My Franz facts notebook... but online™!

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This is all a digitisation of a notebook I keep irl with facts and notes about Franz Ferdinand. Not an exact transcription though, I’ve made the wording clearer and added extra notes at some points.

EXTRA NOTE: If you can’t find an article I’ve mentioned anywhere online, try searching for it on slacken_ties on livejournal. That’s where I find a lot of transcriptions and uploads of articles that aren’t available online.

(Also, I use the DD/MM/YY format for dates, keep that in mind.)

RANDOM FACTS

(Originally recorded 27.9.23)

They chose their name based off of a racehorse named Archduke Franz Ferdinand; thought the name sounded nice. Also thought it’d be funny if people heard the name and thought of the band not the guy apparently. ALSO because the Archduke was a catalyst for a major piece of history (WWI), and they wanted to be like a catalyst for something big in music.

(Source: So. Many. Interviews. Like seriously they get asked about this so often it’s not something I can pin down to one source)

Alex & Paul met Nick at a house party where Nick tried to steal Alex’s vodka (that being the tradition in Bavaria), resulting in a fight that then led to friendship.

(Source: nRK1 interview, 2010. This story is also told in many other interviews and things, that’s just the source I wrote down.)

Alex & Bob used to work together in a kitchen and would imagine being in a band together while working.

(Source: Télérama.fr interview, 2015.)

Paul enjoyed Depeche Mode as a teen, however Nick did not, because his friends at the time thought their stuff was “too freaky” and “gay”. All of the band are fans of Depeche Mode now though.

(Source: FaceCulture interview, 2005.)

Bob and Paul met through Paul being a nude model for Bob’s live drawing class.

(Source: GQ Magazine “Men of the year” article, 2013. This story’s also told in some other interviews too.)

Alex’s legal surname is (or at least was in 2005) “Huntley”; his mother’s maiden name. His father insisted on this to minimise the chances of him being discriminated against for his Greek heritage.

(Source: No specific one but the proof is in the pudding (the Moscow No-Fly List debacle of 2005).)

BETWEEN SUMMERTOWN & MERRYLAND (AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE) – NOTES

(Originally recorded 29.9.23)

