“I never wanted a homogenic album. That kinda stuff bores me musically. I came from many musical genres, I almost never listen to electronic music at home and I love to keep it suspenseful when I play my gigs.”

Mohan ,as he is known to many, grew up in Penang, Malaysia. By the age of 9 he had his first two records “ I AM-Earth, Wind & fire” and “4”-by Foreigner. By 15 he had won his first ever school talent show by popping to Michael Jackson’s “Pretty Young thing” and whilst waiting for his “O” Levels results, he was asked by a friend to be his assistant DJ. One thing led to another and in 1990 he received a job offer from a swiss based DJ Agency in Zurich.

“I so desperately wanted to study Sound Engineering but my parents couldn’t afford to send me to Berkeley but I was told of the SAE and in 1998 I moved to Berlin for that reason.”

After experiencing panic attacks, strange people in subways, loud Berliners; each with an overblown opinion about everything, he finally got used to the Berlin vibe. It was 1999 and here in Berlin,through Ditmar Frohmanns legendary Blaou label that he got his first ever vinyl deal; Das Deva “ Free My Soul EP”.

“I was so excited , the stuff got mastered at Hardwax and it was truly an experience”.In 2002 he was approached by Felix Rennefeld to join up with Funkhausmusic as an Artist ( Audio Royal;Hybrid Funk); deals followed from Crosstownrebels, where Frankie Flowerz was born.

Come 2007 and all hell broke loose. “Our vinyl distributor went bust and vinyl sales were dropping “ , sales were bad and the label got disbanded” Mohan begun sending his music to other labels, Turbo & OM . Prins Thomas found him on Myspace and purchased a track from him.

“In summer 2007, I met up with Hypercolours label heads after a gig in Krakow,Poland. We were changing rooms , Mohan recalls” .Soon , they asked me for music and I have been there ever since as well, watching the label grow from nothing to one of the hottest imprints around. That’s Destiny for you. At some point I realised that I had to get Funkhaus started again, this time only digital,just to get stuff out…and I did so by releasing a compilation on Funkhaus in 2008. Plans for my LP materialised then,I begun recording again and within a span of 4 years, I managed to get some musicians together,brought them to the studio and just recorded. I just recorded anything which sounded good. And I wanted honest music.

“Boyz & Girlz” is Frankie’s debut LP, at 45, after releasing countless 12” on various Labels under various monikers. The LP opens with “ China Doll” a song I wrote in Beijing after a gig there. It’s a kickdrumless synth orgy, a song you’d drive to along the coast. Following through comes “Cant Stop Lovin U “, a mid tempo souldrenced groover. I wrote a song for my late Dad as well, see if you can locate that” , I met a lovely woman from the UK, who wanted to sing on some songs , and she , Kay Davies has been a soulsista ever since. “ She is natural and so honest in her approach that it’s a joy to have her sing “. Veteran San Fransisco saxophone player, Paul Griesbach is also featured on the LP as in with Jocylyn Segal, a new York native who plays the clarinet on “Josy’s Groove”.

“ I think the song which is the most emotional for me is “Cry of the Shaman”,a soundtrack like song featuring Englishman Dell Davison on the acoustic guitar. After recording the guitar, I played around , adding some harmonies to it ,then everything made sense. But an LP is never complete without good ,funky guitar licks and solos, I feel.. if you are a funkjunkie ..and for that Julian Datta just blew my mind. Most of the songs here were written 10 years ago. All I did was to dig em out again and refresh them. It’s the oldskool, newskool and whatever you choose to label it. I call it “ Boyz & Girlz”. I call it ….music.. I cant think of a genre to archive this under”
Have fun ,Part 2 is on theway.