Frankie Muniz, the former Malcolm in the Middle star who's now playing drums for Phoenix band You Hang Up has granted an interview to Popeater where he discusses how he got together with You Hang Up.
Unfortunately, Popeater asked stupid questions like "How does the L.A.-based star end up behind the kit of this unknown Arizona band?" and "Who are your favorite drummers?" Frankie stopped talking to us after a blog post he wasn't happy with so we're just going to have to read between the lines here. There's a lot to work with though.
"I've been playing since I was 12 years old, but nothing serious. I was a five-minute-per-week hobby drummer. I'd only played to my iPod with headphones on. It was always a dream to be in a band, but with acting going on, I never really considered it being something that could actually happen. And if I could get in a band, I wanted it to be something that was completely serious, with good music. But it felt like one of those jobs when you're a kid and you want to be an astronaut or something."
I imagine Frankie's childhood home looking a lot like that kid's on Silver Spoons, maybe even with a miniature train. So when he says a "five-minute-per-week hobby" I think that's probably literally true. That really puts him in position to make an ass of himself here, which is why he's taking things super slow, and, for example, "canceling" the show we were invited out to and rescheduling another show that weekend without telling us.
My girlfriend was contacted by the lead singer, Aaron, just kind of saying, 'We have mutual friends, check out our music.' So we listened to You Hang Up, and I really, really liked it -- it's the type of music I listen to. Then Aaron said he saw a video of me drumming on my Myspace profile. He asked if I've ever been interested in playing in a band, and literally that day we got lunch and talked about the band and the music and I said I'd love to be a part of it. That was Dec. 20; we had our first practice Jan. 1.
Here's where things get fishy. If Frankie's facts are right, the band sent us an e-mail announcing Frankie had joined the band literally the day after he agreed to do it. We had a post up the day after that meeting. So we had the news weeks before they even practiced? That makes me doubt the veracity of his next statement:
Were you leery You Hang Up might've just been drooling at the prospect of 'Agent Cody Banks: The Drummer'? Nah, I could tell. After ten years in show business, I can tell when people are really excited because I was on TV. These guys were super cool. They could tell I just like playing drums. I've never felt like they wanted me 'cause I was on TV or in movies.I don't know if Frankie thinks other bands send out e-mails informing the media that they have a new drummer, but it was a first for me. Methinks these dudes are aware of the potential his starpower brings, but it's nice they're keeping it cool.
Frankie then goes on to discuss his favorite drummers. One, in particular, may grab some attention:
I started playing the drums by watching Hanson -- they were 10, 11, 12 years old at the same time I was -- and I thought, 'I wanna do that.' But once I really got into drumming I became a big fan of Dave Matthews Band, and Carter Beauford is insane. He's one of my favorites -- he can do anything, any style of music.
Wow. Hanson? Really?
Frankie later says he's looking forward to touring...
We're about to record three new songs, and we're writing a few more so our setlist is bigger. We're about to start going crazy on shows -- I can't wait to be on the road, rocking out every night. We want to go out and blow everyone away. We want people to say, 'Ah, let's go check out this band,' and leave thinking, 'Wow, that was the best show I've ever seen.'
Ambitious, right? Well, when the band finally has a public show it doesn't cancel after telling us about we'll be on it.