Tonight was recorded in the Govan, Scotland old town hall. (Abandoned). They preferred to write, record, etc. there rather than a studio. Also the atmosphere of the building very much influenced the music.
During the recording of Tonight, they messed around a lot with the instruments and equipment, doing things like removing drum padding, etc.
^ Related, Alex used to do this a lot when he was young too. His friend Andrew had a 4tracks and they used to make music in their bedrooms with it.
^ Again related, the band’s first recordings were made on Nick’s old PC at each other’s flats, very homemade. They wanted to keep that style in their music.
Nick was the one who found the town hall, same as with the old prison and the Château. He found the town hall about two months before they actually started using it.
Some of the claps in the songs on Tonight were recorded in the old janitor’s cupboard at the town hall.
“[The town hall]’s like a massive playground” (Just a quote I thought was fun)
There’s a ‘kitchen’ in the town hall with a microwave, a fridge, a toaster and a chair Nick found. The chair had damaged legs when it was found, which Bob ‘fixed’ by simply removing them.
The origin of the “Am I Ulysses?” line in Ulysses originates from the time Paul and Alex (& possibly the others? But I’m only sure of Paul and Alex being there currently.) were [I think sitting around a fire or something along those lines?] with some (very stoned) people. They’d all been talking about Ulysses or Nightrider or something, and this one guy there (who was from South Africa) went very quiet and sombre after that conversation. About 10 minutes later, the guy from South Africa went, very distressed, “... Am I Nightrider?”. Apparently they thought at the time he was talking in code about Alex?
The recording equipment etc. was kept under the stage of the building’s theatre. Some sounds and things were also recorded down there, including some of Turn It On.
Aimed for “human individuality” over “quality”.
(The building had a tower) Some sounds were recorded from the centre of the tower including claps; they had ~10 people clapping at once for that.
To get a “cutting” sound, different components were recorded in different rooms.
Turn It On was originally written for YCHISMB, but it was developed after live performances and adapted to be for Tonight.
On What She Came For, a microphone was attached to a swinging rope (Note: I can’t remember if this is mentioned in this video but said rope was attached to the ceiling by Nick, who climbed up there.) to emulate the sound of like fire truck sirens going past.
In No You Girls, clapping sound effects were created by slapping together real human bones they’d found. (Note: The infamous human bones… I believe they also feature on Katherine Kiss Me? Anyway, more info on the bones and how they got them later. No backstory was given in this video.)
Initially No You Girls didn’t have a chorus, the chorus was developed later through improvising during practice.
They had a lot of fun messing around to create effects :-) This isn’t really a fun fact or anything but I thought it was nice.
Some clapping sounds were reversed to create a ‘lurching reverb’ effect.
Alex’s favourite song in Tonight is Send Him Away.
Send Him Away started out as just a random jam, then was developed into a song.
Dan did the ‘desk stuff’ live as they recorded. (Note: I’m gonna be honest I have no clue who ‘Dan’ is, but I assume he’s the guy who helped edit the studio recordings and stuff?) (NEW NOTE! Thank you to dandy-lad on tumblr who has informed me that Dan is Dan Carey, who produced the album.)
There wasn’t really a separate ‘control room’ from the recording room, everything was everywhere really.
They used a ‘Flickinger’; a very obscure sound device with a lot of knobs and buttons. It took 2 years to get it to work, and there are only a few left in the world that still work.
What She Came For was inspired by the idea of like “How would that kind of journalist approach someone at a club, haha” (Quote)
When the record was being cut for What She Came For, the laith had to be recalibrated because of the ending. (Note: I don’t know exactly what that is, but it’s not a common occurrence.)
“Sometimes the phone rings. [...] Hello, Franz Ferdinand! Bob speaking, what’s your favourite colour?” – Bob quote. Not a fact or anything but another moment I thought was fun.
They had to block off windows while working on the album because the noise was really loud and kept disrupting people.
A lot of vocals were done on the big stage in the building’s theatre. Nick said, in reference to the stage, “You could imagine [...] the ghosts”.
Dream Again was originally written as an acoustic song, then was developed to not be.
On Dream Again, Paul used bells & similar instruments, and Bob did organ stuff.

TONIGHT – BAND COMMENTARY (AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE) – NOTES

(Originally recorded 30.9.23)

(NOTE: This is organised by song, in order of the album and also order of mention in the video)

ULYSSES

“Not about James Joyce”
Supposed to have the feel of a “whitey” (Note: I’m not sure if “whitey” is actually what they said or even a real word, that’s just what I wrote down. It’s likely I misheard it, the word may have actually been “wido” because that’s actual slang real people use.)
About “losing it and kind of loving losing it” – Alex (Quote)
One of the first songs in the session to be recorded.
Has a sort of new style singing for them, a kind of half-whisper.
Nick & Alex wrote it at the piano together after having both had ~2 bottles of wine. (Note: 2 bottles of wine each or 2 bottles between the two of them? Who knows! I don’t think it was clarified.)
They used multiple rooms to record it.
Supposed to feel like the musical equivalent of dream sequences in films according to Alex. This was prefaced by Alex talking about how he’s always loved the dream sequences in films.

TURN IT ON

Been around for quite a while, it’s been through many different versions.
“It’s like… dirty club music, for me.” – Nick (Quote)
Different to their usual stuff, it keeps building up to new parts rather than focusing on a chorus.

NO YOU GIRLS

Started out as Katherine Kiss Me
The drumbeat was hard to figure out since the song follows the drumbeat so it was an important component.
The piano section was recorded on Alex’s piano, he put tacks on the hammers for a more metallic sound, then put it through an amplifier.
There are the sounds of horses braying and gunshots from cowboy movies mixed in.
Paul plays the triangle at one point, which was recorded by Paul on his own at his house, because he couldn’t go to the town hall and stuff due to his newborn baby.
Alex says he “really loves the idea of some horribly inconsiderate guys dancing to [No You Girls] on the dancefloor, trying to cop it off with some girls who are equally inconsiderate.”

