biography

Welcome!
This page is dedicated to a band called...you guessed it...The Scallions. They refer to their sound as avant garde power pop. The group was started in 1990. Brothers Mike and Shawn Franklin make up the band.

The music of The Scallions started as tinkering around in the studio. The brothers had separate bands at the time with different goals. The two had no thoughts of starting a band together. In the beginning they would record from time to time for fun. Mike had been accumulating recording gear and put together a makeshift four-track studio in the basement. He used it to record his material, his bands material and to record others on occasion.

The early recordings were the two trying to emulate one of their influences, The Residents. A lot of their recordings were based on the feel and concept of The Residents Commercial Album. The album contained catchy, quirky pop songs all approximately one minute long. The Franklins, using this one minute formula, soon had over fifty songs recorded. What started off as the occasional session grew into a side project. The Scallions were born. Aside from the pop elements, the songs ranged from humorous, dark, moody, and to what some people call downright scary.

Mike and Shawn still had their full-time bands and each were pursuing the ever elusive recording deal. They realized it wasn't likely that The Scallions would ever get signed, but it wasn't an issue at the time. Making this music was a lot of fun and that's all there was to it.

The studio grew from a four-track and some outboard gear in the corner to an eight-track in a newly constructed control room with a vocal booth. The studio was later dubbed 6 Feet Under. The music started to grow and mature as well. The songs became longer and more intricate.

The instruments ranged from the traditional guitars, synths and drums to an autoharp, toy instruments and samples picked up from all around the house. Their new mini-sampler turned pots, pans, television and the recording of boxes of nails, buzz saws and crunching dog cookies into music. By now they had completed their second unreleased work. The first fifty songs were put into a collection called Mutants From Mars. The second release, with its' heavy use of the sampler, became The Scallions' Sampler E.P..

Shawn was, and still is, a rabid Residents collector. He phones regularly to order the latest merchandise from their record label. Over time he became friends with members of the staff. One connection was the owner of the record company, Tom Timony. The Residents gave their Ralph Records label to him for a period of time. Shawn started to mention The Scallions in conversation and eventually Tom requested a tape to see what the band was all about.

Shawn continued to correspond with Tom and send new Scallions material periodically. Projects were discussed but never came to light for one reason or another. Tom may also have been waiting for the band to come into its' own. For as much as the group had grown, The Residents influence was still pretty evident.

A few years later, the individual projects that the brothers had been working on had dissolved for all the usual reasons that bands do. The Scallions remained intact though. They weren't as active as they once were because of personal schedules but they hadn't packed it in yet. Along the way they completed a third unreleased work entitled Ripe From The Garden, Shawn made appearances on radio shows to promote the band, and The Scallions were featured in and were the cover of a Residents fanzine. The group also recorded a track for a Residents tribute CD entitled F.E.S.T.E.R.. This project was put together by a web site associated with The Residents called Smelly Tongues. The band covered the song "In San Francisco". As for Tom, he handed Ralph Records back to The Residents and started his own label.

Shawn was still working on his Residents collection. He started to purchase some of his Residents goodies online. It just so happens that one of the online sellers turned out to be Tom Timony. Tom asked Shawn what was happening with The Scallions. In response, Shawn sent him a cassette of some of their latest recordings. After hearing the tape, Tom contacted Shawn to let him know how much he liked the material. Tom then asked him if The Scallions would be interested in putting something out on his new Esoteric Music Group label. The Scallions, without hesitation, answered with a resounding...YES!!! The band then started to sift through the load of material to put together an album.

The CD, Mud Pie, was released in early January of 2000. The limited edition CD sold well and received favorable reviews. An MP3 version of the album soon followed.

The band continued to promote the album, and along the way started working on new material. A track entitled 2 was well under way when Esoteric's president, Tom Timony, called Shawn and offered the group the opportunity to put out a vinyl picture disc. 2 would be the A side and the first single from the new album Agony Through Ceremony. The second side would be a complete remake of Bed of Nails from Mud Pie.

The Scallions brought in a local artist named Miyanna Nielsen to play saxophone for the 2 sessions. This marks the first time an outside musician was used for recording. Miyanna did a phenomenal job and really captured what the band was looking for. The B-side, Bed Of Nails, dates back about ten years, so it was cleverly dubbed Bed Of Nails-10 Year Mix. The entire song was bounced to the hard drive so that it could be manipulated, but when all was said and done only one original loop remained.

The completed CD master and artwork was sent to Tom for production. Unfortunately, there were complications in production, so the single was temporarily shelved. Tom also made an announcement that would change the band's direction once again. He announced that he was closing E.M.G. to take a position with a merchandising company. He would be working with artists ranging from Bon Jovi and Robert Plant /Jimmy Page to Destiny's Child and Christina Aguilera. Tom said this was "Pretty different, eh? " This is quite an understatement coming from a man who has worked with The Residents and Snakefinger. The Scallions, however, are eternally grateful for everything that Tom has done for them and they wish him all the success in the world.

After Tom closed the doors of E.M.G., the band was left without a record label. A number of promotional packages were sent out, but none of the independent labels were signing anything at the time. The future seemed uncertain until help came from out of nowhere.

While Esoteric was closing, Shawn managed to get Chuck D's email address. Chuck is the leader of the notorious rap outfit, Public Enemy. On a whim, Shawn asked him to sign The Scallion's guestbook. Chuck signed the book and also downloaded one of the their songs. He really liked what he heard.

A few months later in January 2002, Shawn had the opportunity to meet Chuck in person. Chuck was giving a lecture at a nearby college. After the lecture, Shawn requested an autograph and Chuck said, "Who do I make this out to?" When Shawn told him his name, Chuck recognized the name and asked how he was doing. A few days later Shawn emailed Chuck again praising his lecture. Chuck wrote back and offered the band a deal with his online record company, Slam Jamz. Slam Jamz has some sub labels that feature music other than Hip-Hop. The Scallions are now on a sub division called Damn Disks. (Please go to updates for the latest news.)