Meet Frank Meyer

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Frank Meyer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Frank with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Like most American boys, I played sports as a kid. I wasn’t particularly good at any of them, but I tried them all, hell-bent on being a great athlete like my father. Basketball, football, baseball, track and field, everything. But I kinda sucked at them all, despite being a fit young guy. It wasn’t until I heard the heavy majesty of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar come through the radio late one night that I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and was determined to put in the hard work in to do it. I talked my parents into buying me an acoustic, and then later my step-brother gifted me his old fake-Les Paul, and bought some music books and started teaching myself. I was 12 years old and worked night and day on being a great guitar player.. My folks encouraged me and got me guitar lessons.

My first teacher was a nerdy, bespeckled gal from Valley Arts Guitar in Studio City named Jennifer Batten. She went onto play with Michael Jackson and Jeff Beck. My second teacher also came from a flyer at the local guitar store, and he a guy named Paul Hansen of a metal band called Brooklyn Brats. Also shredding. Then I met Dweezil Zappa, and we became fast friends, and he took it upon himself to make me a better player simply so I could hang out with him without embarrassing him I think. Anyways, I was lucky to meet these amazing players at a young age, and get so much instruction and inspiration from them. But clearly I was going in the direction of becoming a musician and an artist no matter what.

Puting in the work at something difficult like mastering (well, trying anyways) a musical instrument at such a young age was hugely important to developing my work ethic. It taught me the importance of patience, dedication, repetition, resilience, listening, practicing and training — all of the key ingredients in a solid work ethic.

Another thing that had an influence on my work ethic was my parents demanding I get a job at 14 years old if I wasn’t going to summer camp. They loved to ship us off to camp during the summers and I was getting, in my humble opinion, too old for that crap. I told them I wanted to stay home so they demanded I get a job. “These movies and arcade games aren’t paying for themselves!” I was too young to get a job legally I pointed out, thinking I’d found a loophole. So they pulled some strings and got me a job working in the laundry room at a hotel. I had never folded bed sheets or used an industrial washing machine in my life. I was the youngest there, the only one who spoke English, and I ate off the lunch truck every day. I LOVED IT! I made my own money now and could see all the horror flicks I wanted. After that, I worked every summer until I graduated high school. Making pizzas, construction work, clothes stores, runner at a recording studio, and intern at any record company that would hire me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a Director in the world of TV, Documentary Film, and Digital, with an extensive musical background. I have also written 6 published books, most notably “On The Road With The Ramones,” “Diaper Dude,” and “From Dude To Dad.” After many years as in-house Content Producer and Director at NBC, Comcast, Universal, and Fender Musical Instruments, I directed the award-winning documentary film “Risen: The Story of Chron ‘Hell Razah’ Smith.” These days I directed high-tech AI-driven fitness video for Tonal, the weight-lifting rival to Peloton, and lots of music videos.

Musically, I play guitar and sing in my longtime L.A. punk rock ‘n’ roll band The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs and blues-rock act Highway 61 (both on Rum Bar Records), and also am the frontman for sleaze-rock act Trading Aces, whose new album “Rock ‘N’ Roll Homicide” is out on Ripple Music. I also sing for James Williams of Iggy & the Stooges, and recently recorded a collaboration album with Eddie Spaghetti of The Supersuckers called “Motherfuckin’ Rock ‘N’ Roll” on Kitten Robot Records.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
My interest in learning new things and developing new skills has always pushed my career forward. I started as a musician with an interest in creative writing. I graduated college with a degree in Communication and Journalism and immediately went into the music industry as a publicist and writing for local magazines and fanzines, all while playing music in various bands. That all lead to writing books, which took me to NBC as a web writer. From there I learned a ton of skills and became a Field Producer, Line Producer, Editor, Copy Editor, and eventually a Director. From directing Digital, I went into big budget TV commercials, made my way into documentary feature films, and eventually digital tutorial content. I didn’t know how to do ANY of these things until I decided to learn how to do them. Usually I learned hands on, taught myself, or had someone show me how to do stuff. I’m terrible with instruction manuals, but I’m good at figuring stuff out. Main thing is to always be open to challenges, always try to learn new skills, and know that there’s always someone smarter than you that you can learn from. So better be cool to everyone because you never know who could be your Yoda, or become your boss down the line!

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
These days I have been directing a lot of music videos. It started with me directing videos for my own bands and projects. Obviously I have a big background in production, but I was lucky to have some projects to just try stuff on without there being too much risk. Now I get hired to direct for lots of artists across many different musical styles, and it’s a blast! Always look for some artists to work with on music videos. I can work with small or big budgets. Can keep it indie and lean ‘n’ mean, run ‘n’ gun, or can go big budget, big sets, 3D, 360, or whatever you want.

I love directing music videos because I get to embrace a genre hardcore for a short amount of time, and are challenged to tell a story in a very compact manner. You are forced to cut out at the fat, get to the points and move things along at whatever pace the music sets, which informs many decisions. You also can sometimes abandon logic in this format, and just do weird stuff, which is fun and different from other directing jobs. I also enjoy editing my music videos myself, as I know exactly what I want and what I have by the end of the shoot, and it’s already cut in my mind by that stage. I can move fast if I am doing both because I’m always thinking about what the editor needs when I;m directing, so it’s especially easy if I am in both roles!

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Jason Valdez, Jake Sarfaty, Bradley Walther

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