Rising Music Star Frank Greenfield of The Family of Funk On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Music Industry
An Interview With Elana Cohen
Success in the music industry can take everything, and unless you have the ability to push yourself beyond what you think and what you know, you will be limited. Lastly, understand your own artistic manifesto. Everyone has their own and there’s no right or wrong. In other words, what does an artist mean to you, and sometimes it changes as you gain more knowledge. In the beginning, I thought I would get in a band, something magical would happen, and voila, success lol. Little did I know that within a couple years, my definition would change so much.
As a part of our interview series with leaders, stars, and rising stars in the music industry, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Frank Greenfield, The Family of Funk.
Guitarist Frank Greenfield is both a Grammy-nominated, award-winning Producer and a Performer. He started his musical training as a student of classical guitar at Westminster Conservatory under Dr. Robert Trent and jazz with Josef Federico.
As one of the creative partners of “The DentMakers” and Conjuction Entertainment, Greenfield’s career broke with the release of Timbalands’ “Shock Value,” which went six times Platinum and reached #3 on Billboard R&B. The following year brought two Grammy nominations for Tri-ni-tee 5:7 and a GMA/DOVE Award for Best Urban Recorded Song of the Year for “Listen,” which peaked at #9 on Billboard Gospel.
Since then, Greenfield has been on many top charting albums and has put his guitar touches on a who’s who of Pop/R&B Artists such as; Beyonce, Usher, Kelly Rowland, Timbaland, Mindless Behavior, Keri Hilson, The Pussycat Dolls, Celine Dion and Onyx. Those credits enabled him to procure his own signing with Universal Music Group as well as a publishing deal with Missing Link Music.
Late 2015 into 2016 proved to be a busy time as Greenfield and American Idol finalist Clint Jun signed a deal with Famous Music/ Universal Worldwide for The EP titled “Last Call,” produced by Greenfield and The DentMakers. That was followed up by him getting the guitar spot in the iconic funk group, “The Gap Band.” When that ended in 2017, he connected with R&B Funk Legends, Side Effect. Currently, Frank is performing with his own Funk/Glam project, “The Family of Funk.”
Partial Lists for TV and Film credits include: The Prime Time Emmy Awards, Dateline NBC, Our Big wedding, Drillbit Taylor, Secret Life of an American Teenager, The Good Wife, Shameless, New Girl, Lincoln Heights, Night Rider, Entourage, Community, Bad Girls Club, Ben and Kate, and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Greenfield recently wrote the theme song for the hit television series, Brooklyn nine-nine, which won a Golden Globe award.
Eminence Speakers, Morley Pedals,Ernie Ball Strings, George L Cables, Dunlop USA and Sterling Guitars endorse Frank.
Frank is a voting member of The Grammy’s.’
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about your “origin story”. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I was born in Trenton, NJ, and raised in a somewhat rural area. My best friend, who lived down the street, came from a very musical family. His mom taught me some piano and his brothers all played some kind of instrument. We performed countless times for our elementary school, playing songs of the era and having a great time. I learned piano and drums early on, then also took a liking to guitar. It was a few years after high school that I began to take it more seriously. I realized that all the great players had studied formally at some point. I wanted to be the best that I could and applied myself.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I had the opportunity to meet and converse with guitar legend Tommy Tedesco a few times. He was in the legendary Wrecking crew. I found what he did fascinating. He was a multi-instrumentalist studio musician with what I thought was a prolific career.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
That would have to be when I first moved to Los Angeles. I literally just knew one person and had no idea how to navigate the industry. I also had a hearing disability that affected how I communicate with people, and people would easily be put off as I was trying to read their lips. I was doing security in a church parking lot where I first met, what would come to be a long-time friend and music writing partner, Lamar. We first talked about a mutual interest in Martial Arts, then later music. We both came from different backgrounds, but what we were able to come up with was incredible. We quickly caught the attention of major influencers and everything grew from there.
