FRANZ FERDINAND ///
INTERVIEW JENNIFER AMADIO ///
PHOTOGRAPHER JOE DILWORTH ///
DATE NOVEMBER 9, 2003 ///

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We know that by the time most of you read this interview, you'll already have heard about Franz Ferdinand. You probably also think you know everything about this latest sensation from Glasgow. Moreover, you're probably sick of seeing their pretty-boy faces in stylish photo spreads in every stylish magazine. Well, not to be all back-patting and everything but we interviewed the lads way back in November before you and your cynical pals could even think about dismissing Ferdinand. Before the hype, before the sold-out U.S. shows, before that guy in your record store said, "They kinda sound like Blur but only better."

Yup, back in the day of two-double-ought-three, singer Alex Kapranos, guitarist Nick McCarthy, bassist Bob Hardy, and drummer Paul Thompson were just four Scots throwing parties, fighting over vodka, and making dance music. And despite their new $1.5 million major label record deal with Sony/Epic, they still are.

In their Scottish headquarters lovingly dubbed "the Chateau," Franz Ferdinand started playing music to simply entertain their friends at parties. With the soirees getting bigger and the location eventually changing to an abandoned jail, the band finally decided to record their first EP, Darts of Pleasure. Initially, Franz Ferdinand intended to release it themselves, but through a series of winks, nods, and secret handshakes, Domino signed the band in the summer of 2003.

Months later, Franz released a self-titled debut album combining the finesse of electronic music with the sounds of the Fall, super-early Police and all the late '70s/early '80s post-punk bravado that makes us all wish we were misunderstood teenagers back then. Songs like "Take Me Out" and "Matinee" prove that this band cares about making music and not just posing for their next close-up (although, there have been many).

I met up with the band their very first day in New York, right before their first show at Pianos in November. They were excited to be in the U.S. and anxious for the record to come out.

So, have you played in New York before?
Nick: No, we've never even been here. This is our first day in New York!

Perfect! I guess we picked a good day to interview you. So are you excited to release the full-length? When is it set to come out?
Bob: It's supposed to come out in February or March. It's basically finished already. We recorded it with Tore Johansson in Sweden. He's most famous for the Cardigans.
Alex: It doesn't sound like the Cardigans, though.

I'm sure. I've heard your music. It's not the Cardigans.
Alex: I mean, the Cardigans are good, but we don't sound like them.

How did you hook up with him?
Bob: We met him in a pub, actually. We just started talking to him about our sound, and he was really keen on recording us as a live band rather than sequencing things. So we recorded the single with him, and it went well. So we thought, "Why not do the album?"
Alex: We also fancied spending the summer in Sweden as well!

Do you have a title yet?
Alex: It's either going to be Franz Ferdinand or Park Attack. [Alex sends a quick glare to Nick.] Nick hates the name Park Attack!
Nick: Well, yeah, I do. I think it would be a good band name maybe.

So how did you guys start playing together? Did you know each other before the band?
Alex: When we first got together, we wanted to put a live band together that would make people dance in a similar way that electronic music makes people dance. That was one of the major motivations. But there was something missing in the beginning. Paul was going to play guitar, and we didn't have a drummer. So, one night, some friends of ours were having a party and Nick was there and he stole our bottle of vodka, so we started to fight with him. Then in the middle of fighting, we said, "Do you play the drums?" and he screamed, "Yes!" So we decided to stop fighting and form a band instead.
Bob: And make beautiful music together.
Alex: Let's make girls dance!

What was your first show like?
Alex: Some friends of ours were having a big exhibition of artwork in a big flat in Glasgow and asked us if we wanted to play a show. So we said okay, and that was our first gig. We didn't even have a name at that point. We just played the songs that we had, and we only had four songs. And when we were done, everyone was yelling for us to play some more, so we just played them all again. And again. It was really great. We loved it. What we particularly liked about the night was how we put it together ourselves. We just borrowed guitar amps and sang through them and it was really do-it-yourself and it was just really cool. The next couple of gigs were like that, too. We just took derelict buildings and put on shows.

I know! I wanna hear about the parties. Tell me about the Chateau.
Alex: [Laughs] Okay, Nick, how did we find the Chateau?
Nick: Well, Alex and I went for a walk around Glasgow looking for old buildings where we could have parties, and while we were walking along the derelict railroad tracks, a train came out of nowhere and we both had to jump out of the way. As it turns out, the tracks weren't really derelict at all. And we jumped off and were standing in front of this amazing old building. It was about six stories high, which is pretty tall for Glasgow.
Alex: [Laughs] Yeah, six stories is nothing in New York. Oh yeah, we found this tiny building and it was just amazing!

Is the Chateau still active now?
Alex: It is and it isn't. There are people still doing stuff in that building now, but it's mostly artists with studios. The music side isn't happening there now. We still do Chateau things, we just can't do them there. We did a couple of nights there and they were great. They were all word of mouth, and that was what was most exciting when 400 to 500 people would come along with no advertising or press.

There's definitely something special about having parties or shows in random spaces that you find. The vibe is just so much better and people just want to have fun and are much more relaxed.
Alex: Oh, absolutely.
Paul: Yeah, I loved it. The last two floors of the Chateau were built later than the rest, so you would have 400 people standing on top of this really fragile building.
Alex: In fact, the windows on the top two floors were sort of concave because they were rusted so much. It always looked like it was going to collapse. It probably is actually. We got shut down by the police eventually, and one of the reasons was because of the health and safety regulations.
Paul: All my favorite nights have been on the fine line between intense pleasure and horrible disaster.

What do you think about all the hype surrounding new bands today? There are so many bands that get hyped that are either undeserving, or it all just comes too soon. People are starting to talk about Franz a lot now too. Are you worried that you might fall into the same trap?
Alex: Glasgow is really separate from London and the whole media thing, and in a way we were a little suspicious of it all. Because a lot of bands do their third gig and the NME and all the press is there, and they haven't even written any songs yet. Whereas we had a good long while to get it together and formulate ideas.
Paul: We weren't even thinking about putting out a record. We were just doing it because it was fun and we were friends. It was just fun to make music together.

That's when the best stuff comes out, though. When you're comfortable with what you're working on and who you are working with.
Alex: Oh, definitely.
Paul: At our first few rehearsals we would just make each other dinner and just talk and drink.
Alex: It was more like a social club than anything else. And it still is, I suppose. ///