Frankie Muniz made his mark over the last decade as a child actor. Starring in Fox's Malcolm in the Middle, Muniz was a bankable teenage star and a favorite in American households. The success of the show and of Muniz as an actor paved the way for him to do whatever he wanted to do with his twenties. After a brief stint as a race car driver, apparently Muniz wants to try his hand at music. Over the past two years he's been building his résumé up as a drummer. Initially he joined the band You Hang Up roughly two years ago, but after that group disbanded he found his way to Kingsfoil. Out of York County, Pennsylvania, Kingsfoil has been around for roughly ten years in a few different forms. Now the group has made their biggest impact yet with their new album, A Beating Heart Is A Bleeding Heart. Muniz recently took the time to talk with Alternative Addiction about his path to music and his journey to Kingsfoil.
"To be honest it was pretty random," said Muniz on how he initially started drumming. "I’ve been playing drums since I was a kid. I started playing when I was twelve years old. I got a drum kit out of a JC Penny's catalog for Christmas or something. It’s something I always wanted to do and that I enjoyed. Whenever I saw live music I’d watch the drummer and think it was so cool and something I’d love to do. But it’s one of those things, how do you actually make it happen? Especially since being a drummer, it’s not like I’m writing songs. I need other people. So I’m just banging drums in my garage and then two and a half years ago I joined my first band. That was a total fluke. My fiancé was actually contacted by the lead singer of this band and was like, ‘hey, I heard you guys live in the area. If Frankie ever wants to jam, tell him to call.’ I was like, ‘I don’t want to jam, I want to be in it’ So that’s kind of how it started, I was in that band for two years and we shared the same manager as Kingsfoil. So when my band had parted ways and Kingsfoil was looking for a drummer, I flew in and auditioned. Here I am, literally in my dream situation band-wise and having an awesome time. So it’s pretty cool."
Since joining Kingsfoil, Muniz has blended in as one of the guys. But before auditioning for the group, Muniz faced some anxiety about it because he had followed and listened to Kingsfoil for years.
"The coolest thing about me joining is that I was a really big fan of the band before I knew I could be in the band. I had listened to their music and loved the sound and loved the music. So when our manager called and said there was a possibility for me to even audition, I was extremely ecstatic over it and extremely nervous. I’d never had to audition as a drummer before and I really wanted it. Because I really wanted it so bad, it made me nervous. But it worked out, here I am seven months later and we’ve already played over fifty shows."
Frankie's tenure as a drummer for Kingsfoil began quickly. After winning the job he had three days to practice before his first show with the group, and he only had two weeks to get ready before his first tour.
"After I had auditioned and they told me I was in, I was listening and I wasn’t sure if I could do it. It took two weeks to basically learn everything. I had three days from when I joined to the band before our first show, which was opening for Passion Pit in front of 7,000 kids at John Hopkins University. So I didn’t really have that much time to learn, but now I can play all these things and do all these things that felt like a dream if I’d ever get to this point. But now I can do it, and now I’m really comfortable with it and I’m coming up with new things and adding new things to the live show in the songs, which I’m happy I can do."
Talking further about his foray into percussion, Muniz said he didn't think it was a legitimate route for him to travel as a performer until he started playing in You Hang Up. Since joining Kingsfoil, Frankie says his mentality has grown even further as a drummer.
"Before I joined that band I didn’t really take it seriously. I played the drums, but I wasn’t thinking I was ever going to become anything. So when I joined the band it made me go ‘I guess I should try and figure this out.’ I’d never taken lessons, I just watched people and played around and tried to learn as much as I could. But even since I’ve joined Kingsfoil I’ve been working really hard every day to improve the best that I can. I want to be the best I can be not just for myself, but for the band. I want them to have a hundred percent confidence in me and I think that they do."
Despite not being able to be on the record, Muniz is now a full-fledged member of Kingsfoil, complete with booking and promotion responsibilities. Kingsfoil is currently at the end of a six week tour, and that is Muniz's main focus right now- that, and continually progressing as a drummer.
"The one thing about drums I think is that you can always keep learning. I only ever watch the drummers when I’m at a live show. When I see someone do something I’m like, ‘dude I’ve got to try that, that’s sick!’ There are always things you can learn, there’s always things you can do and try and progress. I want to keep doing that, I want people to eventually watch me and go ‘oh man, that’s so cool! I wish I could do that!’ So, I’m working hard all the time to get better."
