Jules Franks.Can We Return to the Heart

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Jules has now finished his NEW ALBUM, with six tracks lasting 52 minutes (they are long songs) the title is...’CAN WE RETURN TO THE HEART’.The music is now ready. .Official release is to be spring 2008 however you can order it through www.julesfranks.com and pay on paypal right now. It will be available on itunes, napster and Emusic very soon., .Julian has assembled a fine group of musicians to go out and play live .Jules on vocals and percussion, Joel Franks on guitar, Al Scott on bass, Genevieve Applebee on female vocals, Rufus O;Brian violin, Guy Dollery drumkit, .The journey begins!
One of the tracks is ’From the Unreal to the Real’, and this does of course sum up something of how Jules sees his own Life journey..."Lead me from the Unreal to the Real, Lead me from Darkness to Light, Lead me from Death to Immortality...so beautifully stated in that famous ancient Indian Hindu Text , but the song becomes more of a gospel or spiritual with contemporary treatment.The last song completed ’Can we return to the Heart’had the music written by Jules and his 22 year old guitar playing son Joel.A very Rocky number with nods to Led Zep and the Who.So there is now a new push to begin to publisize this current work.The main depature on the new album has been that Jules is doing all the lead vocals,.
Jules says....." I really felt that it was the time for me to create a more definite identity on what my music is.On ’Jewel in the Lotus’ (The last album) I had many guest singers, and that was absolutely fine, and it worked very well, but as I am developing as a solo artist there is this stronger need to put my own voice behind the words that I am writing.They are in many ways autobiographical, and I believe there is agreater power in the music when my own singing interperates the material.Of course there is a strong life positive message within the words of the songs".
Quote from Bibi McGill Guitarist(Band Leader for Beyonce, toured with Pink)"Julian I have listened to your new album and really enjoyed it.The words will inspire people on their Life Journey.It is a great Accomplishment, for I know how much work goes into a project like this, you must be content!"
I have recieved your cd now and it’s AMAZING’, Artwork and all.....Teja ,London
Thanks for your brilliant music.The Feather and the Perfect Stone is like bliss and love on a summers day.Illana, Connecticut USA
JULES MY FRIEND -- congrats and kudos on your powerful , passionate , mystical , beautiful record "CAN WE RETURN TO THE HEART" ! you have achieved something rare -- expressed a deep and personal spiritual message wrapped in compelling music . i thank you for sharing your inner BARD and taking all of us on a journey through the MYSTERY. keep writing ! all the best -- bryan eden (Lead Singer, writer, Producer, Tribe of Eden , New York based Rock Band, and winner 2008 for Indie song of the year from ’Progressive Rock Hall of Fame’)
So far Julies has been getting some excellent responses to those people who have heard the new songs.They still retain a very strong musical identity(and would stand up as instrumentals)but folk have commented on a growing maturity in the songwriting.So everybody....Watch this space!
Introduction, About the album ’Can We Return to the Heart’(From the cd booklet) I would not be telling the truth if I were to say I had a very clear vision about how this album would end up when I started writing it, but I can say I knew it would have themes to do with archetypes , Mother, Father,and the journey of the prodigal son/daughter.I feel myself to be more of a poet than a musician these days, but like the ’Bards’ of the Ancient Celtic tradition I like to tell stories in verse and rhyme set to music.The difference is I suppose I set them to todays contemporary musical soundscapes.I grew up with Dylan,The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bowie and the Who, and I freely take musical inspiration from such artists, because I have an ongoing love affair with their work.They are all todays modern ’Mystics’ and ’Heroes’ , communicating to a contemporary society, who are not following religions or dogma, but who are looking for answers to their lives, and music is the medium and carrier of Truth for them.I also use freely the more ancient and shamanic musical instruments that I have studied over the years, for I am after all a drummer and percussionist. Someone once shouted out to me kind of jokingly ’You just beat on animal skins, thats not ’Real’music’! To drum is pretty earthy stuff I guess,amd not always appreciated, but something which I believe has helped shape my life and brought me to where I am musicaly.I now sing and write in the rhythm of words which we call ’poetry’. The drums, especially tabla and djembe,keep me grounded , the words and music help me to fly with the birds. I suppose my fascination with doing Photography and Filmmaking has helped me to learrn the craft of telling a story,and also how to be an objective observer.However in my songs the communication of ideas and life experience seems to supersede stories of mundane life episodes and events.I do not write songs about going to the pub, being crashed out at a party, ditching my girlfriend .etc., you have to look to other artists to tell you those stories. The songs on this album are all about the mystery of being a human being, and biographically speaking, the writer grappling with trying to feel at ease and at peace in his life, in this somewhat surreal and crazy home we call planet Earth. Whether we like it or not Life is not all roses, it