Shaun Frank just dropped his "Let You Get Away" music video and it is blowing up the Internet. The anger-fueled, dance anthem is a far cry from his upbringing in Canada. He told me, "I grew up in Vancouver. It's very mountainous. A lot of outdoor sports. My whole life was snowboarding and mountain biking. It was a great place to grow up." Despite the offering of a variety of different athletics for an adventurous spirit like Frank, he knew he had to go to Toronto in order to establish himself as one of the top dogs in the music game. Frank said, "I moved to Toronto because that is where the music happens in Canada. It's kind of like the New York or LA of Canada. That's where all record labels are. So I moved out there to pursue music. Toronto is like a mini New York, it's really cool. I've been there for about five years. Toronto has become this crazy music city. Drake, The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber. Toronto is on the map right now. Lots and lots of producers are up there and cool things are happening." Shaun Frank might just be the coolest of the cool that the Great White North gave us.
For a popular guy like Shaun Frank who is in demand everywhere he goes, he tries to find the time to please his fans all over the world. When talking about his past adventures, he was very down to Earth. He told me with a smile, "I was in a rock band for a lot of years. We went to Indonesia and a lot of those places. When that band ended one of the things I was sad about was that I couldn't get to Bali and Japan and a lot of those cool places anymore. I love Asia. Asia has always had a special place in my heart. There is something about Southeast Asia that has a really cool vibe. Now I get to go about twice a year. It's really exciting." He quickly followed up with what he is looking forward to in the future. Frank said, "I can't wait to do more of Europe. I just did my first European kind of stuff this month. I went to Prague. I did Tomorrowland which was great. I can't wait to spend more time over there. Last weekend I did Italy and Prague. I came home in two days. I went to Italy and ate pizza. Went to Prague, had schnitzel and came home. Two shows in two days. It was like the Steve Aoki schedule. That's how he rolls. I'm in Vegas. I'm in Prague. I'm in Africa," he said. When talking about his friendship with Steve Aoki, Frank said enthusiastically, "That guy is so sick. Watching his whole operation is beyond cool." Steve Aoki isn't the only guy that Frank is friends with in the business. His relationship with The Chainsmokers proved to be a match made in heaven as it helped launch the careers of everyone involved with the song "Closer."
Photo Credit: Joshua Shultz
"I can't go over a day now without hearing it on the radio," Frank said while shaking his head. He is still trying to process how the song he helped write is dominating the charts all across the board. He began to list off the song's accomplishments before revealing that it was never supposed to happen. "It's number one on Spotify in the United States. Number one on Spotify all over the world. We wrote in the back of a tour bus. We were hungover as fuck. We were supposed to work on this other song. One of my strengths are lyrics. I decided to take a stab at something different. We all sat down and we were listening to old Taking Back Sunday, Blink 182 and all these old 2000's punk rock kind of shit. And I was the one that was like, 'You two remind me of the modern day Blink 182. You're really funny and just the way that you are it's very Blink 182-esque. You should have a song like that.' So we wrote this song and now it's fucking massive." Frank went on to reveal another unknown tidbit about the biggest song in the world right now. He said, "Originally Drew from The Chainsmokers sang the second verse. There were a couple of options for different singers and then we knew Halsey would be the one." The live reaction to the song is always out of control. "When they play it live it's pretty mental," Shaun Frank said. The crowds should get ready to go mental for what is sure to be another hit on Frank's hands.
"Let You Get Away" is Frank's latest weapon of choice on the dance floor. The song has been picking up steam and the fans cannot get enough of it. Frank has a good feeling that the release of his latest single is just the starting point of something bigger and badder. "I've got that new track 'Let You Get Away' that came out today. The record is going to be the driving force of the tour. I'm always making edits and always switching it up. It's going to be a really fun tour. Expect the unexpected. I'm going to start playing instruments on stage. I'm going to try to do that in my hometown show. Every show I play is going to be different depending where I am," he said. Shaun Frank then quickly got back to his latest brainchild. He said, "What I'm most excited about is to show the world my music video. You see my war wounds? I was like a hostage in the video," Frank said calmly as he stretched out his bruised arm while a medical assistant placed a bandage over it. Without missing a beat, he continued, "It was a pretty aggressive video. I get dragged around. We worked hard. It was a very ambitious concept. There were these big long one take shots." The hard work that Shaun Frank put into the video showed that he is a true warrior on and off camera.
Even warriors have a difficult time navigating relationships in the digital age however. When trying to give words of wisdom to his peers, Frank bluntly stated, "I probably never take my own advice...I'm horrible at relationships. The song is about one of those relationships that you know you're being taken advantage of but you can't get enough of the person. It's a tough situation. You don't want people to take advantage of you though. You know it's inevitable that the relationship is not going to work out. You have to pull out or else you are letting them get away with murder. Fuck that."
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Photo Credit: Blaise Joseph