Category: About me and music

     I own and run a soundstage/recording studio called Painter Loops Media, primarily aimed at live-streaming. We also make music videos and do some freelance post-production for other companies and their clients. Our building is located on my property. We have some acreage in the beautiful North Willamette Valley south of Portland, Oregon. I have been a lifelong working musician.
     I was fascinated by our piano as soon as I could reach the keys. I started lessons at age 5. At about age 10 I received a trumpet and an acoustic guitar from my father. A few years after that at 13 l played my first paying gig. I was fronting a little pop band on trumpet playing Herb Alpert and other mid 60s bands. I was playing with older guys and when they left town for college I picked up the bass. Around that time I started a real rock band writing original songs and playing covers of Grand Funk, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and what ever was hitting the charts.
     Those musicians from my childhood became my touring companions till I was in my mid 30s. We really saw the world, often playing 325 days a year and living in hotels and band houses. The other 40 or so days were spent traveling between venues. We loved the road. If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have tried to move to LA or New York and work at getting signed. However, that was never in the cards for us because we had gotten very used to getting paid, not paying to play. Plus, we looked at it like this: “where else can you be on a permanent paid vacation where you are the center of attention and the life of the party”?
The musicians in that band, "Nasty Habit", are like me, all lifelong working players and in their late 60s and early 70s. I produced a documentary about them in 2020. It can be seen on YouTube.
During that lifetime, I finished college in 26 years. (I am a late bloomer). My graduate degree is in GIS and Urban planning. I spent two decades helping turn the world you know from paper maps into Map Quest, Google Earth, and many of the government maps you use every day. I was also a journey level carpenter, a sound engineer both for live bands and studio work. I have owned sound systems for more than 50 years. Some of the engineers and light techs I have worked with have gone on to do great things.
    I have construction background in residential, commercial, and more. So when I knew I would be retiring from government work, I decided to build Painter Loops Media. You should see this place. It is absolutely stunning. I built it from the dirt to the finish line in about 8 years. We opened in 2017 and have always been extremely busy.
Now I have taken a step back to record, produce and market a lifetime of personal songwriting. It was and is my first love when it comes to music. I play 5 or six instruments, mostly just barely well enough to get paid for it. I feel my only real skill has always been writing and arranging. I LOVE Music!! All of it! Every kind, all ages and genres. It is the closest thing to magic, coming to life in your hands. So, never tell me that the music you listened to when you came of age and really began to listen is the best there is. It is all the best there is. Anything else is just nostalgia for a time you were free.
     I wrote music almost every day, and I am old now. With my songs, I lived them, then I wrote about it. They are all me, from the barroom brawls, to the broken hearts, to the triumph that is true and lasting love. I am that unvarnished man who lived a lifetime doing the things I loved. I highly recommend you do the same. (Then write about it. Make some songs. Put them on Mixposure or (you know). Which brings us to my albums. “PERSISTENCE” and “EVENING STARS” These represent my life and legacy, and I am proud to call anyone who likes them a friend and fellow traveler. It is up to you to listen or not. Your time is precious, so use it well. I thank you in advance. There will be more.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME! It’s time for day drinkin!!
CHEERS
FRANKNBASS