Podcast 844: Frank & Tony

Beginning in 2012, Brooklyn-based duo Francis Harris and Anthony Collins (a.k.a Grant)—who have both released solo XLR8R podcasts—have released a stack of quality house records as Frank & Tony, a collaborative projects that serve homage to the belief that house music continues to bring communities together from its earliest days until the present.

Their first releases came out on Scissor & Thread, the label they launched in 2011, and in 2014 they shared You Go Girl, their debut album, which they followed with a handful of EPs and singles.

Following 2017’s Odes and The Gales on Japan’s Mule Musiq, the group disbanded—allowing Harris to open Public Records, a multi-use restaurant, bar, and music venue, and to release his Trivial Occupations and Thresholds albums. Collins, meanwhile, released a slew of highly acclaimed house EPs as Grant on labels including Lobster Theremin.

It wasn’t until 2021 that Frank & Tony united again, to begin a residency at Public Records. They soon re-entered the studio to release four EPs, including 2023’s Understanding with Will Long, and out of those sessions came the inspiration of Ethos, their first album in a decade.

Available now, the album includes collaborations with vocalist Eliana Glass and producers Lawrence, Darand Land, and DJ Aakmael. To celebrate the occasion, they’ve shared an XLR8R podcast filled with some of their favorite tunes past and present. Press play for 75 minutes deep house from Junes, Chaos in the CBD, Fred P, Lawrence, and more.

01. What have you been up to recently?
Life really. Running our respective businesses: Francis with Public Records andTony with People Possession. And trying to stay on top of studio projects both collectively as Frank & Tony and individually as Grant and Francis Harris all while staying healthy both mentally and physically.

02. What have you been listening to?
Francis: Save for looking for records for our sets, it’s been difficult to listen much to anything save for books on tape on my long runs, but in the past months I’ve been listening to a lot of Can Records.

Tony: Stefano Torossi and Dreamcastmoe.

03. You’ve got a new album out. What can you tell us about it?
Ethos was a way for us to show an evolution of our sound from the release of You Go Girl in 2014 to the present. We and the world have seen so many changes in just a decade, but the one constant for us has always been finding the right groove and bringing people together. Frank & Tony as a concept was always about friendship, both conceptually, artistically, and in real life. The energy that is brought forth through collaboration forms the “ethos” of the concept. It’s an ever-evolving creative conversation that is a living, breathing organism finding its energy through the connections found in otherness, as a life affirming event, much like the feeling we get when a groove drives a dancefloor and brings folks together.

04. It’s your first album in over a decade. How did it come about?
After reuniting a few years back and playing frequently at Public Records, we felt it was a good time to revisit the basis for the project itself, so a long form album felt the best way to work through those concepts perhaps for a new generation.

05. Where and when did you record this mix?
In the booth at Public Records on a Monday afternoon when we were closed.

06. What setup did you use?
Two Pioneer CDJ 3000s and two Technics 1200. Plus a custom Isonoe rotary mixer made for Public Records

07. How did you choose the tracks you’ve included?
Just some tunes we’re feeling right now, a mix of old favorites and some new cuts.

What’s next on your horizon?
Working on a new EP for the end of the year and focusing on our monthly residency at Public Records.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Kenny Larkin “Tedra” (Warp Records)
02. Neo Image “Winskill Dub” (Mood Hut)
03. Terekke “Piano” (L.I.E.S. Records)
04. Cloudface “w w I” (Mood Hut)
05. Darand Land “Calming Effect” (Deep4Life)
06. Idem “Quartier Nord” (Broox Records)
07. Domenico Rosa “Love’s Translation” (Imprints Records)
08. Jeff Samuel “Vew” (Digital Self) (Tektite Recordings)
09. Chaos in the CBD “Mind Massage” (In Dust We Trust)
10. Roza Terenzi “Mwah” (Kalahari Oyster Cult)
11. Perbec aka Mark Broom “Shakerun” (Ifach)
12. Fred P “Time2Groove” (Perpetual Sound)
13. Sevda “Suzie” (DREAM MACHINE RECORDS)
14. Rhythm Of Paradise “In My Face” (Smallville)
15. 1977 “Mondat” (For Those Who Know)
16. Lawrence “Gravity Hill” (Smallville )
17. Junes “Shifting Sands” (Central Remix) (Kalahari Oyster Cult)

The post Podcast 844: Frank & Tony appeared first on XLR8R.