Bio

In life, only two kinds of things happen: those that are chance and those that are fate. That you will one day, and one day very soon, know the name Franko is inarguably the latter. He is going to be a rock god, plain and simple, a recording-industry maverick revered not only for his unbound stage presence but also for his nuanced vocals and mastery of songcraft. But don't take my word for it. Read his story, and better yet, sample his music. A biographer you can argue with. But Franko's music? No way. In The Beginning Born Francis Heke Yates in Auckland City, New Zealand, the artist eventually known as Franko was raised in a middle-class family with an older half brother and sister more than a decade his senior. As is typical of many a future crowd-pleaser, the natural's love of, and knack for, music emerged early. In fact, by the age of three, he knew all the words to songs like "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister and "Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen, and would sing them for anyone who would listen. As he grew older, Franko began learning piano from his mother and guitar from his father, whose abilities he quickly surpassed. When he was 10, the budding musician bonded with his intermediate-school teacher, Mr. Ferris -- the one instructor whose curriculum included pop-song sing-alongs. Eventually, the whole class was studying guitar with Mr. Ferris, with no pupil more apt than Franko. Growing Pains In high school, Francis' friends rechristened him Franko. But it wasn't all fun and games for the restless teen. He developed a hate-hate relationship with school -- well, except for studying music and jamming in school bands -- which resulted in his being expelled twice. But by this time, he already knew that music was in his blood -- it was his passion and his future. So he could never figure out why he should learn the Pythagorean theorem or dissect a worm. At only fifteen, Franko left school for good, taking on "the real world" with the "help" of drugs and alcohol. (Countless run-ins with the police naturally followed.) For five long years, Franko lived on the brink of disaster until finally, he decided to make one last-ditch attempt to get back on track. It wouldn't be easy -- so mired in his lifestyle was that he knew he would have to get far away from his friends, society and especially the black hole into which he'd crawled -- but it had to be done. So he enrolled himself into the Nelson School of Music on the South Island of New Zealand. During his yearlong studies there, the turnaround he needed came to pass: To give himself a better shot at making it, he gave up drinking and drugs. A New Beginning After graduating with merit from the Nelson School of Music, Franko returned to his hometown and soon landed his dream job: looking after every major band or artist that passed through New Zealand. In short order, he met and tended to acts as diverse as R.E.M., Metallica, Velvet Revolver, Live, Mark Knofler, 50 Cent, the Foo Fighters... you get the idea. If they were on top and visited kiwi country, Franko showed them around. In turn, these artists fueled his desire to someday create music on their level. The Next Step Franko knew that if he wanted his music to be heard by the world, he couldn't stay put in New Zealand. So in the summer of 2005, he packed up his suitcase and guitar and moved to the Gold Coast of Australia. At first, he was paid by the owners of a cheap clothing store in Surfers Paradise to play out front and draw a crowd from across the street. But before long, the crowd his raw sound drew was so large that he could afford to quit working for the store to become a full-time "busker." And it wasn't only his audiences who were enjoying themselves -- Franko was, too. Having people that didn't need to stop, stop to listen because they liked what they heard was a whole new kind of high for him. It doesn’t get more “real” than that. In time, Franko devised a plan to go on a Busking World Tour starting on the Gold Coast and moving through Sydney, Melbourne, Hawaii, Los Angeles... using his busking bucks to bankroll the trip. The also had the foresight to have his journey filmed as a documentary. But he had only just arrived Sydney when he started creating a stir within the recording industry there. It turned out, record companies had heard of him, and once they heard him, on nothing more than the strength of his street performances, they started offering him contracts. What's Next Today, Franko is an artist at a crossroads. Poised to seal a deal to make his major-label debut, he is about to fulfill the destiny that has always been his. Of course, if you asked him, he would never put it that way. He would say “im gonna do what I wanna do and if the world comes for the ride then that’s just a bonus”. If you asked me, though, I would say that he's going to make powerful, passionate music that time can't touch, that would have been a hit a decade ago and will be just as relevant and ear-catching a decade from now. In short, he is going to earn from you the respect and admiration that those of us who already know his story and his songs enthusastically give him. Doubt it, even for a minute, and you're just... well, tempting fate.