Francesco Gaetano Moliterno, known professionally as Franko Moliterno or Turno, is an English musician from Bedford. After losing his brother to suicide, Turno released a UK Top 40 single about men's mental health.[1] His charity single, "What's On Your Mind", was released in 2022.[2] The single "Rave Out" with Charlotte Plank and Skepsis charted at No. 37 on the UK Top 40 in 2023.[3]
Francesco Gaetano "Franko" Moliterno[4] is from Bedford,[1] and had a brother, Fabio,[5] who ran Escobarbers in Bedford town centre[6] and committed suicide[5] in September 2021[7] following years of poor mental health;[5] both are of Italian descent.[8] In October 2016,[9] he set up a clothing range;[10] its brand name, Time Is Now, was taken from the idea of not waiting until tomorrow to do things.[11] He then released the albums Power and DNA.[12] In February 2022, he released "Melia", a collaboration with free climber George King which had come about after King used Moliterno's "Abyss" in one of his tracks.[13]
To mark one year of Fabio's death, Franko released a single, "What's On Your Mind" on 15 September 2021, which featured SJ Loq, Myleedan, Phizi, and Too Lippy.[7] The song appeared throughout the first episode of the second series of We Are England, a BBC documentary series, which had been filmed after the gym and mental health charity Samsons Academy approached the BBC wanting to make a documentary about male suicide, and involved the remaining Moliternos;[14] originally intended for broadcast the day after release,[15] the death of Queen Elizabeth II meant that schedules were scrambled,[16] and the programme actually aired three weeks later.[17] A drum and bass remix of the song was released on 10 October 2022, that year's World Mental Health Day;[7] profits from both versions went to Mind,[2] a mental health charity.[1]
In October 2022, Moliterno organised a mental health seminar with the record label DnB Allstars,[18] and in December 2022, Moliterno organised a writer's camp with Ultra Records, which took place the following month; during this week, he recorded 22 tracks, the first of which was "Rave Out", which featured Skepsis and Charlotte Plank and discussed men's mental health.[18] The track came out in June 2023,[19] by which time Moliterno's "Killer" had charted at No. 94 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart; upon release, "Rave Out" charted at No. 37 on the UK Singles Chart.[20]