Meet Bethany Franco | House of Figs Founder, Vocalist, and Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bethany Franco and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bethany, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
While I do have a day job to help fund our band, House of Figs, I can absolutely see myself producing music full time as a living. It’s the one “job” that never feels like work. With music production it’s constantly evolving and discovering the possibilities of what you can actually make with a spectrum of frequencies is exhilarating to me. 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My main focus right now is writing and producing for my band, House of Figs. Currently we are a trio with Preston White on drums and my husband Jonathan Franco on Rhythm guitar. We’re currently working on 6 songs that follow the life of a girl trapped in her mental health struggles. Each song is a different time of her life (Middle school, high school, college, etc). We recently released a song called Shiny Red Cuts that was actually the beginning of her story and as you may have guessed, it’s about her choice to self-harm in junior high. The next song “Siren” will follow her story into high school with an abusive relationship, which will be released on September 5th. Each song will just continue her story until she finally finds resolve.

As a band one of our goals is to create safe havens for people battling any kind of mental illness. I’ve personally been through hell and back and know what it’s like to have a depression diagnosis and feel so lonely in my primitive growing years. We are small now but if we could choose the impact we want to have on the world, it’s for people to know that there is freedom waiting for them. And we will fight for them and write songs for them until they reach that freedom.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Love this! Breakfast would start with my favorite Aussie cafe “Ascension” or Ol’ South Pancake house. Both of them have the best breakfast food in my opinion. Then we’d go for a scenic walk along the Trinity River. As an avid thriftier I’d obviously have to take my bestie to all my favorite thrift spots before lunch including Uptown Cheapskate, Family Thrift, Buffalo Exchange, and every goodwill on the way. For lunch, we’re doing Greek. I swear by this place called Stop N Go gyro – I don’t know how they prepare their food so well every single time but I’ve never been failed by them. Before dinner we will go to Grapevine and see all the cute shops and historical landmarks and finish with dinner at Heim(the best bbq in DFW).

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ve been deeply inspired by my husband Jonathan Franco who has started a few music projects from the ground up and been incredibly successful. He’s currently the front man for his metal band called Mothaltar. While there’s a thousand industry secrets that he’s learned over the years, the most important thing he’s taught me is to invest into the people around you. The music industry can be cut throat, but we’re not in it to get to the top. We actually just love making music with our friends and forming family with people throughout the process.

And speaking of family, my mom and dad have never doubted my pursuit of music. While there’s way sure fire ways to build an income, they never pressured me to do anything I didn’t want to and have been the biggest support systems

I also owe a huge thanks to Kim Collins and her family for being our spiritual guide since the beginning. We call her our Intercessor and she both spiritually and physically mothers our band – she’s pretty much a secret weapon.

Lastly, we have to honor our AXL Creative Co. family. This is a collective of creatives in Fort Worth that we’ve found refuge in. These are people that have believed in us before we were even putting out music. They helped us build a foundation practically and spiritually so that we were equipped to do what we are passionate about. I feel incredible blessed to have them because I can’t imagine doing this alone, and they’ve been a constant group of people for the past 4 years to actually invest into us.

There’s so many people I want to mention, but I’m so thankful for every friend and family member that has supported me and my band along the way.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/houseofigs?igshid=MjEwN2IyYWYwYw==

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5f473IuXIL0qonLFW0PDCP?si=kHcTjklrRmiIwTZLGLnlZg

Image Credits
Fallon Michael Viviana Fraga