SEND HIM AWAY

Inspired in part by the artists at Africa Express 2008.
Alex says it’s about how you’ll say there’s no jealousy after a breakup or similar, but there “always is”.
Was recorded late at night with Paul Savage & Alexis Smith as sound engineers.

TWILIGHT OMENS

Very special song to Nick, he says it reminds him of the French romance movies he would often watch as a teenager, as well as slow dancing.
Alex often falls asleep on his hand (that he’s written on) and then wakes up with writing on his face. He liked the idea of writing someone’s name on your hand then waking up with it on your face, says it’s like an omen.
^ Related, he’s not religious or superstitious but loves the idea of omens.
Bob likes the calculator line. He said some examples of ‘dirty words’ you could write on a calculator also: “shell” “shell oil” and “hello”. That last part isn’t necessarily important but I found it funny and I think the world should know.
Nick says it has themes of heartthrob and anger.
They tried to use as few chords as possible.
“Paul’s drumming is WICKED on this song” – Alex (Quote)

BITE HARD

Bob loves this song a lot, he says the god subject matter really appeals to him. He also describes the beginning of the song as a bit sinister.
The introduction was recorded separately from the rest of the song, at Dan’s studio.
Nick says it’s a very simple, straightforward song.
Alex always mishears it as “Heston with omniscient BEER”.
The “Heston with omniscient beard” line refers to the way that (paraphrased from Alex) “even if you’ve rejected god or religion, you still like the idea of having an all-knowing god with a stereotypical flowing beard (like Charles Heston), telling you it’ll all be OK.”.
At about this point in the commentary, Bob starts chatting on the phone with his mum about the weather and things :-) Again not particularly important information but it’s nice.
The solo is fun to play, it was influenced by Dan apparently.

WHAT SHE CAME FOR

Probably the slowest song on the record, it’s quite difficult to play.
Started out very different, there was a song with the same bassline called Your Favourite Lie that they performed live a few times. It’s available on youtube.
The guy who mastered it said it was “Louder than Motorhead”.

LIVE ALONE

Had a lot of versions over time (as is the case with many songs on this album).
Not much backing vocals.
The string section was recorded with the moving microphone.
There’s a lot going on, a lot of counter-melodies.
Jumps between completely unrelated subjects, similar to Jacqueline.

CAN’T STOP FEELING

There’s ‘subliminal messaging’/backwards talking in the beginning. Those messages are like a tradition on each record, Bob always does them.
About the part of the night where you’re starting to forget yourself, which Nick describes as “a good moment, the best.”
It took a while to get the delivery of the lyrics right and get in ‘character’. Delivery intended to be vulnerable & similar to ‘being lost and appreciating it’.
When they were first setting up the riff for it, Paul came bursting through the door like “WHAT IS THAT?” (in a good way). That was (paraphrased) ‘One of those moments where everything really clicks as a band’.

LUCID DREAMS

About when you’ve forgotten yourself, walking up to a girl and just dancing.
Alex is fascinated by the concept of lucid dreams, and also took inspiration from the way you snap from one scene or plot to another in dreams.
Last song recorded for the album.
About not thinking and losing yourself late at night.
Bob calls it the “peak” or “culmination” of the album.
Bob also says it may confuse people.

DREAM AGAIN

About the part of the night where you’re in your head, confused.
They used a lot of techniques you might use in a dance remix while recording.
Nick & Alex play the synth in it.
About the feeling of like not thinking much anymore, just moving, walking up away from the club. Leaving it behind you, time to go home, thumping in the head. (Note: This, like majority of these notes, is paraphrased from one of the members. I forget who specifically though.)
Bob relates it to calming down at the end of a party, relaxing and walking back with calm music. He loves to do that.
The vocals were all recorded around the same microphone.
Lots of sounds from the building, like the reverb from the halls and things.
Nick says he “thinks it speaks for itself”.
Alex likes how gentle it is, he also says it’s positive, that you’re not afraid.
Nick describes it as optimistic, but still sad.

