Dr. Frank is a happy boy.
The guitarist/songwriter from The Mr T Experience has his band together, a new album out and a huge tour staring him in the face. This is a much better situation than, say, a year ago when the last record, The Mr T Experience And The Women Who Love Them, went from what was to be a full-length CD to an EP due to his bass player quitting after having recorded only seven songs.
The career of this Berkeley, Calif.-based punk/pop band (yes, the same scene that spawned Green Day) has been punctuated with many such obstacles to success. Launched in 1986, Dr. Frank is the only remaining original member of what has always been a three-piece outfit. The quick history goes something like this: record an album; tour; break up; patch the band with a new member; record an album; tour; break up... "There's been definite membership attrition, which I understand," says Dr. Frank, "because being a member of The Mr T Experience isn't easy." But that seems to be the driving force behind the band's music. On "Dumb Little Band," from the recently released Love Is Dead, Dr. Frank sings, "...The guy at the bar says he thinks we're okay/we kind of remind him of Green Day/but it's a dumb little band and there's not much to say/maybe we'll see you when we play in some big empty room one day/we do a record every year that nobody's gonna hear or understand/a dumb little band..."
"That's just like what it's like to be in this band," says the singer. "Especially now. It's funny, a lot of bands that have come from our little scene, we know them and have played with them, and they're super-mega stars, and here we are the same as we used to be. You gotta laugh. And I think a lot of people are surprised when they talk to me. They expect me to be bitter and upset at these superstars. I'm totally happy. I think Love Is Dead is a pretty decent record, and I got to make a record I really like. And we're having fun playing shows, and it's not a total failure, and it used to be, so it's better than it used to be. And you don't have to be a smash hit. You just have to be there. And just being there is as good as it gets."
Love Is Dead is the band's (really Dr. Frank's) seventh album and fourth on Berkeley's Lookout Records. Nearly 10 years ago, MTX was one of the first groups to rekindle that stripped-down punk/pop sound in a scene, which would launch the aforementioned Green Day. And following an East Coast jaunt that will bring MTX to Philadelphia in February (Feb. 17 at The Trocadero), the band will join Green Day on a two-month European tour. That's quite a contrast from the living room and basement tour (literally) Dr. Frank and the boys undertook in the earlier days.
"The thing is, the more adaptable you are, the easier time you have," says Dr. Frank about the rigors of touring. "And I think that the one thing I've always been pretty good at is scaling down expectations, so you can never be disappointed. And that's probably one of the reasons why I'm still in a punk rock band 10 years later."