Eugene Francis Jnr is a British musician, who has released music with several bands as well as solo material.

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Eugene Francis Jnr
Eugene Francis Jnr in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Kristian Charles Williams
Also known as	Eso Burst, Kip Armstrong
Born	(1977-03-08) 8 March 1977 (age 45)
Origin	Cardiff, Wales
Genres	Folk, Electronic, Punk-Rock, alternative, Blues
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, guitarist, percussionist
Instruments	vocals, guitar, bass, banjo, synthesizers, keyboards, drums, mandolin, theremin
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Legion, Mighty Atom, Fuzzbox
Website	eugenefrancisjnr.com

Biography

Early life

Francis was born in Cardiff, Wales on 8 March 1977.

Early groups

Francis's first band was The Fantastic Super Foofs, formed in Bridgend around 1994. The band started playing punk rock, and were initially known as "Mister Puss". By 1997 Francis had enrolled at University College London studying Planetary Science, where he befriended Coldplay and My Vitriol. The singles "Bilo Boss", "Devan Endo" and "Timmy Zuckermann" were released on the independent labels Floating Toast and Fuzzbox, and received positive reviews in NME and airplay from Steve Lamacq and John Peel. Francis's next project was Kaptain Black, named after musician Frank Black, combining blues, punk and country music. The album In Fertility was released in 2004 on the Mighty Atom label. Kaptain Black toured with Mclusky and released the single "Drone the Queen Bee". In 2005 Francis agreed to write and perform with Cardiff band Dirty Perfect under the name "Kip Armstrong". They released one EP entitled "Lines, Opiates and the demented operation" on Fuzzbox Records and one single, "Quarterback Hairdo", on Sound Foundation Records.

Solo career

Francis subsequently spent time in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York and began experimenting with Folk, storytelling songs coupled with electronica. He returned home to Wales to start work on a concept album, The Golden Beatle. He began posting songs on MySpace and playing solo shows in London and Cardiff in 2007, and formed another group called The Juniors, including members from Vito, Broken Leaf and Lindsey Leven (of Gulp).[1] Francis opened for Tegan and Sara,[2] and released the vinyl double A-side single "Poor Me / Kites". The single and video received airplay on VH1, MTV2, BBC Radio 1,[3] Radio 2, XFM and BBC 6 Music, as well as US radio station KEXP.[4] Eugene Francis Jnr and The Juniors also played the mainstage Green Man Festival.

The Golden Beatle, The Juniors 2008–2009

The album The Golden Beatle was completed on Christmas Eve 2007, and released in April 2008. The 7-piece band 'The Juniors' appeared with Frank Sidebottom on Channel M and on Radio 4 for Clive Anderson's 'loose ends' and toured with Todd Rungren and Coldplay. They played the Secret Garden Party and Guildfest festivals and also performed in the US at SXSW in Austin and CMJ in New York. In December 2009, The Juniors supported Coldplay at the O2 Arena in London.

Death and das Love Bytes 2012–2013

In July 2009, Francis went travelling around the US, Canada, Mexico and Central America for 11 months. He then attended Los Angeles Recording School, and in 2011 started work on a new album, Death and das Love Bytes, from which the first single "Necronomicon" was released in the summer 2012. His new group EFJ vs dotdotdot played Leopalooza, dot to dot and Nozstock festivals.

Discography

• 1999 "Gliptus"
• 2001 "Bilo Boss"
• 2002 "Devan Endo", "Timmy Zuckermann"
• 2004 "In fertility", "Drone The Queen Bee"
• 2005 "Lines, Opiates and the Demented Operation", "Quarterback Hairdo"
• 2007 "Poor Me / Kites"
• 2008 "The Golden Beatle"
• 2012 "Necronomicon : I am Providence"
• 2012 "Calliope Fuxwar"
• 2013 "Death and das Love Bytes'

References

External links

• Eugene Francis Jnr Site
• Necronomicon Review
• Eugene Francis Jnr Myspace
• Eugene Francis Jnr: Song of the day on KEXP
• Live review
• 3hive blog
• Review of Kaptain Black 'In fertility'