Frankie White — 27 September 2023 on Rocket Shop Radio Hour
Frankie White joined host Tom Proctor on ‘Rocket Shop,’ Big Heavy World’s weekly local Vermont music radio hour on 105.9 FM The Radiator. Catch up with them at instagram.com/frankiewhitemusic
On Wednesday, September 27th of 2023, Frankie White decided to go for a run in Vermont, enjoying the sunset and lake views. Eight miles later, she ended up with a keyboard at Rocket Shop.
Frankie White is a 23 year old singer-songwriter from Colchester, Vermont. Last week on Rocket Shop we spent the hour discussing musical inspiration, playing solo versus with a band, White’s move from New Orleans to Vermont, ADHD, vulnerability in songwriting, and upcoming projects; and best of all, we got to hear her intense songwriting stripped down to raw, dark, and hauntingly beautiful piano ballads. Frankie White simultaneously breaks our hearts and puts them back together.
White began the night with one of her most recently written songs, “The Alternative.” It begins with dark and enchanting chords, and her vocals enter with a low tone. The choruses are anxious and dramatic, building up to a hard hitting, quiet line that marks the chorus. The lyrics detail an external and internal battle with a potential relationship, and the sad sound emphasizes its meaning which Frankie describes as “depressing.”
White draws inspiration from a variety of artists and uses their techniques to create her own unique sound that wonderfully blends grunge and melancholy piano ballads. She was inspired by her older brother’s music taste, consisting of Radiohead, Death Cab for Cutie, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Local H, and immense amounts of Weezer. She then discovered artists like Ingrid Michaelson and Birdie, inspiring the sorrowful aspects of her songwriting.
White started writing at ten years old, and she says it started as a joke. Her sister was sick, so she carried her keyboard up to her room and started making up songs, sparking a creative energy and passion for music at a young age.
“It kind of made me feel like this is something that I should do more often,” says White. “Like, this is fun. I enjoy doing this. And from there it really stemmed into something that I was really passionate about and kept doing.”
White’s next song, “Girlfriend,” was the first song she ever wrote. It details a jealous relationship, something White was most certainly not dealing with when she wrote it.
“I mean, the song is called girlfriend. It's so funny because I was ten years old. What did I know? Right? But it's one of my favorite songs to play for sure.”
Beyond White’s singer-songwriter side that is perfectly captured in this episode of Rocket Shop, lies a side of her that’s less intimate and melancholy and more about the performance. White has played with several bands throughout her work in the music industry, and she explained the significant difference that this makes on her music.
“Oh, it changes a lot. It turns into a rock vibe for sure.”
White currently plays with two different bands in Burlington. One is Honey Maple, a folk collaboration. Frankie and the Fuse is White’s own project, and it explores the 90s grunge side of her songwriting. They currently have a residency at the Red Square in Burlington every Thursday from 6-8pm.
White spent four years living in New Orleans during college, and it opened her world to new music. She learned that jazz is an immersive experience and to appreciate the culture and mirage of music that flows out each and every door on the city’s streets.“There's just new sounds coming from every direction and every single thing is pulling you in. It's like the most magical experience ever.”
White emphasized the opportunities that are present in the New Orleans music scene, expressing gratitude toward the supportive community that exists in the city. She explained that while jazz is such a prominent genre there, pop music has a smaller scene with more room for opportunity and lots of support.
White’s next song was “No In-Between,” a rich and compelling song that uses bass notes on the keys combined with big vocal melodies to explore sober curiosity. White’s roommates in college drank a lot of alcohol, influencing her drinking habits and causing unhealthy patterns that clashed with White’s intense ADHD, including anger when under the influence. “No In-Between” details the feeling of moving away from alcohol use and trying to find a healthy balance of sobriety. In the bridge, White sings “therapy makes me crazy more than it helps.”
This exemplifies White’s vulnerable songwriting, which serves as her therapy (along with running). She writes her songs about her own experiences, often melancholy, and makes the lyrics very literal, not up for interpretation.
White is currently preparing to put out a new full-length album based off her currently released EP, ‘Short Fuse.’ She produced the project herself, putting it out in 2022, and she admits that it’s not a project she’s particularly proud of, but she wanted to have something out while she worked on the re-recorded album version. “What’s hard about being an artist is finding the balance of having it good and having it out. Just having something out under my name is good, and I’m satisfied with that, even if it’s not my best work.”
The new, unnamed album is still in the process of mixing and mastering, but will be out soon, along with a music video for the first single. As White awaits the release, she continues to write for future projects, and she sees a large shift between her songwriting as her lifestyle becomes more stable.
White’s final song, “Braindead,” used short staccato chords and a catchy rhythm to end the set in a memorable and impactful way. Her vocals are soothing, yet powerful, and her lyrics captured the passionate emotion that makes her songwriting so distinctive and extraordinary. As the anticipation builds for her upcoming projects, find us losing ourselves in tears while streaming her currently released music.
Text by Keagan Lafferty
Monochrome photo by Ross Mickel