Coming Full Circle With AZZA BOK From FRANKENBOK

When Melbourne metal outfit Frankenbok played their first note in
anger back in 1997 the musical landscape was a much different
beast. For starters, it wasn't deemed necessary to label genres and
subgenres of music to appeal to particular markets, meaning bands
were more willing to mix a plethora of loves and influences without
fear of alienating certain sections of their target audience.
Which was fortunate because the early days of Frankenbok were a war
of attrition, mixing Faith No More inspired bouts of eclectic funk
metal with ferocious growls and moments of subtlety that would send
the heads of many in the modern music climate spinning out of
control.
Frankenbok's attitude towards colouring outside of the metaphorical
lines was never more evident than when they decided to cover
Madison Avenue's hit Don't Call Me Baby.
In their own image, of course.
That one song ensured Frankenbok's music transcended not just
barriers, but lifestyles as well, bridging the gap between
metalheads and the rest of the music loving public in such a way
that it momentarily became cool to be metal.
Debut album Greetings & Salutations was groundbreaking and
dangerous for its time, and the future looked suddenly bright for a
bunch of self-confessed lunatics who just happened to play
music.
Before reaching that elusive light at the end of the tunnel,
Frankenbok underwent the first of many vocalist changes, when
original singer Hutchy moved on to other projects, taking with him
a large chunk of Frankenbok's DNA that got increasingly more lost
from their sound as the procession of singers came and went and
Frankenbok's sound ran more parallel with heavy metal with each
album release.
With the band set to celebrate their 25th year in 2023, sole
original member and guitarist Azza Bok came up with the ambitious
idea of inviting every past and present member of Frankenbok from
their inception to help celebrate by reassembling on stage through
a night of live entertainment.
It was an idea that could have gone in a number of varying
directions, with some past grievances still laying dormant and
unresolved. But music is and always has been the great healer of
wounds, and what started as a cool idea quickly transformed into an
excellent one that opened up a number of potential new happenings
and music that reignited the sense of danger that Frankenbok have
always thrived on.
As happens with life, opportunities outside of Frankenbok presented
themselves, with vocalist Dan McDougall torn between his love for
the band and music and a growing need to solidify and consolidate
his future. But instead of sweeping things under the carpet and
causing inner turmoil and unrest, a band meeting led to a unanimous
and amicable decision that would result in McDougall focussing on
his business ventures, paving the way for a fairytale reunion that
saw Hutchy returning to the band who he helped shape and mould more
than 20 years ago.
With his return came the eclectic and experimental musical
experiences that punctuated Frankenbok Mark I, but, most
importantly, he also rekindled the fun, flippant side of
Frankenbok's music that had all but evaporated over the last two
decades. Things suddenly became unpredictable again, which in turn
unleashed the blatant disregard for acceptable genre-specific music
that was a feature of early Frankenbok.
But, as they say, the proof is in the pudding and today Frankenbok
fans past, present and future get the chance to judge for
themselves with the release of the first single with the newly old
line-up, Demon Tantrum. An amalgamation of styles and genres that
has more schizophrenic tendencies than a sanitarium, Demon Tantrum
is a welcome step back to a time where there were no rules, no
expectations, and no fucks given.
Which was Frankenbok's initial life mantra.
HEAVY sat down with Azza Bok to run the whole gauntlet of recent
happenings and came out the other side still confused, but even
more excited.



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