Vocals, Guitar: Frank “The Baptist” Vollmann is the Founder, singer/songwriter, recruit of defiled musical miscreants and Captain of the Armada of this long running, festival headlining, Strobelight Records recording artist, pirate crew menace of a band called “Frank the Baptist”. When not plundering on the high seas, drifting on the high plains, or infecting the world musically with his cronies in the FTB crew you can see his mug in Various feature and independent films as well as various police Wanted lists due to his bank heist and safe cracking hobbies.
AKA: Telegram Frank (solo acoustic Traveling Medicine show Project), Frank the Baptist, FTB, etc. No… He is NOT a Baptist. He is also currently involved in The Dirty Weather Project.
Guitar: Gerrit Haasler has been breathing music since childhood, always on the hunt for good sounds and moody melodies. You can most likely find him in his studio behind a giant mixing console. As sound engineer and producer he runs Blackstone Studios and is responsible for the sound of some of Berlin’s finest underground bands. He loves vintage equipment and calls his Fender Jaguar “Kuromi” (she is Japanese).
His first show with FTB was at a sex club in Switzerland and has joined the crew since then.
Drums: Salo Bosse Turned down flying fighter jets for the Bundeswehr to beat the skins for Frank The Baptist, we’re happy he’s dropping bombs for us instead.
Also plays for http://lemonwood.eu/
Bass: Emilio Cordero Checa was born on the Equatorial Line. Hiding from the sun, he started his musical career in the underground Goth scene of South America as a musician as well as a producer.
After surviving the streets and punk scenes of New York City and Bilbao he is now based in Berlin where he creates with FTB as well as his own project NATURATA BRUTALISMUS.
Active Members of The FTB San Diego Chapter
Guitars: Scott The Hoople Hailing from the sunny shores of San Diego, Scott the Hoople embraced the dark, sinewy strains of Daniel Ash and Robert Smith, with a healthy dose of Ziggy Stardust and Marc Bolan thrown in for good measure. Connecting with FTB at a California nightclub (both were admiring a young woman flaunting her red, white and blue bush), they discovered a mutual affinity for texture, atmosphere, and eyeliner in their music. For the next few years, Scott was Frank’s lead guitar foil, imbuing Frank’s songs with power, melody, and bit of the old in-out, in-out. Despite accompanying Frank on his first two jaunts to the Continent, Scott elected to stay behind when Frank took his travelling roadshow across the pond, all the while admiring from a distance. He still keeps his hand in, playing with San Diego psychedelic noise merchants Dark Globe.
Past members, Live players and veterans (Members of the family)
Nico’s Eyes. Frank The Baptist Official Photo by Sebastian Hilgetag Photography
Guitars: Louisiana born Fez Wrecker has kept it weird in bands since 1983, combining his sundry influences of beat, goth, garage, artrock, lovepunk, & psychedelic in performance and production– including occasional stints with The Music Machine and The Fuzztones. He is Grand Poobah at FezWrecker.com, he moonlights as a burlesque conférencier & pianist with La Fete Fatale, plays the occasional bit role in strange films, and is quite an accomplished poker player.
Drums: Thomas (Phantomas) Fietz was born in Berlin and started to play the drums at the age of 16. He was first influenced by the music of Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. later his musical interests spread wide from jazz to rock and country… he made his first musical experience in playing surf and 60’s music. when not touring the world with FTB he is recovering from that…
Bass: ILija Gavrilenko Bio coming soon
Guitars: Ralf Hünefeld first met Frank while playing in a band called The Chain during a show with Frank the Baptist during FTB’s (at the time still based in San Diego, CA) European tour back in 2004 and have been in touch ever since. Ralf was then the composer and guitarist of Plush Insane until it dissolved in 2010. So the captain asked him to join FTB for a live gig… and he has been with the band ever since. (He has also played live bass for Hatesex and guitars for Passion Play.) If you have ever wondered why there isn’t much sunlight in Berlin it’s because Ralf decided to step outdoors and blocked out the sun. It is believed that he is currently the only person in Berlin taller than the former bass player of FTB, Justin Stephens.
Bass: Justin Stephens is the singer/guitarist of Passion Play – since the band have been in hiatus for the past few years, Justin lost the ability to count to 6 or to speak without drooling, thus making him perfectly qualified as a bass player. He was drafted into FTB in 2008 for his ability to tell no tales, look great in eyeliner and complicate the rider requirements no end by being a frickin’ vegan. And play bass a bit.
Live Guitars: Carsten Klatte is a German singer, musician, lyricist and composer. The Berlin-based artist as been part of the German music scene since the early 1990s. Carsten Klatte works as a solo artist, under his own name, as Lacasa del Cid, and in collaboration with Yve Darksound as Widukind. Carsten Klatte is known especially for his collaborations with German and international bands like Wolfsheim, Cassandra Complex, Project Pitchfork, Girls Under Glass, Goethe’s Heir, Peter Heppner and N.U. Unruh from Einstürzende Neubauten. Being a friend of the band along with his natural guitar abilities made him an obvious choice when FTB was in need of a live guitarist.
Live Bass: Mario Usai is best known as the guitarist for Clan Of Xymox. Mario has seen, partaken in, and survived quite a few of The FTB gang’s shenanigans (on and off stage) and is surprisingly still a friend of the band. A real trooper and officer in the Armada.
Drums: Slady Neither is drummer SLADY always acting like a LADY nor did he SLAY a couple of drag queens. He is something in between; but people love his sometimes bitchy, sometimes more retarded-looking way of beating this prehistoric…let’s call it instrument. No question, with these abilities, he is the last puzzle piece in FTB’s now stronger-than-ever cast. Actually before ever meeting Frank, Slady had been a successful man playing in different bands of different styles, but no longer.