Gqeberha-based nine-piece band, Franky and The Misfits, kept the audience on their feet at The Royal St Andrews Hotel recently with their golden era mix of swing and jazz.
The band’s entertaining show takes fans of the era down memory lane, while introducing younger audiences to their magical style of music.
The group met when lead vocalist, Franky, gathered his musician friends in Gqeberha in 2019 and decided to form a group. Musical director, Evan Perkins, decided on the genre and organised the brass section – and since they played their first note, the band’s bookings calendar has quickly filled up. “We’ve been fortunate enough that the feedback after we’ve done a show has been very positive and always get called back,” said Franky.
Franky and the Misfits have released three CDs to date.
During the hard lockdown in 2020, they recorded a Christmas album, A Very Franky Christmas, with the sales of that album going to Sinethemba Children’s Care Centre in Korsten, Gqeberha. The album made R30000 for the centre. “The following two swing albums were in aid of Sinethemba because we get to have fun and make music and the less fortunate get to benefit from it in a small way,” he said. In 2021, they recorded another album, Franky’s Final Curtain, whose sales were also donated to the children’s centre.
Sinethemba Children’s Care Centre is a foster home that provides love and attention for abandoned children and it comprises of two renovated pre-fabricated houses previously used by the Korsten Police Department. The centre currently houses 20 children and cares for boys and girls aged between 3 to 18 years.
Sponsorship and donations contributes greatly to the wellbeing of the children at the centre, and the secretary of the centre, Avril Landman, confirmed that the donations from the Misfits Band was used for maintenance at the centre and to also buy school uniforms. “What also helped is that more people became aware of the home with the band mentioning our name at all the shows and on the radio interviews as well” she said.
According to Landman, sponsorships and donations of school uniform and stationery from companies such as SAB, Aberdare Cables, Visteon SA, and Mercantile Hospital greatly helped the centre to enrol the children in schools in the area. “These are all abandoned street children who have no families, so it is important for us to ensure they have a safe haven to live in as well receive education so that they are able to become self-sustainable one day,” she added.
The group merely wanted to promote their first swing album in a live setting, and were very fortunate to get great feedback from live performance – so they kept going. The lead vocalist was involved in a large charity cause in 2014, which involved different children’s homes and centres in Gqeberha. This one centre in particular touched his heart because of the well-mannered children.
“The children from Sinethemba were extremely well behaved and very thankful for the small parcels we managed to get for each child,” Franky notes, and when he went back to the centre a few years later, the band was able to do more.
“Luckily we managed to sell plenty of albums and because they’re such a small centre, the funds raised should affect each individual child more,” he said.
Last year, the band toured coastal towns including Knysna, Plettenburg Bay, St Francis Bay, Jeffrey’s Bay, Humansdorp, East London and Port Alfred, as well as a few inland towns. Currently, the band is working on getting as many weekend shows as possible.
Why they love Port Alfred: “The reason we ended up in Port Alfred now a few times is last year when we had a tour, Royal St Andrew’s Hotel was kind enough to let us perform here. I think we ended up impressing them, so they’ve asked us back a few times. That’s why we like to come here and they’re very gracious hosts,” said Franky.