Franz Ferdinand (band)

Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish indie rock/post-punk revival band originating from Glasgow. Formed in 2001 and named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the band consists of Alex Kapranos on lead vocals and guitar, Bob Hardy on bass guitar, Nick McCarthy on rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, and Paul Thomson on drums, percussion, and backing vocals.

The band's debut self-titled album (released in 2004) debuted on the UK album charts at number three and won the 2004 Mercury Music Prize before their second album, You Could Have It So Much Better, charted at number 1. So far, the band has released eight singles, a double single and two video-clip-only singles, of which Take Me Out, The Dark of the Matinée, This Fire (on the download chart) and Do You Want To were top 10 hits in the UK.

History

(2001-2003) The "Château" - early years

In late 2001, singer and guitarist Alex Kapranos and bassist Bob Hardy began playing music together in Glasgow. After meeting Nick McCarthy at a party, they began to rehearse together at McCarthy's house. McCarthy was classically trained on the piano and double bass but initially played drums. The trio then met up with Paul Thomson who had played drums with Yummy Fur. Thomson originally was going to play guitar because he wanted to try something other than drums. However, once Nick started playing the drums, Alex and Bob realized that Nick didn't actually know how to. Quote "...when he said he could play the drums what he meant was that he could hit them but in no coherent order". Thomson took over on drums, and McCarthy moved to lead guitar. Thomson was described by Kapranos as the best drummer in Glasgow, but refers to how Paul wanted to be seen by the audience, hence refusing to use rack toms. However, by late 2005 Paul was using rack toms.

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Franz Ferdinand on the cover of NME

They started playing at an abandoned warehouse in the Gorbals which they named "the Château." Franz Ferdinand also held rave-like "happenings" combining music and art; Hardy was studying painting at the Glasgow School of Art at the time. When the local police shut the events down, the band found an abandoned Victorian courthouse and played there.

In a 2004 interview with VH1, Alex Kapranos described the sound they were seeking. "On songs like 'Come on Home,' we wanted to sound like Donna Summer and Link Wray mixed together, but it doesn't sound like that at all! We thought we could sound like Prince, too, but what we were really trying to do was take on the attitudes of different bands and combine them in our own way."

The band had recorded an EP worth of material which they intended to release themselves. However, the band's reputation was spreading rapidly, and Domino Records offered them a contract to release an EP called Darts of Pleasure in the latter part of 2003. The band developed its reputation further by supporting Hot Hot Heat and Interpol as well as winning a "Phillip Hall Radar Award" at the NME Awards of 2004 (announced in late 2003). The band soon signed onto a contract with Sony Music Japan in Japan and Epic Records in 2004 for the United States.

(2003-2004) Debut album

Franz Ferdinand have been quoted as saying they wanted to make "music that girls can dance to." [1] This was combined with their art school background on their self-titled debut released in early 2004. It debuted at number 3 in the UK Albums Chart in February 2004 and at number 12 in the Australian album charts in April 2004. While the album had only reached the lowest levels of the Billboard 200 album charts in the US as of early 2004, it reached the top 5 of the indie rock and Heatseeker charts for debut charts. After a couple of North American tours and heavy rotation of the "Take Me Out" video on MTV, the album eventually reached No. 32 on the Billboard 200 later in 2004 and has been certified platinum in the US for sales exceeding 1,000,000. Five singles were released from the album, namely:

• "Darts of Pleasure" placed on the UK Singles Chart prior to being a particularly successful band;
• "Take Me Out" was the breakthrough single and reached the #3 on the UK charts, #66 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #3 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also made the top 10 of the Irish and Canadian charts and the top 40 in a composite European chart as well as being voted number one in the Australian Triple J Hottest 100 for 2004 (more than doubling the votes for the song which received second place)
• "The Dark of the Matinée" or "Matinée" reached #8 in the UK singles charts and the top 30 on the World Modern Rock Charts (a composite chart of US, German, UK, Swedish, Finnish, Canadian and Australian modern rock charts); and
• "Michael" reached the #17 on the UK singles charts. A large amount of the single's sales were not counted, as they were not released in the correct format.
• "This Fire" was released in North America in November 2004, and was a download-only single in the UK. It reached #17 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, and reached #8 on the UK download chart.