It has been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I can’t really recall any funny mistakes, but I can share countless stories of working through bitter disappointment, absolute failure, and pushing through situations that would break most people.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are several. I’ve been blessed to have some great mentors in my corner. There are several people whose careers I began to emulate, but I would have to say, first and foremost, is my father. He was a successful businessman who was not really musical, but many of my business practices I learned from him, and I am in the business of Music
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I have several: “ nothing worthwhile is easy,” “fortune favors the bold,” “success is preparation meeting opportunity.” The first one I can really share about, especially since it’s a reoccurring theme in my career. As a freshman in a high school with a smaller student body, we were required to go out for 2 sports a year. One of mine was cross country, and in order to get a varsity letter, you needed to run the 31/2 miles in a certain time. It was snowing out and the last one hundred yards was through the football field, which I ran with only one shoe on and with every bit of strength that I had. There was a yearbook picture of me crossing the finish line, and I looked like death, but, I did it. I made varsity and all throughout my life, whether it’s music, Martial Arts’ or Life, it’s almost the same–to achieve great things takes every bit of anything you have.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Our group ‘The Family of Funk’ just did a club remix of The Gap Band’s “Early in the Morning.” We are also doing a remix contest using some international producers and featured rappers. We have also taken on new management and publicity firms bringing new collaborations and also a Fall tour.
We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in music, film, and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
Well, we as members of the Human race are diverse, and there is only one race of people. We might have different color skin, eyes, and hair, but we are all unique, created by God, and to have a purpose in life. My career and musical world have always been diverse from the start. I was, and still am, a fan of pop/R&B/Funk/ Hip Hop/ disco. All bands that I was in had members of sizes, shapes and colors. The Family of Funk consists of all types and it’s not that it was planned, but it just happened. I have been so affected in every part of life through different cultures, and I embrace them all. There is so much to be learned through that. These things can unite us as people rather than be divisive, which seems to be happening right now in the world.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
Well, sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know lol. When I moved to LA, I had basically zero knowledge of the music industry, armed only with some musical skills. There was nobody that actually took me under their wing and said “do this.” I learned by trial and error, so I guess, the first thing would be to understand certain things about the music business. The downside of that is usually the curriculum has not caught up to the digital age, but still, knowledge of the business side I believe is essential. Learning how to vet people and situations is essential. In my experience, the industry is full of actors, not just film and TV actors, but people who act like they’re someone else. It’s many times hard to see at first, as some are quite crafty at it and can make a good presentation, but only time shows character, and many times, people are not what they seem. This unfortunately happens more often than not. Something that cannot be told but only understood is that in life, sometimes you must have a do-or-die attitude. I could not have understood that except for spending time in the Martial Arts. Success in the music industry can take everything, and unless you have the ability to push yourself beyond what you think and what you know, you will be limited. Lastly, understand your own artistic manifesto. Everyone has their own and there’s no right or wrong. In other words, what does an artist mean to you, and sometimes it changes as you gain more knowledge. In the beginning, I thought I would get in a band, something magical would happen, and voila, success lol. Little did I know that within a couple years, my definition would change so much.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
I can only say what works well for me, self-care is a big one. I’m into fitness, nutrition, good sleep, and sometimes just some days off at the beach. If I’m out on the road, clean living and good nutrition are essential for me being my best. The music life can be very demanding!!
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
“Service to others is the highest estimable act.” I love what Carlos Santana, a highly influential guitarist says, “if you’re not doing something for someone else, you haven’t done anything.” Man has lost his heart for his brother. If there is a phrase that could sum it up, it’s one thing to say it, but put your faith into action by doing something for someone else. Sponsor someone, mentor someone, and the world will change. There are so many of us lost in addiction, depression and other issues. Let’s start caring with our action.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
There are several. Some are inspiring for the strong marketable brand they’ve created. Others by their incredible skill, but for me, what is so inspiring for their ability to overcome adversity and bounce back stronger than before. I would have to say that would be Charlie Wilson. I worked with his brother Ronnie in The Gap Band, and I became familiar with his story.
How can our readers follow you online
We can be found at TheFamilyofFunk.com, TheFamilyofFunk.net, Thefamilyoffunk/facebook, Instagram. My own EPK is FrankDeVilleGreenfield.com and FrankGreenfield/Facebook.
Website: https://familyoffunk.bandzoogle.com/home
Press Kit: https://www.powerpresskits.com/PPKs/indexC.aspx?PPK=11466
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefamilyoffunk/; https://www.thefamilyoffunk.net; https://www.instagram.com/greenfieldfrank/; https://www.instagram.com/waymonsworld/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/funkiyaya
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frank.greenfield.3; https://www.facebook.com/waymon.starks; https://www.facebook.com/mariamia.dunn
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5797470/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/frank-greenfield
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!