Franka De Mille
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Franka De Mille

| INDIE

| INDIE
Band Pop Singer/Songwriter

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"4 Stars"

“This is lovely; more than lovely [...] Traditional instruments, including cello and accordion, prove to be perfect friends for De Mille’s deep and thrusting voice. It is an impressive album.” 4 Stars - Rock 'n' Reel


Discography

Album - 'Bridge The Roads' - released November 2010

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Bio

Due to the personal nature of Franka’s songs, making a career in music was a big emotional commitment and could not be entered into lightly. After years of avoidance, she found herself lying in a hospital bed contemplating the fragility of life and realized that her inner world needed an outlet.

From the harrowing experience documented in 'So Long', to the mourning of her father in 'Birds' and the poignant confession to her sister in ‘Gare du Nord’, we feel her darker side, and yet, through the messages of hope in 'You'll Never Know' and 'Come on' her strength in adversity transcend toward the ultimate redemption song, 'Bridge the Roads'.

In late 2007, following a full recovery, Franka teamed up with Scottish producer Christian Fontana to create ‘Bridge The Roads’. His production expertise added a real warmth to the ‘sound’ of the album which contributed to its classic LP feel. In line with the ‘analogue quality in a digital age’ theme, two songs, ‘Fallen’ and the title track ‘Bridge the Roads’, were recorded live.

They put together an eclectic and talented team of eight musicians from all over the world: English Blues-man Steve Morrison, Polish Cellist Dorota Gralewska, French classical violinist Deborah Gruman, Australian folk violinist Chris Stone, globe-trotting multi-instrumentalist Paul Tkachenko, Norwegian Flautist & Pianist Ragnhild Loken, Dutch bassist Cyriel Diels and Argentinian drummer Mannie Mazzeo.

The ambitious nature of the production and the meticulousness of her compositions meant that the album took two years to complete. The intimate source of each song rendered the journey more arduous and the making of the album became, in it’s very essence, an act of redemption.

Franka lists her 'spiritual mothers' as Patti Smith, Janis Joplin, Rickie Lee Jones and Hildegard Von Bingen and her favourite 'muses' as Kate Bush, PJ Harvey, Dagmar Krause, Rene Aubry, Sting, J.S. Bach and Philip Glass. While one may hear some of their influence in her work, it is so slight as to not be comparable. The only similarity to those artists being that she is uncompromisingly herself.