KATHERINE KISS ME

It’s like the end of the night (& of course, the album).
Bob calls it a bit cheerier than Dream Again, but also says that if you listened to it after a big night it might not be.
Alex likes that the piano sounds far away from the guitar, it sounds that way because it was actually about 10ft behind the guitar.
Alex finds it odd to listen to his own music.

MORE RANDOM FACTS

(Originally recorded 30.9.23)

Alex used to get a little drunk before shows, but he doesn’t do that any more. He prefers the “buzz of playing live”.

(Source: PickX interview, 2022.)

(The source for the following 3 facts is: Vulture article “The Greatest and Earwormiest of Franz Ferdinand, according to Alex Kapranos”, March 2022. I’m putting the source for all 3 here so I don’t have to repeat it for each dot point, I’ll do this for other similar cases as well.)

The bones used in No You Girls were bought at an auction (garage-sale type auction), they were in a box. They also had a sheep skull on them, and were hung up on the wall and used as decoration. Now, Alex feels very guilty for their use of the bones and wishes they’d buried them or something similar instead.
Alex used to basically invent himself an alter ego when going out and doing stupid things ie. getting hammered. It was called “Other Alex” and he’d often ‘blame’ things on Other Alex.
There is a song that currently only exists in live performances called “Black Tuesdays”, it is about (paraphrased) the Tuesdays after extreme weekends of ‘hedonism’.

SHOOTING FRANZ FERDINAND (2004) (DVD, AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE & VIMEO) – NOTES

(Originally recorded 4.10.23)

The very first design of their first album cover was done when they were all kinda drunk and Bob was meticulously colouring it in by hand with texta. (Note: Texta or sharpie or something like that, I don’t think it was specified.)
Nick can (supposedly) play Stairway to Heaven.
Alex likes Led Zeppelin.
Most of the music video for Darts of Pleasure was filmed in Glasgow.
With their music, they try to capture moments and then leave them open for others to see and interpret for themselves. (Paraphrased)
Originally, Jacqueline was just a working title for the song. It was going to be called “Better on Holiday”, but their friend Jacqueline (who was the reason they mentioned a Jacqueline at the start of the song) convinced them to change it back.
When Bob was studying at Glasgow School of Art, he was very interested in Russian Brutalism, which inspired a lot of their whole visual aesthetic. He’s a very artistic person, does most of the visual design for the band.
They like to work as a team to create their music videos.
Franz Ferdinand’s first gig was playing as the ‘boy band’ at an exhibition type event held at their friend’s apartment, called ‘Girl Art’. (This was at Glasgow School of Art also.)
They started out in ‘the Château’ (old abandoned art deco building in Glasgow) and ‘the jail’ (old abandoned jail in Glasgow).
They’d practise and hold exhibitions in the jail.
40’’ was written in the courtroom of the jail.
[Guy I think must’ve been from a record label or something? He’s just written in my notebook as “guy (don’t know name - someone important”] didn’t think they’d work in America; thought they were “too quirky and too British”.
The ‘weirdest request’ the band’s ever gotten from a fan (as of 2004) is the time a fan asked them to sign their toothpaste.
Paul doesn’t particularly like working the stage, he prefers playing just the 4 of them.

EVEN MORE RANDOM FACTS

(Most originally recorded 18.10.23)

(The source of the following 5 facts is: FaceCulture interview, 21 Aug. 2013.)

Bob & Alex met at a bar due to them being mutual friends through their girlfriends at the time, who were classmates. Bob was 19, Alex was 27. This led to them being coworkers in a kitchen.
The band enjoyed recording Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action and found it felt fun & not forced.
Treason! Animals. and Fresh Strawberries were some of the first songs from RTRWRA to be developed.
Alex thinks that Nick & Paul’s minds work very differently.
Alex wouldn’t want to hear pop music at a funeral apparently.

