Band - Frank Beck

Written by Frank Beck on .

Hi all,
my name is Frank Beck and I am the newest member in the Gamma Ray family. I was born on the 2nd of April in 1969 in a small village near Saarbrücken (Germany) and I am still living there. I started singing at the age of 3 from the balcony at my grandmothers house with "Ave Maria" (unfortunately my father died before I was born). From that balcony you had a fantastic overview and so it became my first stage. At this time I listened a lot to Elvis and "The Beatles" and surely to fairytales from Brothers Grimm. In 1976 my music world totally changed as I first get in touch with Deep Purple`s album "Made in Japan" Never heard a voice like this, never heard a band playing that powerful the way they did. That was the style I wanted to do. And so I listened every day maybe more then 20 times to that golden album and I tried to sing like Ian Gillan (never hit his highest note haha). My mother and grandparents went crazy because hearing "Child in time" more then 20 times a day can drive you insane...anyway, they survived. Deep Purple brought me also to Rainbow and Whitesnake and later on to Black Sabbath, Dio and Iron Maiden and at least to the harder melodic speedmetal. Helloween`s Walls of Jericho and The Keeper Albums were a blast and are still my alltime favorites (Michi is god!). When Kai left Helloween and founded Gamma Ray I gave it a try and Ralf blew me away with his voice, but I even loved it more when Kai overtook the lead vocal parts again on the "Land of the free" Album in 1995. Kai`s got such a remarkable voice. A fanboy was born.

I am a child of the 80`s and there is no doubt that this decade had the most musical influence on me.

So how do I became a singer?

In late 1985 I was bored in school (as always) sitting with my classmates in the last row. One of them started to throw a beat with his hands and I started singing. That`s how I made it into my first band, because that dude told me that he is the drummer in a band and that they are looking for a singer. Nothing professional, just a school band but good enough to make my first experiences with music. After playing in several Rock/Hardrock Bands I joined a Blues Brothers Tribute Band and toured throughout Europe for a long time. At the same time I had some classical vocal education lessons especially in breathing techniques which helped me a lot over the years. During that time bringing the blues, Soul and Funk to the people I never stopped listening to the Metal. In 2007 I founded a MetalCoverband with some friends and we formed a Setlist with alltime MetalClassics from the 80`s and played several shows (and still playing if I got the time to) Due to my classical education you can also hear me on the last 3 Powerwolf outputs. (choir only CLASSICAL and METAL) 2012 I became the lead singer of Red Raven. Second album in the making.

So how did I get into Gamma Ray?

Well, here`s the story

2012 I made some demo vocal recordings for Red Raven. Former Drummer Sascha Waack heard my voice and was very enthusiastic about it. He suggested me to start a new Rock/Metal project with some "friends" (never happened) We met Uwe Lulis (Accept, Ex Gravedigger) and Dirk Schlächter in Frankfurt/Germany and had a nice pizza and talk. I was really really nervous because as I told you a few lines above I was a big Fan of Gamma Ray, there was no German tour date over the last 20 years without seeing me usually in row 1 up to 5 maybe. And that`s what I exactly said to Dirk. The chemistry between us was quite right from the first moment we met, Dirk liked my voice too and we stayed in touch over social media. Then came "The Empire Of The Undead" Tour and the 11th of April 2014. The day that changed my life. I will never forget.

I talked to Dirk a few days before and he invited me as a guest to the Aschaffenburg Show. On April 11th he called me again....Dirk: Frank? Me: Yes? Dirk: Are you coming to the show tonight? Me: Yes, is something wrong with the guestlist? Dirk: No, everythings ok...but...can you sing a few songs tonight? Me:..... Dirk: Frank? Frank? Me: yes I`m still here...but NO! I cannot do that! Dirk: Oh Come on, I know you can do that, Kai can`t sing because of his Bronchitis Me: Ok, I`m in ....

So I got into my car and rehearsed the songs during driving.

The rest is well known I guess...
frank beck alternate 2016

Photo © 2016:
Jan Heesch (for Rock Genuine Magazine)

Name
:
Frank Beck

Birthdate
:
April, 2nd 1969

Officially in GammaRay since 2015

Links:
https://www.red-raven.de/

You have no rights to post comments