Start Listening To: Frank Lloyd Wleft

The inspirations and stories behind debut single 'Caroline'.

Step right into the electrifying world of Frank Lloyd Wleft. Hailing from North London, this multi-talented artist infuses country, punk, poetry, and jangle into a concoction that's truly one-of-a-kind. In this Q&A session, we dig deep into Frank Lloyd Wleft's musical journey, from his debut single 'Caroline' to his daring collaborations with London's finest. Discover the secret behind his "post-Americana" style and how he’s shaking up the scene with his Orchestra.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

I’m Frank Lloyd Wleft, age 22, raised on red milk in North London. I perform with my backing band (we prefer the term Orchestra). The running joke is that we’re a country band, which is a fun reputation to work to and means we get to wear cool clothes. There is a lot of country in there but we mix it with all sorts, punk, poetry, jangle.

Congratulations on the release of your debut single 'Caroline' Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind the song and what it means to you personally?

Thank you thank you! Well if it wasn’t for Australian band The Finks, the song would have grown up as a relatively normal jangly rock song (in fact the use of horn and lap steel is a direct influence from another Aussie band Dick Diver). Inspired by The Finks and their tendency towards the minimal (see especially songs from ‘Rolly Nice’), I stripped the the first half down as far as possible, which gives the whole thing much more movement. As far as I can remember, that instinct came from when I first started turning myself into a solo project. I decided no one wants to listen to one guy strum through samey song after samey song all night, so I’d better start looking for ways to mess around with dynamics.

Also fun to note that the original demo of this tune has me singing the lyrics of 'Hero' by Enrique Iglesias over verses I hadn't written words for yet. I am sure this is crucial to how the song should be listened to.

How would you define the genre of 'post-Americana' and what elements of it do you incorporate into your music?

As with most genre labels, that one’s a bit of a joke, but it kinda works if you don’t scrutinise it too much. ‘Post-‘ because it’s the rules that everything has to be post these days. But it also helps describes our position to irreverently steal details of Americana and American folk music.

'Caroline' showcases your love for Australian jangle acts. How did these influences come into play while creating the track, and what specifically drew you to artists like Dick Diver, Courtney Barnett, Lower Plenty, and The Go-Betweens?

I mentioned above the specific influence of Dick Diver and The Finks, but really all of these acts have this lovely accessible conversational style of lyric writing that feels poetic without trying to be too clever. That has always appealed to me (and continues to make me want to move to Melbourne).

Your backing band, or 'Orchestra,' plays a significant role in your performances. Can you introduce the members of your Orchestra and explain how they contribute to your live shows?

Traditionally the intro goes…

“Will Ormsby on the drums!!” (because our friends started yelling that at him as a piss-take during early gigs) and “On bass, the middle child Trissy Fetch” (it is very hard to say where any of that comes from, except the bass part. Tris is not even a middle child, and of the band she is the youngest).

The band brings life to the music. I write the songs but these only take shape once the band get involved. They generally write the parts themselves and whenever I’m not looking some new detail will get added. Also, having two humans on stage not doing anything while I read out poems is a good reminder to include some fun songs in the setlist for balance.

The recording of 'Caroline' marks your first time using proper recording techniques after your previous lo-fi releases. How did this change in approach impact the overall sound and production of the song?

Oh, I think it sounds gorgeous! In the deeper recesses of bandcamp you can find some brain-meltingly lo-fi recordings of mine. I wouldn’t dismiss those, there’s some good songs and that setup allows so much room for experimentation. That said, my mental image of these songs felt more whole and as such I felt they deserved a bit more attention in a traditional sense.

The plan was never to go full “using-the-studio-as-an-instrument” on this session, we were mainly just aiming at getting everything to sound clean. It means the result was more deliberate than anything I have done before. This song is the first time a recording has come out as close as could be to the way I imagined it.

You have collaborated with musicians from other London bands, such as Baggio. How did these collaborations come about, and what do you enjoy most about working with fellow artists in the local music scene?

I met Robbie who plays lap steel on the track on the way to a show we were doing with Baggio. He was the other guy on the bus carrying an instrument case and listening to an iPod. Turns out we are largely the same person, though he is less active on socials so it took Ben from the band to hook me up and get him to finally answer my texts. We recorded that part in Robbie’s bedroom (a lap steel sounds good wherever you put it) and there was a picture of Elizabeth Cotten on the wall.

I met Poppy when we both worked at The Lexington and signed her up to the original form of the Orchestra, which consisted of guitar, sax, drums and no bass. She doesn’t play with us so much these days on account of doing rather well with DEADLETTER, but I was glad to get to record her original part on this tune. It’s never quite the same live without her.

Apart from your solo project, you also play guitar for Salome and Wildwood Daddy and have collaborated with other London country singers. How do these different musical endeavors influence your song writing?

It’s always good to have an excuse to learn more songs and play with more people. I’ve only been playing with Salomé since the start of the year and am only just getting to grips with her very beautiful but very complicated music. In short: I don’t yet understand it to a point where I can steal from it. That said, using a different set of pedals and tones has begun to be informative (I even got dusted off my old wah wah the other day), and playing the guitar as more of a background instrument is a good discipline.

Playing with Bella (Wildwood Daddy) is another recent development. Our sets have quite a bit of crossover in the inclusion of country and spoken word elements, but being part of those sets always reminds me of the power of two chord songs and Bella’s lyric-writing is a standard that keeps me honest.

You regularly perform at poetry nights in the capital. How does your involvement in the poetry scene intersect with your musical pursuits, and how does it inform your creative process?

Writing ideas almost never form specifically as songs or poetry, which is one of the reasons I like to see how much speech I can get away with in our music sets. Having platforms to share and perform poems is a massive help to test out ideas and practice delivery, and makes one feel duty bound to finish off that new one so that you have something different to read.

The community around nights like Blue Shout and Gobjaw is also hugely important to my existence in the City. It is admirably welcoming but also bursting with talent that stretches beyond poetry. I originally met Medb, who did the artwork for Caroline (among an amazing series of photos for us), at a poetry night - turns out she is not only a great poet but also an incredible artist and a genius songwriter. It feels like these nights are packed with multitalented and lovely people.

You're launching 'Caroline' with a headline gig at The George Tavern. What can fans expect from this live performance, and how does it feel to have your first proper headline show?

We are hugely looking forward to doing a first headline gig. Not only do we get to indulge in a slightly longer setlist, it also means I get to curate the whole lineup and fill the stage with as many of my favourite people as possible. The night is designed largely in the image of the single, as cemented by the Baggio support, perhaps the closest band to Dick Diver in the UK. We’ve also got The Winches on board, taken as we were by their new track ‘Kitchen Sink’, along with a video art set from the DIY inspiration that is Sofia de la Torre.

As you continue to tour and perform, what are your aspirations for your music career? Are there any particular venues or festivals you hope to play or collaborate with in the future?

Ideally, we’d get to a point where we sell out the O2 every week forever… no of course not. As long as some people are listening and some of those people are enjoying it, that’s great. I want to leave a good discography behind me that will hopefully at the very least get dug up as a cult classic and randomly define alt music of the 2120s. Also, hopefully the Arts Council can pay for Jack White to produce the next album. 

Looking ahead, do you have any plans for upcoming releases or projects? Can you offer any sneak peeks or hints about what fans can anticipate from your future music?

All in good time! We’ve been recording a debut album and I’ve also got the follow-up almost fully written. Best way to catch a glimpse of where we’re headed is by coming to a show!