I say not yet, because I’m fully open to the fact that I may encounter some loss that will be overwhelmingly more than I can handle. Life can be very humbling when you least expect it.
“Tomorrow’s a bittersweet kind of a second chance,” you sing. What’s your journey been like in not being so hard on yourself and realize life is always about growth?
I’ve dealt with my anxiety through a lot of my life, mostly due to an enormous amount of pressure I’ve put on myself. Getting older has forced me to face these anxiety demons and try come to terms with them… or else continue to let them swarm around my head. It’s funny that I wrote that line so many years ago, and I think I’m still attempting to take my own observation to heart.
Your father David Frank has such a legacy in the business, most known as founding member of The System and forging the electronic pop/R&B scene and working with the likes of Christina Aguilera, James Morrison, and The Pussycat Dolls, among countless others. What has he taught you most about the industry or music itself?
I’d say most importantly, the life changing depth of music throughout history. Even now, I’m still studying classical piano to try and learn from the masters. Also, to always strive to have a great work ethic. I still haven’t seen many people who worked as hard as my dad.
Topanga has been known as a cultural and artistic melting pot through the last several decades. What was it like growing up there?
Funnily enough, I’d say this biggest impact that Topanga had on me growing up was developing a deep love for nature. As a kid, I would walk around my mountainous neighborhood almost daily (parents wouldn’t let me be on to many screens), and being out in nature is an experience I’ve always cherished. I hope I can find a way to wind my desire for nature conservationism into my creative endeavors; that would truly be my dream. We only have one planet, and I really hope I can leave it better than I found it.
What do you admire most about his work — and what things do you carry into your own?
His love of really cool harmonic progressions and bass lines… Oh man, I’ve always loved funky, synthy bass lines. And he is truly a master of that type of stuff. Although musically, I went in a different direction (in some ways) than him, I keep using the lessons he taught me.
When you started writing pop songs, did you feel you needed to discard preconceived notions or style most known with classical piano before you could really thrive in a different genre?
In some ways, yes, because I don’t want to sound overly complex, at least at first. But, pop music has always been around me… so writing pop music was never an incredible stretch. The fun part is when you create something that seems familiar and understandable, but then craft in a harmonic or lyrical surprise in just the right way. Well, at least that’s what I try to do!
Your vocal performance on this song is especially striking. You started really singing when you were 11. In the development of the technical aspect of songwriting, how did you come to understand how to use your voice (subtlety vs belting)? Or was it a more natural, instinctual approach for you?
It might seem strange, but how I sing has been a constant source of anxiety for me. When I first “figured out” how to really sing at 10 or 11, it was more me just experimenting with what seemed good to me. But as I got older, I started to get more in my head about how I should be doing it, and what would “work the best.” I definitely stalled out for many years in my early twenties, having no idea how I actually wanted to sing as I had tried so many years to sing “the right way.” In the recent years, I finally started to endeavor to make my voice more what I wanted it to be, rather than what I thought others might think is good.
The thing I came to understand is that people don’t really know what they want until they have it. So, I just started to sing more in line with what moved me… and it’s definitely a scary leap of faith. I suppose only time will tell if other’s like it, too. I suppose that’s just the struggle of art.
