New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Franki Pineapple is back with a new single, Evil Love, a track far less likely to have the radio censors scurrying for their 'bleep' button like previous radio hit, F**k It Man! but still packed with power and fury! Franki has already crammed more into her life than countless blockbusters made in her hometown of Hollywood and Evil Love is a reflection of these experiences - good, bad and ugly:
"I wrote Evil Love solo with my acoustic guitar (in 2008) and it became my anthem. I've performed it all over Los Angeles, in NYC, Nashville and various cities. It was my signature song for years; inspired by a seemingly endless romantic entanglement with an older man, which led me down the rabbit hole into the deepest, darkest obsession you could ever imagine. It was a living nightmare that ended up being one of the most beautiful and fruitful experiences of my life. Evil Love has evolved over the years. It has come to symbolize so much more than a painful love affair. The song is not frozen in time."
From her life as a screenwriter, novelist and journalist through to her new incarnation as a singer-songwriter and social rabble-rouser, there is more to Franki than meets the eye as one of the biggest companies in the world discovered when they took her to task over her name. Evil Love has become Franki's calling card, a track which reflects both her musical influences and her deft touch with the written word:
"Ten years after writing the song, I finally got the chance to record it properly in 2019 with mega-talented producer, Chris Seefried. I played the song on his Gibson acoustic in his West Hollywood Studio and he was immediately enchanted. Chris (who has also produced/worked with The Kooks; Fitz and The Tantrums; Lana Del Rey; Andra Day; Counting Crows) developed and produced the track, fashioning it off Patti Smith's Dancing Barefoot, Blue Öyster Cult's Don't' Fear The Reaper and Fleetwood Mac. Chris Lord Alge mixed the track; Bernie Grundman mastered it; Jimmy Paxson (Stevie Nicks; Sheryl Crow; Beyonce; Alanis Morissette) played drums on the track. When I listen to Chris's production of Evil Love I feel like an unstoppable badass, at least for those three and half minutes."
Evil Love was remixed in November, 2020 by Philip Larsen (Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Moby, B-52's), who turned out an extended remix and a radio edit remix.
Born
Stephanie Carlisi, with almost typical irreverence, in Los Angeles in the building which now houses the world headquarters of Scientology, Franki Pineapple is a force of nature. Dedicating her life to storytelling, she is, at any given time, a novelist, journalist, screenwriter, poet and spoken-word artist, first dipping her toe into the music world in her twenties when the legendary songwriter and actor, JD Souther (The Eagles;
Linda Ronstadt;
James Taylor) hired her to transcribe his lyric journals. Encouraging her talent for writing lyrics, JD unleashed an animal: a bold, authentic, truthful artist now calling herself Franki Pineapple, after her producer and partner, Nararaj Tribino (PM Dawn; Nile Rodgers) suggested it (spikey on the outside; sweet inside). With a logo created by none other than John Pasche who had years earlier designed the iconic 'lips and tongue' logo for the Rolling Stones, everything was going to plan. That's when the real fun started.
Taking exception to Franki's appropriation of a fruit, Apple Inc sued her.
"Apple brought a compromise settlement to the table which I felt deep in my soul would limit me in ways I simply could not sign on for. I had done nothing wrong; I had infringed on Apple in no way; all I had done was put my heart and soul into the creation of something cool which represented peaceful rebellion; I knew I could not back down and so I decided to fight."
Defiant and facing spiralling costs and a seemingly impossible fight, Franki prevailed. Her victory for common sense against corporate nonsense is typical of one of life's fighters for whom compromise and the easy route do not compute.
"At the risk of being dramatic, writing Evil Love saved my life; it gave me a channel through which to express my pain. I was literally on the floor, broken, when the inspiration came. Thematically speaking, evil love is anything that holds us back from being the best we can be in life; whether it's unrequited love, self-doubt, addiction, oppression, fear or discrimination."
