JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?
FRANK KOREN: Over the past 25 years I’ve mostly contributed to the arts by adding my guitar work to songs other people, including my wife, Kim Koren, have written. In 2015 I made the leap into that unknown world of songwriting for myself and released RED CHAIR later that year.
JS: What important beliefs do you express in your work?
FK: Caring about the human condition seems to find itself in my work. Sometimes it’s the story of a personal struggle and other times it’s the state of the world.
JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.
FK: Nelson Mandela. My formative years as a teenager and university student happened in the ‘80s and one principal struggle that I found myself involved with was the antiapartheid movement. I protested at the University of Toronto for the divestment from South Africa. He was not perfect but he always maintained integrity in his struggle for equality.
Tom Wilson. An amazing songwriter, musician, entertainer and someone who has promoted Hamilton, never shying away from his hometown. He should be the mayor of Hamilton!!
JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?
FK: I’ve become more focused on what’s important to me rather than what I think might be important to someone else.
JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?
FK: I find it a challenge to make time for creativity. As a guitar-player-for-hire I’m usually learning other people’s songs. That said, my role in these songs can be equally creative.
JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.
FK: Getting sober and staying that way for over 13 and 1/2 years.
JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?
FK: I usually hear “you’re doing what you love so don’t worry about not getting paid”. I too have bills!!
JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?
FK: I don’t think I had a choice. Early on I listened to CKOC radio, then my parents’ records, then my older brother’s KISS records, and then a wide variety of styles from U2 to Motown, from prog rock to funk! I did my B.A. in history with sights set on law school but chose music instead.
JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?
FK: Theatre. It would be completely out of my comfort zone!
JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?
FK: The various fund raisers I get involved with and the ones that I organize bring the most meaning to me.
JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?
FK: Work hard and grow a very thick skin.
JS: Of what value are critics?
FK: Who?
JS: What do you ask of your audience?
FK: Please listen to the music and please buy it if you like it. Share it with your friends but ask them to buy it too!
JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world?
FK: Greed! I believe most wars and inequities would fade if this greed could somehow lessen its grip as a driving force!
JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?
FK: I would like to relive my first time on stage with a band (Grade 9 talent show). The memory is clear but it’s just that, a memory!
JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?
FK: I don’t think of myself that way though I’m aware it helps when putting together shows that aid the community like the annual Koren Christmas which helps support Hamilton Food Share.
JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why.
FK: Egypt was fascinating in 1990. As a kid and teenager I loved all things to do with ancient Egypt (maybe having watched The Ten Commandments each year for 8 years or so helped create this obsession). I would go regularly!
I would like to visit the rest of Africa just to go “home”!!
JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us.
FK: I began writing a story in 1990 that was set in Egypt. The Arab Spring inspired me to continue. It may be some time before it ever gets finished but it’s fun.
JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?
FK: Music, my particular art, will always be with us. Great music will always come from us. It would be great to be paid fairly for the work we do as musicians, as songwriters and as performers!
JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?
FK: I was quite surprised that this year at 50 I decided to start running and completed my first 1/2 marathon in late October, finishing 233rd out of almost 2,000 runners! This suggests that you just never know what you will find yourself doing from year to year and it makes life pretty exciting and full!!