The song "Michael" was the first in a trend among newer bands to write songs with lyrics reflecting a more fluid sexuality. "Michael" is a frenzied dance/rock song based on a private joke among the band about a friend of theirs who got drunk and was dancing unabashedly at a club.

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Franz Ferdinand's debut album managed to excede sales of 1,000,000 copies

The Franz Ferdinand album received a generally strong positive response from critics. The New Musical Express said that the band was the latest in the line of art school rock bands featuring Duran Duran, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Roxy Music, the Sex Pistols, Wire, Travis and Blur. It rated the album as 9 out of 10 and said: "This album is the latest and most intoxicating example of the wonderful pushing its way up between the ugly slabs of Pop Idol, nu metal and Britons aping American bands. What these blossoming bands have in common is the absolute conviction that rock ‘n’ roll is more than a career option."

The BBC's review of the album said: "At only 38 minutes long Franz Ferdinand may not be a particularly long album, but it is a masterpiece of funky, punky, suave cool from the first track to the last." The All Music Guide rated the album as four out of five stars and said "Franz Ferdinand ends up being rewarding in different ways than the band's previous work was, but it's apparent that they're still one of the more exciting groups to come out of the garage-rock / post-punk revival."

On September 7, 2004 the album was awarded the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. Take Me Out gained first place in the Australian Triple J Hottest 100 for 2004, winning more than twice the votes of the second-place entry. Franz Ferdinand proceeded to win an Ivor Novello Award in 2004 and two BRIT Awards in 2005. The avant-garde music video for Take Me Out earned them a Breakthrough Video MTV Award.

(2005-2006) You Could Have It So Much Better

The band spent much of 2005 in the studio in Scotland working on their follow-up album, You Could Have It So Much Better, which was released on 3 October 2005. Throughout the recording process, the band had intended to leave the album self-titled like their debut, but they changed it to You Could Have It So Much Better...With Franz Ferdinand before settling on the current title. The first live performance of their new music came as the band headlined at the V Festival in August 2005.

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The band's second album You Could Have It So Much Better was their first UK #1 record

After the ecstatic reception of their debut, some reviews towards the new album became more polarized, with some complaints that the recording was rushed. However, it generally was critically acclaimed and seen as an album equal to, or better than their first by most critics, including the NME. It entered the UK Album Charts at Number 1 and the US charts at Number 8.

The album is less associated with art music and dance, with the band taking a more raw, indie-rock-style approach. This stylistic change was reflected in more lively live shows, featuring band members jumping off the drum kit, smashing guitars and rolling around on stage.

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 have been 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 sophomore album, "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" peaked at number 30.

Franz Ferdinand at Viña del Mar International Festival. February 27th, 2006

(2006-?) Next album

According to NME in 2005, the band had no intentions to stop and continued to record at a relentless pace. In January of 2006, they began new recording sessions, coinciding with some dates in Australia and New Zealand: "Then we’ll see how many songs we’ve got together but we’re talking about going into the studio at the end of January." Kapranos explained. "We’re popping over to Australia and New Zealand at the end of January as well, as you do. It’s brilliant, I’m looking forward to that. We get to miss the Scottish winter, which is not a bad thing at all." Their third album will likely be released in late 2007 or even 2008, however the band revealed in early September 2006 that they were going to take a break after headlining the Carling Weekend and playing two shows in Brazil. Alex and Nick managed to find time to appear at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2006, and took part in a songwriting session for the festival.

During his break, Alex Kapranos produced The Cribs' third album.

On March 8th, 2006, the band began meeting and working on their third album.

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Franz Ferdinand at the Roskilde Festival in 2006

On March 13th, 2007, Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy spoke exclusively to Xfm about their next album. Alex had this to say regarding the next album...

"Nick and I are writing some more tunes," Kapranos explained, "We’ve got a wee place in Glasgow where we’re doing some new songs. Its a wee bit different from last stuff but still very danceable, that’s the main thing. It’s always pop. Franz Ferdinand has always been pop."

On February 14, 2007, Bonnaroo released the initial 2007 lineup, which included Franz Ferdinand, the two comfirmed that this would be the only festival they'll perform in this year, in the same interview held with XFM discussing the next album, Alex said this to XFM.

