FRANKIE WANTS OUT - Melbourne's Gangster Swing Band

You enter the room and a wall of sound and heat hits you. Limbs are flying as the band siz

zle underneath a cooking solo. That unmistakable sound washes over you and you forget the rest of the week even happened. The band is Frankie Wants Out, that unmistakable sound is SWING, and it’s been making audiences jump from Fitzroy to St. Kilda and shows no signs of letting up.

Hailing from all over their beloved Melbourne the boy’s from Frankie Wants Out (FWO) got together a little over a year ago to play through some songs written by the charismatic singer. The result was an infectious style of hot, sweaty jazz suited to those who want to get down. The huge nine piece outfit consists of Andy Coates (vocals), Carlo Parisi (drums), Ben Christianson (double bass), Dominic Bello (guitar), Ainsley Finn (keyboard), Cam Stark (Trombone), Joel Plymin (tenor sax), Joel Youdel (alto sax) and Sam Parry (trumpet).

Their sound whilst being heavily influenced by the music of the New York dance halls of the 20’s and 30’s and the more modern sounds of bands like the Royal Crown Revue has developed into something unique. Influenced by living in Australia, and more so Melbourne. This is no more evident then on their First EP release “The Melbourne Way” which was launched at The Evelyn Hotel on the 29th December. When asked about the significance of Melbourne to FWO Sam said “Melbourne has such a great live music culture, whatever your taste in music is. It’s just great to immerse yourself and get involved in the scene. The support from other musicians is fantastic and we like to be there for people as well”.

So if you like to dance or just to like hear music that grooves, If you don’t like to take things too serious or want to take time out from your hectic life - Then seek out Frankie Wants Out.

Frankie Valentine 

Based in Melbourne, burlesque performer, vintage costumer and all around femme fatale, Frankie Valentine, sets old time glamour on fire with a signature sensuality that has venues all over Melbourne smoldering. Frankie perfects the classic art of the strip tease with a personal and contemporary approach to burlesque, which has seen her gracing stages around the country with her innovative character based routines. Hailing from a fashion background, Frankie hand-sews all her costumes and extraordinary corsets. Her love of vaudeville, theatre and creative costuming all lend to the extraordinary visual quality of her shows; every conceptual performance displaying her love for exquisite staging. A Frankie Valentine show can take you to a boudoir in bohemian Paris where Ella Fitzgerald plays on the gramophone, to a gin -filled tryst on a hot New Orleans night in the prohibition era, to the lamenting soundtrack of dirty bayou blues. Wild, inspired and criminally seductive, the stunning Frankie Valentine is here to stay.