Frank Benbini (born Mark Francis Reid, 21 September 1976 in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, England) is the British drummer and one third of

Fun Lovin' Criminals Fun Lovin' Criminals are an American rap rock band from New York City. They are best known for their hit "Scooby Snacks", which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino, and the song "Love Unlimited", which recalls Barry White's backin ...

(FLC). He is also known as Uncle Frank and TRM which stands for "The Rhythm Man". Benbini is a singer, record producer, songwriter and director. Benbini joined FLC as their drummer in May 2003although he had known the band for many years previously (their first meeting was at Rock City in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

in 1996)after having worked for a while as Mackie's technician. Along with drumming, Benbini also provides backing vocals to tracks on FLC's more recent albums and when performing live with the FLC. Benbini is also one half of the Make It Nice Brothers with Naim Cortazzi (a multi instrumentalist and producer). Based in Leicester, England, the Make It Nice Brothers perform in two bands, Uncle Frank and Fatal Star. These two bands each have different musical styles to the Fun Lovin' Criminals - Uncle Frank first being described as "the music from the

Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

blended with Barry White's lush soul vibe and some genius songwriting a la

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

" and Fatal Star as "devastating campfire harmonies with a mystical eastern edge for arrangements. Delicate, Melodic, Soulful food for hungry dreamers". Uncle Frank were signed to a three-album deal in 2013 by MITA Records executive David Rogers. Uncle Frank's debut label album ''Smiles for Miles'' was released in May 2014 and was described by Penny Black Music as an album "full of classic, quirky and lovestruck songs". The band's second single "Somethin' Somethin'" accompanied by a robot animation video was featured by ''

The Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' "Frank Benbini and Naim Cortazzi, have spent years making music and their remarkable output ranges from soul to funk and old-school hip hop". In 2017, Uncle Frank released the album ''Love Lion'' which received strong reviews in the indie press. "There wasn't a song on Love Lion I didn't like. The chords in each track and the melodies were all beautifully tied together, and really soothing to listen to." The singles ("Love Lion", "Fountains" and "Tokyo") videos, which accompanied the album, came to the attention of BBC Radio 2 radio and television presenter

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian, television and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation ...

who featured Uncle Frank on his radio show, as well as inviting the band to support him on his sold out Funk and Soul Club. He would later describe the band, saying "They tore the stage apart, Uncle Frank, my favourite live band of 2018". In 2018 Benbini began presenting a regular Sunday evening radio show on

BBC Radio Leicester BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Nicholas Place in Leicester. According to RAJAR, the station ...

. Benbini and Naim Cortazzi are co-founders of Make it Nice Records which is currently the home of Uncle Frank's releases. Benbini dipped his toes into the realms of acting, being part of the sequel to FLC's film ''Maui Homicide'' (currently titled ''Maui Homicide 2'') and also appearing with fellow band member

Huey Morgan Hugh Thomas Diaz Morgan (born 8 August 1968) is an American musician best known as the former frontman of rock/hip hop band Fun Lovin' Criminals. Morgan performs both vocals and guitar and combines rock, hip hop, jazz, reggae, and funk influenc ...

in Brit flick ''Clubbing To Death'' (2008).

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benbini, Frank Living people British rock drummers British male drummers People from Leicester 1976 births English radio DJs