"We’re gonna play Bonnaroo [in the US alongside The Police, White Stripes and Flaming Lips], but no British festivals. We don’t really want to play any British festivals until we’ve written a bunch of new songs for people to hear. I don’t really see the point of keeping on going out and playing the same old stuff again and again. You wanna come back with something exciting."

On March 26, 2007, the band's MySpace website was updated with a video of them recording an instrumental song dubbed Flight Of The Galvatron, however there is not any more information on the song and whether it will be released on the next album or not.

Usage in the media

Games

• In 2004, "Take Me Out" was in the EA Sports video games, Madden NFL 2005 and NHL 2005 and also featured in Codemasters Club Football 2005; while "This Fire" was in Burnout 3: Takedown, made by EA Games and Criterion Games. "Tell Her Tonight" was placed on the track of FIFA 2005. "Michael" was featured in Gran Turismo 4

• Sony's Singstar karaoke Series on the Playstation 2 featured "Take Me Out" on the "Party" collection and "Do You Want To" was included in the "Rocks" collection. "Take Me Out" was also featured on the Playstation 2 video game Guitar Hero (which allowed players to play the song on a guitar-like device).

• "Do You Want To" is included in the lineup of licensed song in Konami's Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA for the Playstation 2.

• "Take Me Out" is also featured in Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II (Xbox 360 only).

Campaigns

• During the 2005 general election campaign, the band, who feel strongly about environmental issues, donated This Fire as the background music for the election broadcasts by the three UK Green parties. The TV broadcasts, directed by Alex Cox and produced by Kim Ryan, were screened on 28 April, 2005 across all UK terrestrial channels.

• Take Me Out was used in an ad campaign for Sony's PlayStation Portable game system (PSP). Do You Want To was used in an ad campaign for Sony's Walkman players (in Japan).

• The beginning of "40' " was also used in a television commercial for the film "In Good Company" in 2004 and also for the film "A Good Year" in 2006.

• "Do You Want To" is used in a commercial for L'Oreal Vive Pro shampoo and conditioner.

Previews

• This Boy is used in German previews for the TV series Jimmy Neutron.

• The intro of "40' " was used in the Dutch previews for the TV series "Catscratch"

• Part of the song I'm Your Villain was used in a preview for the 2006 film "The Guardian".

Television

• The Fallen is used in all four of the Smash Our Stuff videos as the song used before the smashing of the item.

• Take Me Out was included on the kid-oriented album Kidz Bop 8, and the TV show Video Mods.

• Do You Want To was used as the ending theme music to the Paradise Kiss anime television series. It was also used in the second episode of the third season of the serial The O.C.

• The song Come on Home also features on the "Live 8" DVD, the follow up to "Live Aid". Music from the song is played at the beginning of the DVD, during the explanation of what Live 8 was.

• The song Take Me Out is used as the theme music for Australian Television Program "Any Given Sunday." In Australia it is also used on Channel Ten's Sports Tonight.

• There's also a CSI episode where you can hear Do You Want To.

• The Fallen is in the episode Party girl of Without a trace.

• The song Take Me Out is also used on Eurosport channel, when it advertises Eurosport 2.

Other

• Take Me Out is featured in "Weird Al" Yankovic's Polkarama! off his newest album, 'Straight Outta Lynwood," as the second song in the medley.

• The main riff to "Take Me Out" is often sampled during Gym Class Heroes concerts to various songs.

Collaborations

Franz Ferdinand covered the LCD Soundsystem song "All My Friends" which will appear as a B-side on a forthcoming single. They have also made covers of Pulp's "Mis-Shapes", Gwen Stefani's "What You Waiting For?", "Sexy Boy" by Air and "It Won't Be Long" by The Beatles.

Franz Ferdinand have had remixes by major electronic artists Daft Punk, Justice, and Erol Alkan.

Kapranos produced the 3rd The Cribs album in Vancouver in November/December 2006.

The band performed played and recorded with Jane Birkin, covering the Gainsbourg song "Sorry Angel".

Kapranos sang on the Handsome Boy Modelling School track "World's Gone Mad".

