Most commonly known for playing the titular awkward teen in Malcolm In The Middle, the wild success of the program has allowed child star Frankie Muniz to cruise through his 20s.
Seemingly going through a list of childhood dreams and crossing them off as he goes, Muniz first dabbled in race-car driving, before moving onto his latest dream profession: rock star.
Once described as America’s most bankable teen star, Muniz is seemingly ready to step out of the shadow of his child stardom, as he steps behind the kit for the Pennsylvania pop-rock band Kingsfoil, describing the gig as “my focus 1,000 percent right now”, seemingly not understanding maths as much as his 6 year stint as Malcolm led us to believe.
Elaborating on the move from the middle to the drum stool, Muniz admitted to Alternative Addiction, “to be honest it was pretty random. I’ve been playing drums since I was a kid. I started playing when I was twelve years old. I got a drum kit out of a JC Penny’s catalogue for Christmas… It’s something I always wanted to do and that I enjoyed.”
The decision to pursue a career as a drummer similarly fell into his lap, as a stroke of luck initially landed him a position in the Arizona band You Hang Up. Muniz describes the process as “a total fluke”, explaining “my fiancé was actually contacted by the lead singer of this band and was like, ‘hey, I heard you guys live in the area. If Frankie ever wants to jam, tell him to call.’ I was like, ‘I don’t want to jam, I want to be in it’.”“I’d never had to audition as a drummer before and I really wanted it…it made me nervous. But it worked out, here I am seven months later and we’ve already played over fifty shows,”
You Hang Up was short lived however, but Muniz was ready to pursue life as a musician. “When my band had parted ways and Kingsfoil was looking for a drummer, I flew in and auditioned.”
“The coolest thing about me joining is that I was a really big fan of the band before I knew I could be in the band. I had listened to their music and loved the sound and loved the music. So when our manager called and said there was a possibility for me to even audition, I was extremely ecstatic,” said the man formerly known as Agent Cody Banks.
“I’d never had to audition as a drummer before and I really wanted it…it made me nervous. But it worked out, here I am seven months later and we’ve already played over fifty shows,” says Muniz
“It took two weeks to basically learn everything,” Muniz says of the transition, “I had three days from when I joined to the band before our first show, which was opening for Passion Pit in front of 7,000 kids at John Hopkins University.”
Forming as an acoustic duo in 2002, Kingsfoil has been steadily writing and touring throughout the US, across various incarnations. While not appearing on their latest album, September’s A Beating Heart Is A Bleeding Heart, Muniz is now a full-time member of the four-piece, much to the excitement of the former “huge fan.”
“There’s a wide spectrum [of music] — there’s super poppy songs, there’s hard rock songs,” Muniz says of the group, “”We’re all super passionate about this band and making it work.”
Muniz seems to be in it for the long haul too, proclaiming his passion for the drums.
“There are always things you can learn, there’s always things you can do and try and progress. I want to keep doing that, I want people to eventually watch me and go ‘oh man, that’s so cool! I wish I could do that!’ So, I’m working hard all the time to get better.”
However, unsurprisingly Muniz does still have his critics. Cursed with the life of a former child star, he at least has a sense of humour about his more than average lifestyle. Besides those that have taken their critiques to him directly, end up feeling the burn:
