ACTION FRANK - Houston Heroes Gunning for the Golden Age of Pop Punk

First off, I must complement the clean sound your band creates. It is very reminiscent of late 90s/early 2000s pop punk. Is that genre your main influence or do you have other tastes? I know a generic question, but just interested in what you’re listening to.

-That era of pop punk was most definitely a big influence on us. Mikey and I are really big on bands like NOFX, Less Than Jake, No Use For A Name and Bad Religion. Jake is into bands like Death, D.R.I, Bad Brains and Slayer, so we are kinda all over the board. We are really into the ska/reggae scene too. I've been on a Cherry Poppin Daddies/The Brian Setzer Orchestra kick lately as well. Maybe throw some Wu-Tang in there.

Your band seems to be pretty active on the live circuit. Any plans on touring?
-I've been wanting to hit the road for a long time now. It is definitely time to. We've been holding off for a while. We have been talking about planning on doing a week or so around Texas but it's only a matter of time.

Your lyrical content seems to be lighthearted. Tell more about inspirations in your writing.
-A lot of our songs are really about people/things that piss us off like politics and people that come and go in our lives. Even when we were kids our songs were about our parents and girls and stuff, but we are not 17 anymore and our songs are more about being told what to do, society, politics and partying.

The name, Action Frank, what is the origin?
-Just some shitty cartoon show on TV Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Haha yes I remember Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Was there any particular reasoning behind using that character’s name or was it just to be sarcastic?
-Just kinda sounded cool really. No real meaning behind it. Shows you how deep and sensitive we are.

So far you have a nice discography with 2 EPS and 1 LP. What’s next on the recording agenda?
-Who knows? Mikey and myself are constantly writing and putting ideas together with Jake so I guess you could say we will have another full length eventually.

Your group seems to be seasoned players. Were any of you involved in other bands?
-I was in another band called Last 2 Weeks and Jake plays in a thrash metal band called KTCM. Mikey started a cool band called The Agreement Frequency but all roads seem to end up right back with Action Frank.

Touching back on an earlier question, you stated that the classic era of pop punk was very influential. What do you think about the current wave of the genre? Also, how is the pop punk scene in Texas?
-The pop punk coming out nowadays seems to be pretty solid. Lots of bands coming out of the Midwest and all the bands that play The Fest and shit are all really great. Not too many bands coming out today that are going with the old school Fat Wreck/Epitaph sound though that i think we also carry a little bit in our sound. There is plenty of pop punk in Texas but I will not be the first to say punk rock in Texas could be a lot stronger overall. Hopefully we will be able to change that.

Finishing off, anything else you would like to add?
-Nothing other than thanks for interviewing us for the blog and we will see you around the scene for sure.

https://www.facebook.com/actionfrankband