In early 2005, Kanye West declared Franz Ferdinand to be his favourite band, and coined the term white crunk to describe the band's gritty drum sounds. West and the band met at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards, where they sat down together to share praise and advice. West feels that the white crunk vibe has affected his new work, and is best exemplified on the track "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", from his 2005 album Late Registration. The band itself is also greatly influenced by Kanye and sought advice from him on how to improve production for their 2005 album You Could Have It So Much Better.

Rapper Snoop Dogg has also declared an admiration for the band, and famously expressed interest in collaborating with the group, though he could not remember the band's name at the time. He stated:

"I'm working on an album that I plan to do with a lot of European artists," he revealed. "I wanna do something with the people that sang "Take Me Out"."

In response, Kapranos playfully replied, "Someone told me the guy who does "Drop It Like It's Hot" wants to collaborate with us... That's great. I love that song and like his style."

In 2006, Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab for Cutie and The Cribs went on a joint-headline tour, primarily of shows at universities.

Andy Knowles has served as a live support member of the band, as an auxiliary keyboardist and second drummer. Knowles has not appeared on an album, but drums on "Brown Onions," an instrumental B-side on The Fallen / L. Wells double A-Side single. He is also seen briefly in the video for Walk Away.

At the 2006 Reading Festival, Madness drummer Daniel Woodgate (Woody) appeared with the band on stage and played on the song 'Outsiders'. When they performed the song on the Jools Holland show, Jamie Hince of The Kills, Ross Jarman of The Cribs and Kieran Hebden joined them as drummers.

Last October 8 of 2006 Nick McCarthy did a special appearance at a concert for the Mexican band Zoé at the Palacio de los Deportes, where he performed "Human Space Volt".

At the 2005 Grammies, the band performed a live medley with Los Lonely Boys, Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas and Gwen Stefani.

The band met Gorillaz in December 2005, and interviewed each other for a feature in Observer Music Monthly.

Name

The late Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria inspired the band's 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 one of many factors which lead to World War I). They discussed it in a very early interview with 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

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The artwork from the single "Take Me Out", inspired by a 1923 poster for "One-Sixth Part Of The World", by Rodchenko

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 white with the Red wedge by El Lissitzky and "Michael", with single art based on A Proun by Lissitzky.

The avant-garde music video for Take Me Out, directed by Jonas Odell, was inspired by Dadaism, Busby Berkeley choreographies and Russian constructivist design. The lyrics of Do You Want To make reference to parties at the 'trendy' Glasgow art gallery Transmission and the video includes a satire of the work of contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft.

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.

Equipment trivia

• They own an Ackuset, a Swedish sound mixer, and used it on You Could Have It So Much Better. Not much is known about it except that it's rather old, sometimes malfunctions, and is one of only seven units in the world. Of the seven mentioned, only three are functional.

• Nick McCarthy owns two 1959 Hagstrom p46 Deluxe Guitars, one of the rarest and most prized Hagstrom models, one red and another a blue sparkle. The red model McCarthy used primarily on the band's tour for their first album, but still could be seen while the band was promoting You Could Have It So Much Better (YCHISMB). The blue guitar can be seen on the video for The Dark of the Matinee. The elusive blue model can also be spotted being played by Alex Kapranos during a perfomance of This Fire on the Franz Ferdinand Live DVD, as well a few other performances.

Discography

Main article: Franz Ferdinand discography

List of studio albums:

• Franz Ferdinand 9 February 2004 #3 (UK); #32 (US); #16 (GER)
  Franz Ferdinand
  9 February 2004
  #3 (UK);
  #32 (US);
  #16 (GER)
• You Could Have It So Much Better 3 October 2005 #1 (UK); #8 (US); #2 (GER)
  You Could Have It So Much Better
  3 October 2005
  #1 (UK);
  #8 (US);
  #2 (GER)

See also

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

References

• Hiatt, Brian (2005). "Hot Scots - Franz Ferdinand get rock fans dancing again" Rolling Stone (accessed June 16, 2006)

External links

• Franz Ferdinand's official website, band site
• Franz Ferdinand's official website, from Sony-BMG
• NME Artist page featuring news, reviews, videos, and photo galleries