Recovering from a thriving headline performance with his band, Liquid Soul, the previous night at Chicago’s House of Blues, Hill managed to take a moment from his rush-hour schedule to discuss his multi-faceted career as musician, music attorney and record label pioneer and the paths he chose to get him there. Although Hill’s talents have taken him across the country, his heart definitely belongs to Chicago.

Frankie Hill began his musical trek at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago where he studied piano for a year before joining soul singer Walter Jackson on tour as a keyboardist. Upon returning to the Windy City during the “heyday of the punk scene,” he co-formed and led the ska outfit Heavy Manners, one of the city’s hottest bands of the early ‘80s. The group put out a series of 45s, which are still spun at ska/dance parties and on radio play lists across the country. After studying as an undergrad at the University of Illinois - Chicago, Hill ventured to Los Angeles, where he lent his stylings to various bands such as King Fun and the Bonedaddys.

In the late ‘80s, though, his heart led him home again, where he finished his undergrad work and played with the reggae/punk/dance hall band, Rude Beat League. As the new decade began, Hill found that simply performing in bands failed to nourish his appetite for the music business, prompting his decision to attend DePaul Law School (Chicago), where he earned his degree in ‘93. Shortly after passing the bar exam in the fall of the same year, Hill began his law practice.

The Music Attorney

While Robert Shapiro and Marcia Clark deal with murderers and thieves, Frankie Hill consults aspiring musicians and independent music labels. Reflecting back, Hill said this career choice seemed to make perfect sense. “Because of my time as a musician, I have a good knowledge of what needs to happen contractually to help a band have a fair shot with a label,” Hill said.

“I deal mostly with Chicago bands in contract negotiations and assist them in getting trademarks, copyrights and making sure that their business operation is on sound legal footing.”

Whereas most attorneys gear their bias toward their clients, Hill does not work solely for the prosperity of the bands he represents. “From a label’s point of view, I help them have a clearer understanding of how to work their contractual relationship with a band so everyone benefits.”

This fair-minded mentality of Hill’s also becomes apparent in other aspects of his business career.

The Record Label

As the brains behind Novo Records, Hill is constantly flooded with demo tapes sent by a multitude of garage bands that could easily populate a medium-sized suburb. It is in the assessment of these tapes in which his objectiveness shines through.

Hill has created a three-part test for each demo he listens to:

“Number one: Do I know some other labels that would be interested? Number two: major or indie label? And number three: Is the music interesting enough? Does it have a musical niche to garner radio play and sell some CDS?”

As evidenced by his test, Hill’s business sense is not wallpapered in dollar signs. When he sees the potential of a band far exceeds the deal his label can supply them with, his skills as an attorney kick in. Instead of suggesting a band stay with Novo, Hill works for them to sign a deal with a label that can help them grow and prosper with increased publicity and other benefits.

As a musician, he also knows what it takes for a band to spark the interest of prospective labels. “The songs are what matters,” Hill said. “They have to be shocking enough to knock the labels into buying.”

Last year, Novo Records remastered the 45s of Hill’s former band, Heavy Manners, along with the legendary Peter Tosh, who recorded a few tracks with the band.

The label, though small, reaches larger boundaries with its technological gateways. The web site, constructed and managed by Missy Angus, “keeps the on-line world up to date on what’s happening with our bands,” Hill said. Included in the site is a Liquid Soul page along with pictures, tour dates, song samples, a guest sign-in book, e-mail and contests. “The site is important to us,” Hill added. “It’s a link to all of the musical avenues and it keeps expanding and expanding.”

The Band

Since 1994, Frankie Hill has been playing keyboards with the 10-piece acid jazz band, Liquid Soul. In 1995, Liquid Soul put out a self-released CD and plugged into Midwest Artist Distribution, later getting Symbiotic Distribution to distribute nationally. After a string of shows on the East Coast, Liquid Soul was able to solicit major label negotiations and Hill negotiated a deal with Miles Copeland’s new label, ARK 21, with EMI distributing.

Since then, the sky above Liquid Soul has been only blue as they’ve garnered success from every side of the musical spectrum -- tours, television, publications, word-of-mouth, etc. Their most renowned performance to date occurred this past January at the 53rd Presidential Inauguration in which the band played to hundreds of thousands of people lining Pennsylvania Avenue for the Inaugural Parade and later at the 21st Century Ball along with Jewel, Sponge and LL Cool J. Highlights from this show included hearing Al Gore say, “Liquid Soul rules!” during a speech and standing next to Chelsea Clinton and her friends as they grooved to LL Cool J.

Like always, though, Hill’s musical ties keep bringing him back to Chicago, where Liquid Soul have a three year track record of playing every Sunday night at the Double Door in Chicago.

Despite the band’s ever-growing notoriety, Hill manages to be in the office for a good portion of the week, cutting the deals and making the tough decisions. “I’ve established really good relationships with some really cool people at other labels who are friends and fans,” Hill said. “I also have continuing relationships with musicians I’ve played with before who have gone on to work in the music industry.”

Frankie Hill is living out his dream of working in the music business and even taking it a step further by incorporating the various tools of the trade into his repertoire. “It’s all connected,” he said. “I’m promoting art by performing it and representing it.”

Check out Novo Records at http://www.mcs.net/~novoarts