The Frank Horvat Band
Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2013 | SELF
Music
Press
THE FRANK HORVAT BAND: I Can See You (frankhorvat.com)
A song cycle that manages to succeed with the sort of concept that could be cringe-worthy. Pianist/composer Horvat sets 22 year old love poetry from his highschool sweetheart to a heady art rock soundtrack and it works. With Felicity Williams (Bahamas, Snowblink) and jazz singer Christine Duncan’s breathily vocalizing, Horvat and a very sympathetic quartet of players put something together that really can be compared to Pink Floyd and the more out there aspects of Bjork. You get both the space music of the 11 minute opener As Powder Falls to the manic chorus build in Was My Time Worth It? This album is all over the spectrum in its nine tracks but held together by the fact it all sounds excellent. A must hear. - Vancouver's The Province
Formed in 2013 by Canadian composer/pianist the Frank Horvat Band’s uncreative name hides a wildly creative sound and a roster of ultra talented musicians. An indie art rock band with an electronic edge, they create a textured atmospheric sound that envelops you with the sweet and soaring voice of Felicity Williams. pioneering a new post-Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Bjork sound, TFHB is pop, poetry and modern expression in a beautifully pained existence. Their music takes you through a journey of all encompassing sounds from soft ambiance to aggressive repetition. This latest effort called “I Can See You” Was released in 2014?
The CD gently lifts off the ground with ‘As Powder Falls” an intoxicating ambient intro piece that serves up industrial-type rhythms, with pulsating moog bass painted against a colorful canvass of music & sound that comes at you from every which direction. Track 2 “Waiting – in Three Chords” presents a kaleidoscope of soothing sound featuring dynamic rhythms, & vivid melody that that flows and ebb its way through fruition. By track 2 you realize The Frank Horvat Band may be on to something here. Track 3 “Was My Time Worth It” shifts gears a bit with driving rock rhythm, pulsating moog vibe, against sinister yet mesmerizing vocals and hypnotic vocal with walls of sound that are infectious and delicious. As the CD slowly unfolds I can hear so many elements of Alternative Rock, Ambient, Techno, Chill, Dub, Electronic to House rhythms painted against a clever canvass of Ambient sound effects. You will also notice bass, piano, guitar, sporadic percussion, lush layers musical instrumentation layered everywhere from low end beats & rhythms, to pulsating moog and bass segments, to ambient synthesizer, organ and keyboard accents layered along the way. You will also notice piano, percussive accents, solo guitar to subtle voice sampling layered in the music. Vocals from Felicity Williams showcase a honey coated vocal instrument that is peaceful and unobtrusive. The songs themselves are extremely unique, highly original, and in itself a brilliantly clever. The soundscapes are interesting, infectious, and hypnotic. The grooves and rhythms are thick, the ambient accents are well placed and flow and ebb extremely well song for song. The CD has some truly impressive moments on it showcasing an impressive songwriting craft. From melodic “Inspired by the One I Love,” to trippy “Sun and Rain” to methodical “The Hurting Game” to invigorating ”John’s Suggestion” there’s something on this CD has something for just about everyone. It’s definitely a dynamic & progressive musical statement that offers a lot of musical variety and vivid sound imagery.
Al songs over 5 minutes tend to drag you to the finish line. The CD release date (2014) is incorrect. Many peaces have excessive intros, outros and musical meandering throughout. 3 minutes into some songs I was begging for a new segment to kick in. As a result many pieces tend to sound a bit repetitive overall and overly synthetic/sonic/electronic. More instrumentation, including live/acoustical segments might help mix things up a bit. Things like Acoustic guitar. strings, Cello, Horns, sonic Trumpet. I’m not crazy about the 2 singer line-up either.
Overall this release from Frank Horvat Band is quite amazing. Make no bones about it – this CD took some time to craft to piece together. Equally as impressive are the hypnotic dance grooves, low end rhythms and beats that come with the territory. This will also appeal to those who enjoy Techno, Ambient Jazz, House-type music. Finally there are even elements of ambient, chill-out and Alternative Rock making Frank Horvat Band is sort of a triple threat musically. The CD works best for those who want musical ambiance to fill their sonic space. I found the listening experience quite refreshing, highly original and unique. It fills the space well. It flows extremely well song for song and note for note. - The Muse's Muse
"Wildly original, often chaotic, eclectic as all get-out, and quite a ride."
Full Review: http://frankhorvat.com/media/pdf/ParsonsReview.pdf - Solo Piano Publications
"One of the reasons I wanted to be a composer was to break down all these musical barriers..."
