The Student News Site of Neshaminy High School

The Playwickian

The Student News Site of Neshaminy High School

The Playwickian

The Student News Site of Neshaminy High School

The Playwickian

Neshaminy graduate continues success, gains fame

By Tom Collins
Staff Writer

Colin Frangicetto is not your average Neshaminy graduate.
Frangicetto, Class of 1999, has spent the past decade touring, releasing albums and pleasing fans as one of the guitarists in Circa Survive, a successful Doylestown band, which also features Anthony Green on vocals, Brendan Ekstrom on guitar, Nick Beard on bass and Steve Clifford on drums.

Their unique sound has been described as everything from progressive rock to indie rock to post-hardcore, but, regardless of their genre, there’s no denying that, even after a decade, their success isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.

“I feel the same energy walking off stage now that I felt walking off stage 10 years ago on our first tour,” remarked Frangicetto, describing the intensity of the last dates of Circa’s summer leg of shows.

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After being friends for many years, Frangicetto and Green formed Circa in 2004, and since then have released 3 EPs, a split 7-inch single with revered emo band Sunny Day Real Estate, a live DVD and five studio albums. Their 2012 album, “Violent Waves”, was completely self-released by the band.

While the album sold the least out of all their releases, it still debuted at #15 on the Billboard Top 200 without any support or financial backing from a record label, a feat unheard of in the music industry.

“We had the least amount of records sold out of all of our albums,” Frangicetto explained, “but we had the biggest reaction, press-wise, and then, the biggest increase in live sales.”
For their new record, they originally planned to go the same self-released route, only this time securing a distribution deal in order to get the album into more stores. However, their plans quickly changed once many record labels began to want to sign a full deal with the band. After months of weighing their options, the group finally made a decision.

On Aug. 15, Circa Survive announced that they were signing with Sumerian Records to release their live DVD, “Live at the Shrine”, reissue “Violent Waves” and release their fifth album, “Descensus”, which came out on Nov. 24.

“Descensus” is the group’s most ambitious work yet, combining the distinct style the band has been crafting on their first four records with even more new influences.

The core of the Circa sound is there—the soaring vocals of Green, the intricate, twisting, melodic guitar lines of Frangicetto and Ekstrom and the tight, locking, grooves from the rhythm section of Beard and Clifford—but there is something more.

The evolution and maturation of the band, both as people and musicians, greatly influenced the album. While discussing one of the songs on the album, “Child of the Desert”, Frangicetto explained, “I don’t think we could have the juxtaposition of two really different musical sections like that in one song successfully until now. On every album we get a little more comfortable with ourselves.”

While Circa has been his main focus, Frangicetto’s music career does not begin and end there. He has released a remix version of Anthony Green’s debut solo album titled “Avalon Remix”, an album of solo material on which he played all the instruments under the name Psychic Babble, titled “My Brother’s Ears/My Sister’s Eyes” and has scored various independent films.

Even while growing up, music was always a part of Frangicetto’s life. Most of his free time outside of school was spent playing in bands and working, “to get money to buy records,” he recalled.
Like many high school students, he didn’t always have the best experiences during his time at Neshaminy, but music was always there.

“I was obsessed with punk rock and hardcore,” Frangicetto remembered, “the music scene, the underground music scene was the only thing that really made me feel accepted back then.”

His music taste went across the genre spectrum, including lots of punk and hardcore like Fugazi, Bad Brains and Minor Threat, as well as classic rock like Led Zeppelin, Yes and Queen. He even enjoyed pop music, including Michael Jackson and Hall & Oates.

“It’s always been a split of insanely infectious pop stuff with the weirdest, most noisy, most experimental stuff I could find,” he said, “I think that explains where a lot of Circa’s music comes from, because that’s where all of our interests meet, our love for the extremely happy and the extremely weird.”

He played drums in several bands, most notably, This Day Forward, a hardcore band which also featured fellow Circa Survive guitarist Brendan Ekstrom. This Day Forward signed to an independent label while Frangicetto was still attending school, and went on to record several albums and tour the country, which was the first time he ever saw music as a career option. Looking back, he also strongly believes it was a catalyst in the eventual formation of Circa Survive.

“Playing in a hardcore band just never, in my mind, seemed like a viable way to make a living,” he said, “and the end of This Day Forward, without a doubt, 100 percent led to the signing of Circa.”

As a student, Frangicetto was a staff writer for the Playwickian, and eventually became the Photography Editor for the 1998 and 1999 school years. Even though he wasn’t involved with any in-school music programs, his love for music still found its way into his education.

He remembered a particular time where Mr. O’Brien, adviser to the Playwickian, had made him and some of his friends fake press passes, so they could try and get an interview with Fugazi, a band known for barely ever speaking to any sort of publication or journalist. The fake passes worked, and they got their interview. The experience stuck with Frangicetto.

“That was such a confidence booster, of just being able to meet the people you never think you could meet,” he explained. For the young Frangicetto and his friends, the confidence quickly turned into something else.

“We had a couple other cool interviews with people, but at that point I think we definitely got cocky,” he added with a laugh.

In addition to working as a musician, Frangicetto is also an established artist. He has designed countless show posters for many bands and t-shirts for Miles To Go clothing, sells his paintings and prints through his website and has been featured in many galleries. He discovered his passion for art
later in high school. He began attending Bucks County Community College for art after his graduation, but he quickly realized it wasn’t what he was looking for.

“When I went to community college as an art major, it just really didn’t work for me”, he remembered, “I didn’t really have much encouragement from my professors at Bucks, but it was true I really did need to rethink things.”

Even as a senior in Neshaminy, Frangicetto was not sure what he wanted. Like many students now, Frangicetto clearly remembered being terrified by what loomed after graduation. He offered several pieces of advice for current students struggling with similar issues.

He recalled, “There were people back then who seemed to have their whole life figured out, and that scared the s— out of me. I remember thinking, ‘How in the world am I supposed to know what I want to be doing ten years from now, right now?’ That’s crazy.”

“Hard work, taking chances and enjoying life will add up to a lot of good things. Don’t feel you always have to go the safe route,” Frangicetto suggested, “I know a lot of people will tell you that’s what you’re supposed to do, or what you have to do. Don’t think that that’s the truth. For some people, it might be, but it’s not for everyone.”

“There are many, many roads in life that can lead you to a life free of suffering,” Frangicetto added, “because I had such a tough time, I feel this kind of weird duty to send that message to everyone at Neshaminy now. Try to find your way and be patient, and at the same time know it’s really important just to enjoy life.”

Their website:http://circasurvive.com/

Ticket info:http://www.ticketmaster.com/Circa-Survive-tickets/artist/978509

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Neshaminy graduate continues success, gains fame