Fourteen years after they hit the UK Top 20 with the classic ‘After All’, Cork’s own lovable mop-tops The Frank and Walters are still happily going strong.
With a brand new album, A Renewed Interest In Happiness and a Europe-wide tour underway as we speak, things are certainly looking up for the band, who’ve enjoyed mixed fortunes over the years. When not on the road or in the studio, founder member, bass-player and vocalist Paul Linehan lives in the sea-side town of Crosshaven Co. Cork. “I’m originally from Bishopstown in Cork City but Crosshaven is a brilliant place to live,” he enthuses. "It’s kind of a working-class town, not like Kinsale where a lot of the snobs live. I lived there for a few years and I didn’t really like it. Everyone around here is friendly, it’s a very normal place.”
Having rented the 100-year old cottage he lived in for a year and a half, he has now decided to buy it outright, as he explains.
“I’m just in the process of buying it right now. What happened was, my father actually bought the house and he asked me to do it up for him. I’m a carpenter as well as a musician, my father has a kitchen business and I’ve always done up property with him. He was going to sell it when it was finished but I asked him if he would he rent it to me for a while which I did and I loved it. Once I buy it I’m going to do some more work to it – I have to dig out the whole ground floor to insulate it properly, but it’s mostly finished.”
These days Linehan lives a fairly simple life with few of the trappings associated with his other job as a rock star. “The house wouldn’t be like an MTV Cribs kind of place with all the gold discs on the wall,” he laughs. “I think all that stuff’s very tacky, it’s like having a shrine to yourself. I do have guitars, amps and recording stuff all over the place and at night I can shout me head off and no one hears me. I’m always writing songs, I’ve got the next album written, it’s just something that I feel compelled to do.”
“I don’t have a huge collection of music,” he adds “I had records years ago and I’ve a few CDs but I’m not a huge collector. Once I listen to a CD a couple of times I tend to put it away. The only musicians I like these days are Nina Simone and the Flaming Lips – I think her songs are amazing, there’s just so much conviction in them. And the fact that the Lips have been going for so long and can still come up with great songs is impressive.”
His approach to simple living extends to his TV set, which isn’t a trendy new plasma or LCD but a regular old fashioned one “with the big back on it” which he professes he is more than happy with.
“Those new slim ones are about four times the price – it’s just mad,” he says. “But I do like watching old movies. I’m a Hitchcock fan and I love World War II movies – everything from Saving Private Ryan to The Eagle Has Landed. A couple of buddies come down every now and then and we’d have a bit of grub, go for a walk around the town and have a pint and then watch a movie.”
He’s also a bit of a sports fan, with his loyalties divided between two main sports.
“My passion is horseracing,” he reveals, somewhat surprisingly. “I’ve an interest in a horse with a friend of mine. It’s probably a waste of money but I love every minute of it. One of my heroes would be the jockey Ruby Walsh. I did a small bit of jockeying myself last year which was the first time I had a go at it. I love a bit of soccer too, I support Middlesbrough, who are not a great team but I decided to go for the underdogs, I suppose it’s the indie mentality in me.”
The title of the Frank’s new album, A Renewed Interest In Happiness, reflects their current positive state of mind. After enduring their share of ups and downs – they went from being feted indie darlings to being dropped by their record company – things are better than ever, according to Linehan. “We lost our record deal, now that we’ve got one back we’re happy to keep going,” he says. “Places that we go down the best, we still draw a good crowd. Spain is probably the biggest place, Germany and France after that. I like being on the road so long as I don’t do too much of it. I’ve been through the mad touring schedules where we did 32 gigs in a row – you’re fit for the madhouse after that, it would drive you to drugs and drink. It’s like Elvis in Las Vegas – he was doing two shows a day and it kind of destroyed him. It took some of the enjoyment out of it for us. In our heyday we were working every hour and every minute of the day. If you’re not doing a gig, you’re doing an acoustic session, or doing interviews. People need time off, they need a balance.”
Despite the rigours of touring Linehan looks back on the band’s glory days with fondness. “It was very exciting playing Top Of The Pops,” he beams. “We met Paul McCartney who was in a dressing room across the hall from us. I’m a big Beatles fan and we had a bit of craic with him. Linda wanted to make us a vegetarian meal which I wasn’t into, but it worked on my brother [Niall] who is now a vegetarian.
“But if you’re talking about high points, these days are the high points for me. I’ve been down the whole road of music for about 15 years. I enjoy it a lot more now than I used to. Recording an album, releasing it and actually creating it is what I like doing. We’ve got a great balance now and I’m really enjoying it.”