A native New Yorker of Italian heritage and a child prodigy cellist, Francis Rodino survived a solid classical music education in both the US and Italy, before being bitten by the Rock ‘n’ Roll bug and arriving in London as a guitar playing singer/songwriter. Paying his dues and honing his writing and performing skills on the London club and pub scene, Francis built up a powerful live presence - with his band of some of the capital’s finest rock musicians - resulting in a solid and loyal fanbase.

After raising a $50,000 recording budget from both his fans and the public via the SellaBand online platform, Francis and producer/engineer Steve Bush (The Stereophonics, Corinne Bailey Rae, Athlete) began an intensive year of recording and production, working at the legendary Rockfield Studios, Wales, with final mastering by veteran mastering engineer Bob Ludwig (U2, Coldplay, Radiohead) in Maine, US.

The resulting album is Circles And Squares, Francis’ debut album release. Featuring ten original compositions that are solidly constructed around Francis’ powerful and emotive vocals, Steve Bush’s superb production creates an overall sound that’s a fusion of alternative and modern rock, full of intense, anthemic choruses and haunting melodies, with live performances revealing an intensity that captivates the audience.

Francis holds a personal and direct relationship with his fans through his ever-growing online community, providing a regular stream of multimedia content to subscribers. From online webcasts, blogs and video diaries to “all access” footage and works in progress, Francis involves his fans in the many creative aspects of his musical journey.

Francis has been a long time writing partner of Ruth Lorenzo (X-Factor finalist 2008), who will be releasing Burn in summer 2011 as her first debut single. Visit www.theraspberrypattern.com for more information.

2011 marked the release of yet another EP, the self titled Francis Rodino. Recorded by George Shilling and mixed by Steve Bush, this collection of 5 songs shows the versatility at the heart of Francis' music, with shades of rock in Other Side, introverted and deeply intense Over Again and the hauntingly beautiful "Eternity". This EP was once again fully funded by Francis' international fan-base, using Pledge Music - a crowd-funding social network.

Francis  says of his music:

"I wanted to create a sound of my own: intense, intimate, provoking, meaningful. I write about how I feel about life, love, losses and failures, highs and lows, and broken hearts. I'm facinated about our humanity and how we act/react to one another. This album represents experiences that we all live through; trying to fit in, trying to make sense out of what may happen randomly. I try to tell stories through my music that is accessible to different people, from different walks of life."

I've had the priviledge of playing with not just some fantastic musicians, but some even more fantastic people. Each one is a wonderful, individual character, bringing the music to life by adding their own unique colour - whether live or recorded.


Allan Burls - Bass

Fast gaining a reputation as a reliable and solid session player, Allan Burls has been called upon by singer/ songwriters, bands and producers alike for his skills as a bass player and band leader. Allan's passion for his instrument is evident through his live performances and as well as this he has worked successfully in the studio recording with producers such as Andy Whitmore and Steve Bush as well as making TV and radio appearances.



Nik Hollis - Electric Guitar

Nik Hollis has been a regular gigging musician since the age of 16, for years was a key face in the Plymouth music scene playing in various rock/indie/metal bands such as Liberator, Cadaverous, Cane, Snowblind, 16 Sone Mullet amonst others. Nik moved to the big smoke in 2004 and played in a couple of bands before hooking up with Francis in the Autumn of 2006 and has been a member of the band since.



Alberto Manuzzi - Piano and keyboards
A prolific, multi-instrumentalist and compsoer from Bologna, Italy, Alberto now lives and works in London where he teaches and jam  sessions for some of the UK's best music hotspots. From west end shows through to jazz, pop. Alberto currently writes as the London Correspondent for the Italian Musicologycal Newspaper , Giornale della Musica. Visit www.albertomanuzzi.com




Michael Benöhr - Drums
Michael Benöhr is a chilean/german session drummer based in London since 2008. Throughout his musical career Michael has performed at international festivals, radio and TV stations such as Love Box Festival, Kerrang! Radio and MTV. Most recently he has been drumming among others for Aggro Santos (Number 5 in the UK Charts, May 2010) and Jeye T (produced by Gary Powell of The Libertines). Apart from being an active live and studio drummer Michael works as a drum tutor at The Rhythm Studio and at All Talents Music School.Visit http://www.michaelbenohr.com