Frank Fehringer’s “The Ground Beneat My Feet” released in January.
Courtesy | Frank Fehringer
Frank Fehringer says he’s always writing songs.
“I’ve always got ideas going. If I have an idea, I’ll just pull out my phone and then take a little voice memo,” he said. “Maybe it’s a melody, or maybe it’s just a line.”
A sophomore in Simpson Residence, Fehringer started writing his own music for acoustic guitar in high school and released his first full album, called “The Ground Beneath My Feet,” in January under the name Frankie James. He’s never taken formal music lessons, and he can’t read music.
After receiving a ukulele for his 9th birthday and teaching himself from a book, Fehringer did yard work for a summer and saved up money to buy a guitar a few years later. Over the years, he taught himself chords and finger picking from YouTube videos.
“I’d hear a song, and I’d want to play it, and then I’d learn the chords and try to sing it,” Fehringer said.
Fehringer’s older brother Ted, a junior at Hillsdale, said the whole family was musical growing up. But nobody stuck with it the way Frank did.
“Being self-taught in anything takes a mountain of discipline and dedication,” Ted Fehringer said. “Frank has both, a rare combination in today’s world that has often left me in awe of my younger brother.”
Frank Fehringer set a long-term goal for himself senior year of high school: Write and record a full album. He released his first original music via YouTube that year and then released his first official single, “Gone,” on Spotify in 2024.
“I wasn’t too stoked about putting my music on the internet at first, just because it is kind of a vulnerable thing,” he said. “But you get used to it.”
Fehringer said the inspiration for most of his music comes from his experiences: “I guess it’s a journal, almost.”
In the single he released last year, “Chop Point Road,” he reflects on the summer he spent working at an outdoors camp by that name in Maine with his older brother.
“I’m privileged because I know the true meaning behind the words,” Ted Fehringer said of his brother’s music. “This knowledge often transports me back to shared experiences and memories that have been crafted into a tune, a time capsule accessible on Spotify whenever I want.”
Frank Fehringer said it can take him a while to process an experience before writing about it, and he writes because he doesn’t want to forget.
The actual writing doesn’t take long, as little as 15 minutes.
“I sit down and strum a few chords, maybe pick some chords,” he said. “I don’t know, I feel it I guess. I kind of find a pattern that I like, and then I start to sing over it and come up with lyrics. I’m not saying it’s good, but I can write a song quick.”
When he’s home, Fehringer records his music in his closet or his basement using a microphone he bought for $100, adding sound layering later. Hillsdale classes keep him too busy for recording while he’s on campus.
The guitar-centric music of artists like Jack Johnson, Bob Dylan, and Dave Matthews informed Fehringer’s style when he first started playing. He said he likes Ed Sheeran, too.
Fehringer said he doesn’t try to fit a specific genre: maybe folk or indie. Or, as his friend junior Collin Davis put it, “just a guitar and a voice.”
“He’s very basic, very bare bones, simple music,” Davis said. “I think that’s really enjoyable to listen to.”
Fehringer records and performs when he can, but he said he mostly plays in informal settings for friends.
Davis, junior Shea Ruddy, and a group of Fehringer’s other friends living in Suites Residence had a vinyl of his music made as a gift for Fehringer after his album dropped.
“I have a record player in my suite that I have a lot of vinyls for,” Ruddy said. “I just thought it would be something he would enjoy because he always comes over, and he likes to listen to them.”
The friend group — groupchat name The Collaboration Project — all pitched in for the gift.
His friends say it took a while for each of them to find out that Fehringer writes music in the first place, he talks about it so little.
“If we ask him about it, he’ll talk to us about it,” sophomore Braeden Chiles said. “And then in passing, he’ll mention when he’s working on stuff. But he doesn’t usually bring it up.”
Ruddy first found out about his music from Ted Fehringer.
“He doesn’t like to put himself out there with his music,” Ruddy said. “He’s getting more toward that, and I think that’s good for him because people will see how talented he is.”
Asked if he would keep writing music even if no one listened to it, Fehringer laughed and said, “I pretty much am.”
He said he wants his music to be relatable for other people, but he doesn’t mind if it remains a personal hobby.
“I’m just doing it because I love doing it,” he said. “My music makes me feel something. I hope it makes other people feel something, too.”
But Ted Fehringer said he’s ready to take on the role of manager when his brother says the word.
“Frank knows that if he wants to chase his dream, I will gladly pick up if he calls,” he said.