Sometimes in live performances of Love Illumination, Alex sings “sweet love ejaculation” instead of “illumination”. Just found that interesting.

(Source: A number of videos of live performances.)

The line “First six are for you / Seventh is for me” in All For You is intended to reference the idea that since there are six barrels in a revolver, the seventh and final shot (used for his suicide) must have gotten there through some kind of “supernatural means”.

(Source: Alex Kapranos’ twitter (@alkapranos), 8 May 2018.)

Nick came up with the keyboard line for Auf Achse and that’s how the song originated; The first time he played the keyboard line, he had been attempting to play the theme from a German soap about a truck driver. That’s where the title Auf Achse comes from, as it means “On the Axle”.

(Source: Alex Kapranos’ twitter (@alkapranos), 24 March 2020.)

Brown Onions was recorded in Avatar Studios, New York City. Paul plays the bass in it and Andy Knowles plays the drums, Bob was in the corridor doing phone interviews when it was being recorded.

(Source: Bob Hardy’s twitter (@B0bHardy), 23 August 2020.)

L. Wells was recorded in Melbourne, Australia. (Note: Australia mention!!! Let’s goooo.) (I’m Australian okay, I can’t help it.)

(Source: Bob Hardy’s twitter (@B0bHardy), 23 August 2020.)

(The source for the following 6 facts is: Rolling Stones feature – Brian Hiatt, 2005.)

Alex is a big Gwen Stefani fan.
Alex’s middle name is ‘Paul’, because of his mother’s crush on Paul McCartney.
When he was 14, Alex and his best friend Andrew learnt the guitar in order to try and play songs by the Beatles; they were both obsessive Beatles fans at the time.
According to a friend, Nick is the type of person to get you drunk at dinner and dare you to steal silverware.
Nick is the only member who, as of 2005/the release of this article, has admitted to smoking pot.
Quote from Nick, about Alex: “Maybe he’s got a bit more of an evil side than I have. I’m more upbeat and happy, and he’s more [growling noise], which is good.”

When Alex is overwhelmed, he likes to take very long (~40 min.) showers to take a break.

(Source: Another magazine, Autumn/Winter issue, 2005.) (Note: “Another magazine” is the name of the magazine.)

Alex likes to draw on other people’s experiences for songs– direct quote from him which I’ll summarise in the next dot point: “I must say, I'm totally unabashed about the way in which I raid from anything around about me. Any experience I've had, or any experience I've seen other people having [...] One song was raided from a letter that somebody wrote to Nick. And he showed me this letter, and I was like, 'I'll add some of those emotions in my songs, thanks very much,' because it was triggering something I was feeling. And another song was based upon diaries and diary writing, which is something I'm always fascinated by... because people don't write diaries because they want to keep secrets. People write diaries because they want their diaries to be discovered! That's my theory, at least. They want to be remembered."

Quote summary: Alex takes inspiration from pretty much any experience he has or others have, including in one case a song (name not given) which was inspired by a letter someone wrote to Nick. Nick showed the letter to Alex and he incorporated some of the emotions into the music because it was “triggering something [he] was feeling”. A song (presumably Your Diary) was based on diaries, something Alex is fascinated by. His theory is people write diaries because they want them to be discovered and remembered.
(Source: Under the Radar magazine, summer 2005.)

YET AGAIN, MORE RANDOM FACTS

(Originally recorded 26.11.23)

(The source for the following 4 facts is: Harp Magazine, Nov. 2005.)

Alex often likes to eat a banana before shows.
Alex’s favourite bassist is Tina Weymouth from Talking Heads.
Alex finds chemistry interesting, although he isn’t generally big on science.
Alex’s favourite book is End of the Affair by Graham Greene.

(The source for the following 2 facts is: Rumba magazine, 2005. Translated by livejournal user valpuri.)

