How Aussie Hotel Rooms Have Shaped His Music

“You know, four of the songs on [2013’s] Start Livin’ were written in Western Australia in one day in this hotel, finished in demo style,” Frankenreiter – who’ll be coming here via Brazil, Chile and Argentina – explains, talking about his most current album, “and I think, while in Australia in hotel rooms, when I’m not playin’ I’m gonna be writin’ songs. I get really inspired when I’m down there, things that happen and things that I see and that I hear”.

"I decide when I put it out and sign distribution deals all over the world and try and get the music out there, you know?"

Frankenreiter already has four songs ready for the next record, so is hoping to come up with another half-dozen before heading into a studio in Austin, Texas, for a fortnight. The studio has ten cameras installed which will allow him to stream the making of the album live, 24/7. “We’re gonna shoot a bunch of photos first thing in the studio and upload those, and whoever comes up with the best album cover... and maybe [on] one of the songs [we’ll] leave the words off the bridge and let somebody co-write the song with me and write the words on the bridge and, I dunno, just gonna make it a real interactive album if people wanna get involved. I kinda like to change it up a bit.”

Frankenreiter might take his wife and two sons along to the early part of the sessions too, since his eldest seems to be following in dad’s footsteps. “Hendrix is 12 and he’s started his own band and his first show is at a sixth grade talent show March 6th here in Hawaii, so I’m really excited – three-piece band and he plays guitar and sings, he’s got a buddy playin’ bass and a buddy playin’ drums and the first song they learned was Tighten Up by The Black Keys – I was pretty impressed!”

It’s looking like Hendrix Frankenreiter might just be the second act signed to his dad’s label, Liquid Tambourine Records. “Right now it’s easy ‘cause I’m the only artist signed to the label,” Frankenreiter chuckles. “There’s no pressure to get things out or do things or whatever. I decide when I put it out and sign distribution deals all over the world and try and get the music out there, you know?”