Penn Francis is a self taught multi-instrumentalist, producer, and visual artist hailing from Los Angeles, California and now living in Berlin, Germany. His interest in the arts began at an early age while his musical journey began at the age of 12, performing with various bands throughout the greater LA music scene. From 2012 to 2015, he served as the drummer for the band “Wax Children” before shifting his focus to solo endeavors as an artist and producer. During this time, Francis also studied Fine Arts at Santa Monica College.
Since 2017, Francis has released three EPs, five mixtapes, and numerous singles all performed, recorded, mixed, mastered, and designed own his own. He has also collaborated with notable artists such as Bardo (of Chicano Batman ), SASAMI, Oddly Shrugs, Sherwyn, Natia, Grizz, and more, contributing either on stage and in the studio.
Penn’s latest release “Sicko” is one of my favorite new records and you can read my review here. I caught up with him recently to talk about his early musical influences, how he started playing music and the making of the new E.P.
CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you as a kid and what artist or band did you enjoy the most?
Penn-It’s hard to say what my early influences were without going on a full blown tangent but to try and summarize some early influences that I can recall, I’d definitely credit my origins in the catholic church and listening to singers engulfed in the natural reverb as a significant influence in my upbringing and somehow bled into my work as an adult although I’m not a religious person. My father and my older sister also played a major role in my musical influences. My father put me on to artists such as Black Sabbath, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Cars, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, The cure, etc. While my sister put me on to artists such as Deftones, Marilyn Manson, The Smiths, Rage against the machine, sublime, etc. so I was very much enveloped in music and would binge watch MTV and FUSE which is where I learned about a lot of different artists as well as the Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtracks and multiple skating videos cause they always had the best music.
CMM-When did you first start playing music and creating your own songs?
Penn-I initially started playing guitar at age 13 then moved to bass at 14 and then moved to drums at 15 which is the instrument that I focused on for the greater part of my musical journey in the early days. While I always contributed to the writing in every band I played with in the LA circuit, I didn’t start producing and writing my own music until I was around 20 years old.
CMM-You recently released an E.P. called “SICKO”. What was the writing and recording process like? Any particular gear and instruments you used during the recording sessions that helped inspire you?
PENN-The writing and recording process for this EP was pretty seamless, as I tend to write while recording so nothing is really pre-planned. I took a long break from releasing music and worked on completing songs over the course of 3 years. I ended up with 100+ songs and chose the best 7 tracks that I felt complimented each other which resulted as “SICKO”. I played every instrument, recorded, mixed, and mastered this project on my own and while there is a theme to the EP, I feel that it’s best to allow the listener a chance to interpret it how they see fit rather than explaining it myself.
CMM-If you could do a score for any film director who would it be and what would the film be about?
PENN-Funny enough, I’ve always wanted to score a film but I rarely watch films or tv shows. Although, I’ve always been a fan of Michel Gondry whether it’s his films or music videos, I think his work is incredible and would love the opportunity to create something unorthodox. Not sure what the film would be about as I’d want to focus on the music side of things but I’d like to work with someone who has a vision that I can compliment musically.
CMM-What do you have coming up next? Any new recordings or shows?
PENN-As far as what’s coming next, I have tons of new music in the tuck and I’m planning a small release of either 1-2 songs in May, however, I have another EP set to release in the summer. Unfortunately I don’t have any shows lined up as I just moved to Berlin from my hometown of Los Angeles so I’m figuring out the landscape / scene and hopefully I’ll have something ready to go by summer time but I’m focusing more so on releasing music and I feel the shows will come eventually.
Lastly, I want to thank Custom Made Music for supporting my work! You can find my music on all streaming platforms under “Penn Francis” and on social media under @pennfrancis
