DJ FRANKI CHAN BIO FRANKI CHAN is a man of many faces and talents. Best known as one of the founders of the burgeoning ‘indie’ DJ scene, he calls himself, DJ FRANKI CHAN, and plays a unique blend of Hip Hop, Indie Rock, Soul and 80’s, in other words, “the hits.” Franki is also one of the best known party promoters within the U.S., running a production and promotions company, as well as a record label, all under the moniker IHEARTCOMIX PRODUCTIONS, PROMOTIONS & RECORDS. To top it off, Franki is an accomplished comic book illustrator and graphic artist, often designing the artwork for all the IHEARTCOMIX events and products, as well as being hired out freelance. Born in 1978 in Milton, FL, Franki’s parents were divorced and he was moved to Bloomington, IN by the time he was 3, where his mother, Linda, raised him. He was a mischievous youth, often finding himself in and out of trouble, but still managing excellent grades. He discovered a passion for comic books, drawing and the performing arts at a young age, constantly involving himself in anything from drama club to video production to self-made illustrated stories. His mother moved them to Ellettsville, IN, a small suburb outside of Bloomington, just after he entered Junior High School. It was here that he met some like-minded friends and discovered punk rock music. He was an outcast to his peers, often feeling the brunt of degrading comments and brutal fistfights. He took up the drums and began aspirations to play in a band. When he was 16, he jumped at the opportunity to move with his father, who was in the Navy, to Okinawa, Japan to spend a couple years. It was here that his foray into punk rock and life started to blossom, experiencing all his firsts (car, bands, girlfriends, etc) in a foreign land, but it wasn’t until he moved back to Indiana, in 1996, that the true path of his life really began to solidify. Upon moving back to Indiana, Franki Chan, was desperate and anxious to continue playing music. He found a flyer advertising a band needing a drummer. He tried out and made it. The band was OPERATION: CLIFF CLAVIN, and from the moment on, his life was changed forever. He spent the next 2 and a half years of his life touring and recording. His eyes were opened as he discovered the underground network of diy shows, zines, tours and everything else under the sun. Once the band broke up and Franki moved to Bellingham, WA, this was the path he would continue on. In Bellingham, Franki found a town that was similar to Bloomington, but different in the sense that it didn’t seem to have the same spirit of community or ambition. He decided to do something about it and moved into a space called The Showoff Gallery, an all ages venue that’d been passed down through the generation of the Bellingham underground scene, and began booking shows. The venture quickly became a success, garnering a lot of attention in the northwest and hosting some the earliest shows of such notable bands as Death Cab For Cutie, Bright Eyes, The Dismemberment Plan, The Murder City Devils and Botch, among others, and finally cumulating with the 4-day, 50 band festival, Showoff Or Shut Up. He’d put Bellingham back on the musical map, getting bands and agents to start routing it back into their tours. Franki also made the majority of the flyers for the shows and the artwork and design of everything associated with the space; giving it it’s own, unique identity. In 2001, Franki accepted an offer to become the Assistant Booking Agent, under Jason Lajuenesse, of a 600+ capacity music venue in Seattle, WA, called Graceland. The success continued. As a team, Jason and Franki, were almost invincible, hosting the majority of the big shows in Seattle and heralding in acts like anyone from Interpol to The Mars Volta. Franki took it upon himself to book certain ‘Graceland special events’ as well, such as Zombie proms, Rock Star Softball games, the popular weekly, Monday-Funday, and even flying in the comedy troupe, Stella Comedy, for their very first west coast appearance. At the same time he was booking shows at Graceland, Franki became well known around town for throwing house parties and eventually moved into an apartment in the upper level of Graceland, right above the stage. He began throwing after parties for the shows below and eventually expanded to another, even larger room in the upstairs (with help from fellow booking agent Jason Lajuenesse), appropriately dubbed, The Egg Room, for its egg shaped room that housed the dance floor. It was during these after parties and the Graceland special events mentioned above that Franki began his career as a DJ, sharpening his skills into the wee hours of the morning, day in and day out. Also around this time, continuing with his love of drawing and graphic design, Franki had kept up on not only making posters for the shows he’d booked at Graceland, but was also often hired to make posters for any number of shows around town. He began to get so involved in doing this, that he decided it was finally time to take the plunge and managed the gusto to create his very first comic book, a black and white, autobiographical tale entitled, ‘Filling In The Holes.’ He peddled the comic around town, to local comic book conventions and finally taking the plunge and taking it to the mother of all comic book conventions, the San Diego Comicon. His comic was met with critical acclaimed and praise, it quickly sold out and he found himself on the fast track within the comic book community. He decided maybe it was time to leave the music/party world and pursue his other passion. Franki began driving back to Seattle with these aspirations, but made a quick stop in Los Angeles on the way home. Here he found a fresh city, ripe for the plucking and a perfect place to move and start a new life, a life that would include the pursuit of comic books, or so he thought. In 2003, Franki moved to Los Angeles with comic aspirations, but soon found, it wasn’t what lay ahead for him. He began a weekly night, for kicks, with local rock star, Har Mar Superstar, at local hang out, The Beauty Bar, called ‘Fucking Awesome.’ The night became a smashing success, and as Har Mar had to bow out due to his touring responsibilities, Franki found a new partner in the form of Steve Aoki of Dim Mak Records. Franki and Steve quickly bonded and expanded to include multiple other nights around the Los Angeles area and beyond, including Cinespace Tuesdays at Cinespace (along with third partner Jason Stewart), Block Party at 1650, Sunday-Funday at the Downtown Standard Hotel Rooftop (which got a write up in Rolling Stone), Fucking Awesome NYC at Beauty Bar New York and Loose Tooth at Joseph’s (along with URB Magazine). All of these nights, including Fucking Awesome, hosted, as guest DJ’s or even as a live performances, just about every important band or pop culture figure involved in the scene today, including anyone from Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Bloc Party to Hot Hot Heat to Shepard Fairey to Juliette Lewis. Franki, as he’d done in the past, kept with the habit of making the posters for the majority of the events he’s involved in. Still holding onto his dream and passion for comics, shortly after he began Fucking Awesome, Franki also launched his company, IHEARTCOMIX as a way for him to publish his own comics and posters and as a name to throw the parties under. With the parties being so successful in Los Angeles and the art becoming more noticed, IHEARTCOMIX evolved into more of a real entity and franki decided it was time to go solo and expand, not only outside of L.A., but also into other arenas. Thus, IHEARTCOMIX took on, not only the role of party planning and production company, but promotion company and record label as well. Franki and IHEARTCOMIX are currently hosting parties in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Chicago on a regular basis, as well as various other one offs worldwide. IHEARTCOMIX is also planning to launch a line of clothing and products all featuring the artwork of Franki Chan.