The Brothers Frank had a guitar player when they competed in NYU's Battle of the Bands competition on Sept. 9. They had a bass player, too.
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A selection of photos from NYU's second annual Battle of the Bands. More than a half-dozen acts rocked the stage Sunday night.
But without a human drummer, they substituted in an iPod. The chances for a Brothers Frank victory didn't seem great. Even CAS senior and band member Chris Frank said he "didn't expect to win at all."
Yet even without a "real" drummer, the band took first place in the competition on Friday night.
"We were absolutely floored," Frank said.
The judges of the competition said the band's two songs, "Still Ones" and "The Weights," stood out from the other contestants' songs.
"As a songwriter, it was a lovely thing to hear — a thing to be proud of for once," said Frank, who describes their songs as "Hanson for sinners" or "simple, honest pop songs."
CAS sophomore Hayden Frank is the band's other member and brother of Chris.
"To have that validation last night was really, really nice," he said of his win.
Before their show Friday night, The Brothers Frank had only performed once before, debuting at the Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village last month. But the brothers played in separate bands for a while. Hayden played funk, jazz and R&B for a group called The Sauce, while Chris created "colorful twisted sort of pop music" for the New Neighbors, who won last year's Battle of the Bands competition.
Despite their differences in musical styles, the brothers found similarities beyond their genes.
"Musically, we've finally come to a place where our tastes converge enough that it makes sense to play together, and so far, it's been really fun," Chris said.
The brothers credit much of their musical inspiration to the Beatles, who they have been listening to since their diaper days. In fact, the first songs Chris and Hayden learned to play on the guitar were The Fab Four's "Norwegian Wood" and "Yellow Submarine," respectively.
As winner of Battle of the Bands, The Brothers Frank get a spot in the NYU showcase at the CMJ Music Marathon on Oct. 24. By then, they plan on having a drummer. At the moment, their current drummer — the iPod — is giving them difficulties.
"I think he's an ass," Hayden said. "He's not very easy to get along with, not very creative at all. We're going to fire him."
