Born in Cosenza, a small city in the south of Italy. From an early age his main musical influence and idol was Bob Marley. After that he discovered the Punk movement and all its predecessors. Later on he became interested in the New Wave and gothic. He never saw the Punk movement as a trend or just a music genre but more as a philosophy of life some of which he still believes in to this day. Growing up in a small city he felt an outsider, isolated and from a very young age he knew he didn't belong there.
He also struggled with acceptance of his sexuality founding his escape in music. He started playing in various Punk and Hardcore bands as a singer. In the summer of 1986 he moved to London to form a band and pursue his dream of a music career and London seemed definitely the best bet.
While struggling to make ends meet and learning a new language he squatted first in Brixton then all over London for quite a few years also studying sound engineering and experimenting with bands and solo projects. During this time through the London night life he became interested in the new Dance movement and there, within the Soho night life, he met Marc Almond, who he greatly admired. He then went on to support him at one of his London shows.
In 1994 he was diagnosed HIV+. The disillusionment, fear of death and also watching his friends die fuelled a heroin addiction that lasted for a few years. Despite his addiction he kept his interest in music alive. He became interested in the New Metal scene as it seemed to clearly represent the essence of the anger, rage and sadness he was experiencing. He was also really influenced by the English Rock and Trip-Hop movement. At this time he met Gabi (guitarist & singer) through a Melody Maker advert and formed Frozen Ghost as an electronic metal duo. They wrote, recorded and performed.
He then formed another band called Zelig. Zelig were a four piece band with the aim of creating a sound which would include influences from bands such as Massive Attack, Nine Inch Nails, Pj Harvey, Radiohead etc. They wrote, recorded and toured extensively throughout England and Europe. Zelig then entered a Kerrang unsigned competition and won. Later on the same year they were elected from a reader's poll as best unsigned band and got a lot of support from both the magazine and the readers. Sadly Zelig ended up in court disputing song writing for more than a year and consequently split up.
Fran then went to do some writing and recording with Senser. In the mean time his heroin addiction had escalated to a serious extent and was beginning to have an impact on his health. He decided to get clean and he embarked on a very difficult and frustrating journey that lasted a few years. As he managed to conquer his addiction he met his partner. A few months after they met Fran went through a series of illnesses related to his diagnosis and his medications which became an influence and inspiration for his new material.
Fran became increasingly frustrated with the lack of any kind of acknowledgement of HIV within society and the media and so started coming up with the idea of his current project "Hope Is Vital". His partner was a major positive influence and with his support and the help of meditation and counselling Fran managed to get himself to a place where it could turn his ideas into reality. He got back together with Gabi and started writing again. Fran still lives in London and studies Transpersonal Psychology (Psychosynthesis) and works as a volunteer therapist within the HIV community and also with disadvantaged kids.
