JOHN OATES: Who are your influences?
DONAVON FRANKENREITER: All types of music. I’ve been traveling all over the world as a professional surfer from the age of 16. My heart is in early and late ’70s rock ’n’ roll and R&B. I love that era. I love you guys—Hall and Oates—and Bob Dylan. I twist it a little bit because I come from a beach lifestyle. I love to dance and groove.

JO: Your songwriting has references about your family, traveling and the road. Talk about the spiritual aspect of it.
DF: I never really started to write songs until I met my wife, around the age of 29. It was a whole new thing for me. Sometimes people ask, “Man, are you ever depressed? All you sing or write about is happy stuff.” Playing live is such a joy that I couldn’t really break it down to the point where I played this very traumatic, horrible song. It came natural to write songs about my two boys, my wife, what it means to be in love and to make it through the good and bad times. But I leave my wife and my kids so much that it really takes a toll on my mind and soul.

JO: I like to say that I sing for love, but you’ve got to pay me to travel.
DF: That is so true. I’ve gotta quote you and write a song about that.

JO: You have three new CDs. Why three at the same time?
DF: One record in the edition is called Recycled Recipes. I take old songs and redo them in a very broken-down, acoustic style. Since I moved to Kauai, I have been so drawn to Hawaiian music and that sound of the slack-key guitar, the lap steel and the open tuning. [For the second] I took 10 songs off my very first record and redid it all Hawaiian style. And in January I went to Asheville, North Carolina, and recorded a brand-new album of all original stuff. It feels good sitting on three new records.

JO: What do you want from yourself as a performer and as a recording artist?
DF: I don’t look too far into the future. I really enjoy recording music and playing live, surfing and traveling. I enjoy every moment of being a husband and a dad. I love meeting people, and things that come around the next corner that you don’t expect. That’s why I’m so attracted to playing live. It’s like my world of surfing; I know I’m never going to catch the same wave twice.

INSIDER INFO
John Oates is the executive producer of the new 7908: The Aspen Songwriters Festival (September 16–19; wheeleroperahouse. com). To hear Frankenreiter’s music, visit donavonf.com.