We’ve all had one of those moments when we have something very important to write: a letter, a paper, a dissertation… So we go to our desk, open our notebook (or turn on our computer – I am very old school, inspiration comes when I hold a pen, not when I stare at a screen, sorry) and start writing. Only, what comes out has nothing to do with what you were supposed to write, but refers to the way you are feeling instead. We’ve all done that at least once, right?
Well, here I am, supposedly writing about my experience here, but ending up writing this…
Music is a very important part of everyone’s life. Those who tell you it’s not are most likely lying to themselves. What else has the power to get you humming at the grocery store? To irritate you when you hear something you don’t like? To make you clap and tap your feet at the football game to encourage the players? Music is with us everywhere we go, and sometimes, it touches us so deeply it’s hard to let go.
Some singers, some bands, will have an impact on your life and help you go through tough times, or on the contrary accompany you through moments of joy, whether for a short period of time, or forever. You might not listen to their music every single day, you might sometimes go for weeks without hearing a single song from them, but when suddenly you recognize the first notes, you still have that smile on your face, that tickling in your heart that makes you remember so many things.
Music shapes your life, and sometimes it helps you become who you are. As a teenager, McFly helped me go through really tough times. In 2007, Elliot Minor helped me get out of depression forever, thanks to the amazing friends I made when going to their shows (you know who you are). And in 2009, the band that helped me adapt to my new life, was FranKo.
The first time I heard FranKo, they were opening for Elliot Minor in Leeds, in late 2009. Something happened that night that I can’t explain. They have this unique sound, their very own style, that makes them so different from what I’ve heard, and so appealing. I remember being very disappointed with the second act after that, because to me, they sounded too much like other zillion bands already out there. FranKo had something. That day, I told myself I would always support them.
And I did. Not as much as I wanted to, because work soon kept me a lot busier than in 2009/early 2010. But in a way, I’ve always been around, buying the albums when they were released, sharing their videos on my websites, telling people to go see them when they were playing… I may have left the UK in 2010, but they never left my heart. I wish I could have been more involved in the Street Team work, but 2011 got so crazy for me (university, work, health problems…) that I did leave it behind. And I may not have been thinking about them every single day or every single week (am I growing up?), but my love for their music never left me. Every time my music player on shuffle would start playing one of their songs, I would struggle to stay focused on what I was doing, memories flooding my mind like a gigantic wave, reminiscing about the good times I had at their gigs or simply in the streets of Skipton with their music in my headphones.
I’ve been living in the US for a year now. And these days I have been missing the UK so much it makes my heart break. So when ‘FranKo’ started playing the other day, my heart nearly exploded with love for them. I wish I could be at their shows, I wish I could hear all the new songs they are talking about, I wish I could join the crowd and support them the best way I can. Last week I looked at old pictures I had saved in my external hard drive, and realized that the last time I saw them live was on May 15th 2010 at Islington. Exactly two years ago today. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t focus on what I was supposed to write tonight…
Sometimes I feel like I let them down, putting my work and personal life first, even though I know I had to. But they never left my heart. I wish they knew that. I will always be there, supporting them, caring about them, missing them.
I am going back to the UK in July. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am, how I am smiling just thinking about it. I am going to see them in Harrow. I will meet Ricky for the first time. And I will have that feeling in my heart again, that indescribable feeling I have at every one of their gigs that puts a smile on my face. I miss all that.
“The best things in life come to those who wait”, right?
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