I was born in Syracuse, N.Y. My first interest was in playing the guitar but since no one in our neighborhood played Bass everyone said Frank why don't you play Bass? So after much deliberation I decided to pick up the Bass and after the very first time I held it and played it nothing else could compare to that feeling i had and i knew then that i had found my
instrument.
After highschool I began Touring with a Band that was very popular from the Tri-Cities Area. With that Band I gained so much experience from playing almost every night and developing lots of skills from playing so many different styles along with improvisation, and collaborating on original songs all at a very young age. After the end of that Band I felt i needed a change and decided to move to Los Angeles, it seemed Record Labels were signing alot of LA Bands. Some of the Bands I was playing with had Record Labels paying for Demo Deals and so it seemed I was coming closer to being part of a Band that would be signed to a Major Record Deal. But trying to keep a band together in LA seemed almost impossible at the time. And so I thought if i'm going to have a career in music I need to reevaluate my strategy. So I decided that being hired as a sideman could open up so many other doors and then i would be paid a fee to play. I began studying with a couple of other bass players{upright and electric bass} and also began developing my reading skills.
Howard Benson was the first producer to give me a chance to play on a record, i replaced the Bass Player only for the recording, the Band Was Sweet FA. Howard allowed me to be very involved in the pre-production aspect and gave me alot of freedom to play. After the completion of that record Howard was very complimentary of my playing and said I should consider pursuing session work. So that was a great beginning, because everything i had learned up until that time i was able to use with complete confidence. Thank God I've had some really great experiences since and look forward to many more.
I have also had the pleasure of playing for some really great Artist Showcases in L.A. I also have had the pleasure to tour with Beth Hart, Kevin Prosch and Taylor Dayne. On my home page go to Sessions, there you will find some of my favorite tracks that i've played on. Go to Producer and listen to some of the tracks that i've produced and co-written and played Bass on. Go to TV/Film and listen to some of the music i've composed with other musicians and played Bass on.
I'm available to do remote recording from my home on either Electric Bass or Upright bass. Please feel free to contact me.
My Publishing Company La Torre Music is with ASCAP.
Thank You,
Frank
MUSIC
SESSIONS
Of all the records I've played on, I picked these artists and here are some of my favorite tracks beginning with the most recent. This is a mix of songs with electric bass,fretless bass and upright bass. On some of these tracks I have worked with producers like Michael Beinhorn, Joe Chiccarelli, Mike Daly, Shannon Edgar and Kevin Prosch.
PRODUCER/ARRANGER/SONGWRITER
In 1998 I was hired by R&B producer Chris Stokes to play bass on some demos, the band he was producing consisted of Elizabeth,Dan and Ron Felico.During the recording of these demos Chris was asking me for a lot of my input regarding production, since his expertise was more in the R&B field the band was leaning more in my direction of ideas. So when their deal with Chris was not working out the way they had been told, they asked to terminate their contract with him. They got in contact with me and we began working toward a new direction. After a year of co-writing songs with them the two brothers lost interest in working with their sister. So Elizabeth and I began co-writing songs together and there developed some strong material. So I began producing songs in a pop-rock format.After two years of solid work Elizabeth decided that pursuing a career in music as a solo pop artist would take her away from her religion. But what I gained from other projects in co-production and the immense amount of concentrated time I put into producing all of the music for Elizabeth was a confidence that I could very well arrange and produce this type of music.
Not long after that ended I began writing and producing songs with Estrella Howell, it began as writing some songs for a Showtime series, and then developed into writing songs for her demo.
I feel that as a Bass Player our job is such the foundation of everything going on that we tend to have a good sense of how to really put together interesting levels to offer more depth to the music. I love producing and arranging songs as much as I love playing the Bass and being the backbone and foundation. I am truly Blessed!
TV/FILM
In 2000 long time friend and band mate Eric Carter and myself began writing cues for an independent film, Eric is a Keyboardist and very good with pro-tools, we have developed a style of writing and it has progressed into quite a library of material. We have also co-written songs for TV shows as well.
In 2001 I co-wrote a song with another good friend of mine Bennett Cale, the song was written for a pilot, a TV show about young girls, well the pilot never happened but someone that Bennett knew heard the song and sent over to Elliott Lurie music supervisor for 'Lizzie Mc Guire' a Disney Channel show, he ended up licencing the song 'girls can do anything' for that show.
In 2006 Shannon Edgar another songwriter that I've been working with. He and I co-wrote a song called 'Blood on our hands' it was for a showtime series called Sleeper Cell. Since then we have been collaborating on other songs for TV.
