Everything about Franz Ferdinand Band totally explained
Franz Ferdinand is a
British indie rock band that formed in
Glasgow,
Scotland in 2001. Named after
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the band comprises
Alex Kapranos (
lead vocals and
guitar),
Bob Hardy (
bass guitar),
Nick McCarthy (
rhythm guitar,
keyboards and backing vocals), and
Paul Thomson (
drums, percussion and backing vocals).
The band first experienced chart success when their second single "
Take Me Out" reached #3 in the UK Charts, followed by their debut album
Franz Ferdinand which debuted on the
UK album chart at #3. The band went on to win the 2004
Mercury Music Prize and two
BRIT Awards in 2005 for
Best British Group and
Best British Rock Act.
NME named
Franz Ferdinand as their Album of the Year. From the album, three top-ten singles were released, "
Take Me Out", "
The Dark of the Matinée", "
This Fire". Also, "
Michael" peaked at #17.
History
Formation
The members of Franz Ferdinand had played previously in various bands during the 1990s including
The Karelia,
Yummy Fur, 10p Invaders and
Embryo. Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson had played together in Yummy Fur and subsequently teamed up to write songs. Around the same time Kapranos taught his friend Bob Hardy how to play bass. Kapranos met co-guitarist Nick McCarthy in 2001 who had returned to Scotland after studying
jazz bass in Germany.
In May 2003, the band signed to Laurence Bell's
independent record label,
Domino Records. The band had recorded an
EP which they intended to release themselves, instead it was released by
Domino as
Darts of Pleasure, in the latter part of 2003. The cover art was designed by Thomson. It reached #43 in the UK chart.. The band won the "Phillip Hall Radar Award" at the
NME Awards of 2004, announced in late 2003.
On the tour that followed the album release, Franz broke the record for the longest run at the
Alexandra Palace,
North London, by playing 4 sold out nights during November-December 2005. To support the album, four singles were released. Included in that set is a
double A-side single that contained a video-clip only single as well (both the AA-side "L. Wells" and the video-clip "Jeremy Fraser" are not featured on the album, recorded in early 2006 during the band's tour of Australia in support of the album). Also included is another video-clip-only single called "Wine In the Afternoon" which is the B-side to
Eleanor Put Your Boots On, and was also not featured on the album, but recorded on tour in Michigan. "
Do You Want To" made it to number 4, while "
Walk Away" and "
The Fallen" / "L. Wells" entered the top 15 of the
UK Singles Chart. The 4th and final single from the second album, "
Eleanor Put Your Boots On" peaked at number 30.
Third album
Since late 2007, the band have been recording their
third studio album in
Glasgow, expected to be released sometime in October 2008.
In an interview with British newspaper
The Independent the band stated that the upcoming album would have plenty of African influences. This was revealed at a recent African Express show, an event set up by
Damon Albarn, of
Blur and
Gorillaz fame. This was revealed after the band played a new song, which is unofficially entitled "Can't You Let Me Stay Tonight". When it was played at the event, the song featured
Malian ngoni player Bassekou Kouyaté,
Senegalese percussionists, and
British rapper Kano. It hasn't yet been confirmed if the stated musicians will appear in an official recorded version.
Collaborations and Covers
Franz Ferdinand covered the
LCD Soundsystem song "
All My Friends" which appeared as a B-side on the single, and is also working on an album of
Sparks covers, collaborating with the group on the recordings. They have also covered "Sexy Boy" by
Air and "It Won't Be Long" by
The Beatles,
Pulp's popular single "
Mis-Shapes",
Gwen Stefani's top 5 hit "
What You Waiting For?" and
David Bowie's song "Sound and Vision", featuring
Girls Aloud on backing vocals, for a compilation disc marking the 40th anniversary of
BBC Radio One along with other leading artists. Additionally, Franz Ferdinand recorded a cover of
The Fire Engines' song "Get Up and Use Me". In return, the Fire Engines recorded a cover of "Jacqueline". The band has had remixes by major electronic artists
Daft Punk,
Hot Chip,
Justice, and
Erol Alkan.
As far as collaborations go, Kapranos has announced that on the 22/04/08 he'll begin collaborating with an unknown Canadian artist, as well as implying that the band was working with
Xenomania on the new album, as Alex is a fan of their work with
Girls Aloud. The band also performed, played, and recorded with
Jane Birkin, covering the
Serge Gainsbourg song "Sorry Angel" for the 2005 album
Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited. In addition, Franz re-recorded the track "
Brown Onions" for David Shringley's compilation album
Worried Noodles.The band kept instrumentation identical but used lyrics written by Shringley which include the consistent repetition of the word "No" and occasionally "No brains, no teeth, no legs, no eyes...".
Hot Chip a band who, it's reported are a favourite of Franz Ferdinand also performed their own version of "No" on the same album.
The band 'met'
Gorillaz in December 2005, and interviewed each other for a feature in
Observer Music Monthly.
Name
The name of the band was originally inspired by a
racehorse called The Archduke. After seeing the horse run on television the band began to discuss
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and thought it would be a good band name because of the sound of the name and the implications of the Archduke's death (his assassination was the most significant of many factors which led to
World War I). They discussed it in a very early interview with the Scottish magazine
Is This Music?
"Mainly we just liked the way it sounded," says Bob. "We liked the
alliteration." "He was an incredible figure as well," continues Alex. "His life, or at least the ending of it, was the catalyst for the complete transformation of the world ... he was a pivot for history. But I don't want to over-intellectualise the name thing. Basically a name should just sound good ... like music." Paul has a much grander notion. "I like the idea that, if we become popular, maybe the words Franz Ferdinand will make people think of the band instead of the historical figure."
The song "
Take Me Out", on the band's first album, was the second single to be released by the band. The single release of "
Take Me Out" came with the B-side, "All for You Sophia", based on the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, whose name was
Sophie, not Sophia. The band changed the name Sophie to Sophia to give the song a better ring to it.
Art
The band is notable for its use of
Russian avant-garde imagery in album and single covers. Examples include: "
You Could Have It So Much Better," which references a 1924 portrait of
Lilya Brik by
Alexander Rodchenko; "
Take Me Out," which references
One-Sixth Part of the World, also by Alexander Rodchenko; "
This Fire" which references
Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge by
El Lissitzky; and "
Michael", with single art based on
A Proun by Lissitzky.
Also, in "Outsiders", the lyrics "In seventeen years will you still be
Camille,
Lee Miller,
Gala or whatever" are a reference to the lovers of the artists
Auguste Rodin,
Man Ray and
Salvador Dalí.
Videos
Many of the videos to promote the band's singles take inspiration from
Russian
avant-garde much like their CD sleeves.
The avant-garde music video for "Take Me Out", directed by
Jonas Odell, was inspired by
Dadaism,
Busby Berkeley choreographies and Russian
constructivist design.
Alex Kapranos explained the many and varied influences behind the '30s-style promo for second single 'Take Me Out'.
"It's kind of two dimensional in a three dimensional style if that makes any sense. It's a montage of images; ourselves, pictures and things taken from other places and put together in a strange, abstract way. That's what gives the video that strange, jerky, style". The video for "This Fire" is similar to "Take Me Out" in style.
The lyrics of "Do You Want To" make reference to parties at the 'trendy' Glasgow art gallery Transmission and the video includes a variety of the work of contemporary artist
Vanessa Beecroft, along with a reference to Pink Floyd in the mix.
Discography
Studio albums
Awards
Music samples
Further Information
Get more info on 'Franz Ferdinand Band'.
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