View Article: http://frankhorvat.com/media/pdf/MississaugaNews_May2008_Article.pdf - Mississauga News
Muscular, musical... and memorable - Alice Dearden, musician
I really enjoyed your playing and hearing your original compositions, many brimming with humour and nuances and lots of rhythmic energy! How you can play such vigorous music for over an hour is amazing to me. - Kathleen Gorman, pianist - vocalist - composer
Your compositions were really unique - really different and interesting. I've never heard anything like that before - a bit minimalist with 'more'. Great concert! - Susan Griesdale, composer
“Toronto pianist Frank Horvat likes to do things his way, not anyone else’s. He ignores genre boundaries and isn’t afraid to mix politics with art." - Musical Toronto
"Horvat is no con man. He’s actually a thoughtful composer and player, an accomplished classical musician who has made a kind of tricky musical leap that allows him to pursue a niche of his own." - Edmonton Journal
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Pioneering a new post-Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Bjork sound, The Frank Horvat Band (TFHB) is pop, poetry and modern expression in a beautifully pained existence. Their music takes you through a journey of all encompassing sounds from soft ambiance to aggressive repetition. An indie art rock band with an electronic edge, they create a textured atmospheric sound that envelops you with the sweet and soaring voice of Felicity Williams.
Their debut CD, I Can See You, explores the race we all face against time, inner angst and an isolated longing. The lyrics are old finds, but still relevant to the bands creator. This CD combines words Frank wrote while going through his own periods of turmoil and poetry the love of his life wrote as a teenager. Seems they were on the same wavelength even before they met. Though the song's themes are mostly troubled, the music aims to leave listeners with a warmth and inner peace. But it isn't all melancholic music as the fourth track, Inspired by the One I Love, captures the freeing moment of falling in love; a combining of two.
Front man, Frank Horvat, acts as songwriter, keyboardist and sometime singer but leaves the parts you really want to hear to TFHB's main vocalist, Felicity Williams, who has lent her gift to many other great Canadian acts such as Bahamas, Snowblink, Hobson's Choice and Alex Lukashevsky. Thom Gill adds his languid guitar to the sound while multi-instrumentalists, Bram Gielen, on bass and Evan Tighe, on drums and percussion, add to the great wall of texture that makes the band's distinct sound.
The 'I Can See You' Story
A man, a woman, a CD. A lost teenage notebook of longing, loneliness and angst from her. Giving it breath through his music from him. They're high school sweethearts, together for almost 22 years. A year and a half ago, Frank started setting the poetry she wrote, before they started dating, to music. Writing of a time long lost, while feeling his own angst and turmoil in the present. For Frank, 2013 was a year of great music endeavors alongside many battles. The best and worst married into one year. Crohns disease, a constant headache, fatigue, a regimented routine, 24hr Pianothon... This is all part of the I Can See You story.
It is hard to say exactly when the idea for this album was born. It is probably more accurate to say it evolved over time and through life. But, it all became much clearer on May 23, 2012, sitting in an optometrists exam room. Having just seen a photo of the back of his eye, Frank knew his new album would be called, I Can See You, and that his eye would somehow look out over the CDs cover.
By then he knew he was writing an introspective CD about the feelings that drive (and hinder) him. But he still hadn't realized that I Can See You would take on a whole other meaning. That summer, as Frank began marrying his musical thoughts with song writing, he began searching for old lyrics he had previously written. It was then that he discovered a notebook of poetry that his wife had started writing in her teens, just months before they started dating. The entries were of loneliness and longing. However, her last entry in the notebook was written just three days after they had fallen in love. And, those lyrics appear on the CD in track four, Inspired by the One I Love.
Working with her whole book of poetry, he grew to know another side of her. For him, I Can See You now refers to how he's gained a deeper understanding of her through her words and her world before him.
Along with the theme of love, this CD covers other profoundly human themes like the angst around running out of time, impatience when it is wasted along with the despair in not doing enough with ones life. This is a passionate CD about the true nature of living.
Waiting...in Three Chords
Waiting
Anticipating
Anxiety makes it feel longer
Is it true pain?
Or is it being alone?
These lyrics sum up this song, this CD and what Frank spends much of his time thinking about. Always racing with creative energy, Frank is impatient with time wasting and is always burning with the worry that he won't have enough time for all the creative work he aspires to do.
This song, written using only A minor, F major and G major chords, is a laundry list of time wasters that Frank conceived will waiting by the phone for an update he couldn't move forward without. "One can do way more with ones life."
Band Members
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