Franz Ferdinand - Interview - Spring 2009
By: Matt Tomiak
Rockfeedback's Matt Tomiak threw a few questions in to the mix at a Franz Ferdinand press conference in London last week, ahead of the release of their long in the making third album Tonight.
AK= Alex Kapranos (vocals)
PT = Paul Thompson (drums)
BH = Bob Hardy (bass)
You spent about three years making the album. Was it time well spent?
AK: It wasn't really three years. The last one came out, and we were on tour for quite a long time after that. At that point we felt it wasn't really the right time to write an album, we hadn't had a break. It pretty much took a year and a half to make the record. It seemed like a natural time; it took a year and a half to get the first record together, and we weren't really thinking in terms of deadlines or anything like that.
The new record has some very danceable elements, how did those come about?
AK: We like the dancefloor! I think we wanted to do that in a different way- there were elements of that on the first and second records, which whilst they seemed original and fresh when they appeared - like certain bass lines, drum patterns, hi-hats, whatever- felt ubiquitous after they were released. We wanted them to sound a bit different here.
PT: What was the question again?! Err, do I like the dancefloor? Yeah, absolutely! I DJ from time to time...actually, clearing the dancefloor is my speciality!
What do you think will be this album's 'Take Me Out' or 'Do You Want To'- where's the big hit?
AK: When we write songs we don't really think of any of them in those terms. We just write songs - when we wrote 'Shopping For Blood' when the band first got together or 'Outsiders' on the last record, you don't think of them in terms of a 'hit'. Maybe afterwards you can see there are certain songs that Radio One might want to play more than others, like I don't think that Radio One is gonna play the full version of 'Lucid Dreams' as readily as they'd play 'No You Girls', but you don't think in those terms when you're writing. But 'No You Girls' is the poppiest song, if that's what you mean....
What do you think of new Scottish bands like Glasvegas? How important is a sense of Scotland in your music?
AK: I love Glasvegas, I think they're a great band, and what I like about them is that they seem to be continuing a tradition of bands from Glasgow who sound nothing like each other. Like Mogwai sound nothing like us, who sound nothing like Belle & Sebastian, who sound nothing like The Delgados. To me, the bands from Glasgow seem quite contrary, doing what they want to. And with Glasvegas, when I first heard them, I really felt that from them. When you're writing, you have to write about things that you know, and that's definitely James (Allan, Glasvegas songwriter-in-chief) has done with them. Of course, you have to be very honest when you're writing songs as well. If I tried to write songs like James, I think that'd be dishonest, because that's not the way I see the world. I like his songs, but I don't see the world that way.
The artwork of the new album moves away from the Russian Constructivist imagery of the first two, as well as seeming to lack the pop cultural references of those albums. What was the thinking behind that?
AK: You mean stuff like the "Terry Wogan" line on the first album? We definitely wanted to change the visual aesthetic this time round, mainly because the look of those first records reflected the sound of the music- the bold geometry almost looked like the record sounded. Those strong, jerky rhythmic movements looked like that- this record has a different feel to it. It's got a dirtier night time vibe which looks like its cover.
This album moves towards a more 70s funk direction. Was that a conscious decision?
AK: We're all fans of disco and 70s music, but I don't think we were trying to make a record like that. What we took from that more was the melodies lead by the bass guitar, rather than the distorted electric guitar which you'd probably have more of on an indie record. You put an emphasis on different elements of the band to give yourself that sound. I think it's true for a lot of bands, you have so many influences, so many things that come together to make your sound, sometimes if you just isolate just one of those...sometimes there are influences that are foisted upon you. A lot of this post-punk stuff got put on us: "Oh yeah, they're obviously influenced by Gang of Four", and we never really were. Whereas a band like Monochrome Set, who probably were a lot more, never really got mentioned.
What's the idea behind 'Ulysses'?
AK: The story of Ulysses or Odysseus is just a great tale. You can read it now two and a half thousand years later and still feel you empathise with this character, who is lost and is never going home. And there are always times in your life when you feel like that, certainly if you're in a band - "where the hell am I? Am I ever going to go home, back to the life I used to know?" If you let that get you down, it's a disaster. But if you can instead treat as it as an adventure, to be embraced...I think that song is more about how you can consider yourself to be a hero when you're not.
In terms of musical genres, this record feels quite diverse, 'Lucid Dreams' is in particular very unlike anything you've done before. Is that a tradition when you first started out or does that reflect something that's happening now?
PT: I like a wider variety of music, the genre or geography becomes less important. It might be a consequence of getting older, moving away from being part of a group who all listen to the same style of music
BH: It's also the way I listen to music way now- on an MP3 player you might have Daft Punk next to Dolly Parton and not think twice. They're just....songs!
AK: I remember when records were my only way of listening to music really. To find those kinds of winder influences, you'd really have to go to a specialist store and order something and wait for it to come 6 weeks later. It's definitely easier now.
Artists in this article: Franz Ferdinand