Originally, all the albums weren’t going to have names and would be separated only by colour.
Nick’s happy to get drunk while on stage, but never beforehand.

(The source for the following 2 facts is: V Magazine, 2004.)

The original guitar Bob learnt with was a gift from Alex, who had originally gotten it from a friend.
For a short while at the beginning, Franz Ferdinand was made up of Alex, Bob, Michael Kasparis and Charlie Milne, but their musical aspirations were different, so Michael & Charlie left.

(The source for the following 8 facts is: Random Facts with Paul Thomson – Ciarán Steward, the Ransom Note, 2014.)

(Originally recorded 13.5.24)

The day Margaret Thatcher died, Paul drank 6 Long Island ice teas. Hugh (one of their crew), had prepared them, probably to celebrate her death, but Paul doesn’t know for sure. This happened in a hotel pool in Santiago, and “the guy from the Foo Fighters” was also there.
Paul once drank a bottle of Jaeger with some guys from Cradle of Filth at a festival in Germany. They were all going (paraphrased) “NOOO NOT JAEGER” and Paul was like “It’s fine”, then he remembers nothing after that apparently.
The Bloodhound Gang once tried to convince the band to sign onto their record label.
Paul doesn’t seem to be much of a fan of Shrek 4.
Bob’s favourite movie of all time is Dirty Work.
At one point in Evil Eye, a Norwegian kindergarten class sings. This class was the class of Todd Terje (someone who’d worked on the record)’s girlfriend, who was a kindergarten teacher. (Todd Terje lives (or at least lived at the time) in Norway.)
Everyone in Franz Ferdinand is pro-Scottish independence, including Nick, although he can’t vote in Scotland.
Paul hates Family Guy. He says it’s “way too tryhard and the artwork is shit”.

UNFAZED INTERVIEW W/ PAUL & DINO (2018) (AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE, FROM YOUTUBER “UNFAZED REVIEW”) - NOTES

(Originally recorded 26.12.23)

Pre-Franz Ferdinand, the job Paul did for the longest time was live modelling at Glasgow School of Art.
Paul used to work in the laundry at a retirement home.
Alex & Paul pretty much met through Alex playing shows at bars Paul worked at. Paul also had a small band called Oil Stars at the time.
Dino ‘doesn’t really have jobs’.
Dino went to art school for uni, he did painting & film.
People have asked to make movies about Franz Ferdinand before, Paul says it may happen.
Dino’s previous band ‘never really played gigs’.
Dino vaguely knew Alex before Franz Ferdinand.
Paul likes to cook and eat. He enjoys the food in Japan especially.
Franz Ferdinand fans in Mexico, Chile and Argentina (+ LatAm in general) are generally some of the most intense fans. (Note: This is a pretty known thing, but it was mentioned in this interview, so.)
People in Glasgow are generally a lot more chill and/or unimpressed about the band.
When the band was recording Tonight, they had to block out the windows of the town hall, so for about a year they hardly saw daylight.
Nick used to sleep in the town hall a lot.
The town hall apparently had a “weird”/spooky vibe.
They had wanted for Tonight to have a completely different sound to YCHISMB.
David Bowie’s been to 3 Franz Ferdinand shows, but Paul has never met him at a show. Paul has met him before though, in New York. He says David Bowie has a dorky sense of humour.
Paul does not think that music is declining.
Ivanka Trump came backstage at the Fuse opening. (Note: This one absolutely jumpscared me when I heard it.)
Talking Heads and similar bands have influenced Paul’s music a lot.
Dino is/was influenced by his brother’s music.
In the past, Nick would be a songwriting partner for Alex, so writing Always Ascending without him was odd.
All of the band played a part in the writing process for Always Ascending.
Julian is/was a sound engineer, which is helpful.
Paul & Julian also work as DJs sometimes. Paul says this introduces him to new music.
Paul finds working with producers to be a kind of collaboration.
Dino used to fantasise about locking a (good) line up of the band Yes and making them get back together.