is a kind of school, and the themes of light and dark, up and down, seeking the balance of male and female, and positive negative are interlaced within the songs. ’It will be a bumpy road and bitter sweet to taste,’ as written in the title track Can we Return to the Heart, says a lot about our journey. It is my own experience that at times I feel I am living in the middle of a dream, and paradoxically the more dreamlike I feel it to be , the easier it all gets.That is my experience,other people who feel it to be a dream just go a little mad. It’s a razor’s edge path I guess. Beyond this I want to say no more, for I firmly believe it is a really good thing for the listener to make his own interpretations of the material presented here.We live in a society which explains everything, and that is when we lose all sense of discovery, mystery and imagination.This is also when our lives are directed and guided by the shallow and mundane..... newspapers and media guide us ,then automatically we follow the cult of celebrity and sensationalism, rather than ’Wisdom’ and common sense. That is somewhat of a tragic and bereft scenario.So sit back, put on a good set of headphones and be taken on a journey.We are on a journey every day anyway ’Floating on a globe in starry space’ (Urban Child) Thats a pretty weird, wild and wonderful thing.....isn’t it ?We just forget our need to remember this great Mystery. Jules Franks October 26th Brighton England
WORLD FUSION, ASIAN/INFLUENCED DANCE GROOVES, SHAMANIC,DRUM DRIVEN, TRIBAL MUSIC....WITH A MESSAGE....These are some of the ways Jules’s first album (2004) (Jewel in the Lotus)has been described.With praises from Record producers, Dave Meegan(U2,Marilion) Al Scott(Asian Dub Foundation, The Levellers) and Poet Benjimin Zephaniah (See reviews on Jules’s web site)
Julian Franks is mainly known in the U.K. as a Tabla player and Multi Percussionist, but more recently, with the release of his 2004 c.d. ’Jewel in the Lotus’,(itunes,) he is now known as a Producer. Songwriter,Film maker and Photographer’(Check out his web site www.julianfranks.com)
Born in London, Julian started drumming early - he had his own drum kit by age 9 and was introduced to the world of jazz & live music by his father. Julian took his first Tabla lesson in Southall, London with Ismail Sheikh. Sheikh himself was a student of Alla Rakha, Ravi Shankars long time Tabla player and father of Zakir Hussain.
During the 80s & 90s, Julian studied middle eastern Darabouka (Doumbec ) in Greece, playing with other Greek and Turkish folk musicians - notably the legendary Ross Daly & making his mark as a teacher, performer and maker of percussion instruments.selling to top Greek professional musicians. Julian spent a year in Paris continuing to teach Tabla and Darabouka, performing regularly with Afro-Jazz fusion group Nawal & providing percussion for contemporary dancers’ study & performance in dance studios all over Paris.
Back in the UK, basing himself in Brighton, Julian was part of Lotus Gypsy, performing on the Avalon stage at Glastonbury Music Festival in 1999 and was the founder member of the multi percussion group, Kunundrum which played for 8 years, and had a total of 30 musicians passing through it.The only person who played every gig and concert was Julian.
Julian has performed with virtuoso multi instrumentalist Nick Pynn , as part of Psychedelic icon Arthur Brown’s ’Crazy World of Arthur Brown’ .He was the key third member of Jambience for the last 5 years(with Phil Jackson, Didgeridoo, and Enrick Adam, acoustic guitar) Playing dozens of concerts and festivals ,including Peace One Day (2002,2003) supporting such bands as(on the same bill) Faithless, Starsailor, 1 Giant Leap, Jimmy Cliff, Nena Cherry, Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Glastonbury Festival (2002,2003), The Big Chill Festival (2002) and Festival of Flight ( 2001) supporting Nitin Sawhney.
Teaching Tabla, Darabouka and multi-percussion in schools throughout the UK has given great solace to Julian seeing the reaction of less fortunate children and the effect that new music can give them. Julian has also given multi-percussion workshops & works with participants from many different groups. He was the entertainments manager for the One World Festival, for 8 years, and has given workshops at this and other festivals with up to 100 people at a time.He has also worked with children and adults with learning difficulties, and has done volunteer work on ’Drug and Alcohol ’ rehabilitation programmes ,and music therapy.Julians work also includes continuing collaboration with contemporary dancers in Greece, France and England.
The album ’Jewel in the Lotus’ was the culmination of Julian Franks’ musical career thus far. However he has been working on a NEW ALBUM finished SUMMER 2007 Released MARCH 2008...Julian was inspired to make the album Jewel in the Lotus after his first trip to Nepal and India. This journey linked up all the elements of his musical experience and knowledge, his own ’Life’ journey, his artistic eye and the urge to create. Making the album linked with the return journey to Kathmandu Nepal, and Varanasi India , with his elder son Joel. It became a kind of pilgrimage, lovingly treading the ancient pathways of jungle elephants, sacred cows, Buddhist monks, Hindu saints and sages, all the while capturing on video the strange richness of sight and sound. .
The Remix ’Beyond Face and Name’ was a single release in the U.K. and iwas played extensively across England .It is also being picked up by stations in America(notably Radio M3 reaching no.10 in their charts) Australia, Scotland , Belgium and Canada.