Prior to forming
Levitation, Francolini played with several bands in Bristol in the late 1980s. He replaced the drummer in Something Pretty Beautiful, a band formed by
Julian Cope's brother Joss, just before a nationwide tour with
The House of Love, where he first met guitarist
Terry Bickers. Francolini and Bickers co-founded the psychedelic rock band Levitation in 1990. During this period, Francolini also co-founded the band
Strangelove with
Patrick Duff in 1991. Francolini only played two gigs with the band before being replaced by Jon Langley. Levitation went on to release several singles and one album. The band continued until 1994 (despite the departure of Terry Bickers in 1993), and Francolini remained with the band until the final split. He reunited with former Levitation bandmates
Christian Hayes and
Laurence O'Keefe in 1996 to form
Dark Star. The band released one album,
Twenty Twenty Sound in 1999 before splitting in 2001. Following the demise of Dark Star, Francolini returned to Bristol and set up
recording studio Ohm Studios, where he began working on the debut album with his new band
Dragons, as well as the "City Of The Dead" project. Initially a studio project with singer Anthony Tombling Jr (whom Francolini has previously worked with when producing Transambient Communications and
Timo Maas), news of Francolini's new band was reported in 2003 but the band didn't surface until 2007. Early shows featured both Hayes and O'Keefe as part of the live band, with the band disbanding in 2009. A second album was recorded, but was left unmixed. In 2005, Francolini produced and played on the 2005
Julian Cope albums
Rite Bastard and
Citizen Cain'd under the pseudonym Mitch Razor. Francolini has more recently set up a new studio in Bristol called Komplex and has worked with artists including
Mediæval Bæbes,
Exit Calm and
Client. ==References==