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Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand, who shot
to prominence in 2004, have been nominated for
five Brit Awards. Franz Ferdinand have sold two
million albums worldwide With their self-titled
debut, Franz Ferdinand have achieved what most
rock bands crave - high credibility and critical
acclaim while also selling stacks of CDs. They
have risen to the head of the UK's art rock ranks
with an album of songs that are catchy, creative
and original enough to sound fresh. With a cool,
spiky, fun sound previously associated with bands
like Talking Heads, they hit upon a style that
had been out of fashion for a while and so was
ripe for another airing.
Their first UK single hit number three last January,
followed by two more top 20 hits, while the album
has sold more than 600,000 copies in 11 months
on release. In September it was named album of
the year winning the prestigious Mercury Music
Prize. International acclaim On the festivals
circuit, they have been one of the main attractions
for huge crowds at Glastonbury, T in the Park
and Reading/Leeds. They have also found success
in Japan, Europe and the US. By September the
album had sold 500,000 in the States and total
sales were pushing two million worldwide. They
have been nominated for three Grammy awards in
the US as well as the US music industry's Shortlist
award, but lost the Shortlist prize to US band
TV on the Radio. Nevertheless Franz Ferdinand
were the only UK band to win an MTV Video Music
Award this year, taking the breakthrough video
crown for Take Me Out. Tune quest
The four-piece met two years ago when drummer
Paul Thomson was working at the Glasgow art school
where bassist Bob Hardy was studying. Singer Alex
Kapranos was studying English at university but
had friends at art school, and the line-up was
completed when guitarist Nick McCarthy moved from
Munich, Germany, to the city. At the turn of the
year, Kapranos told BBC News Online the band were
fed up with serious bands in "that post-rock thing
that seemed to be doing its damndest to avoid
any bloody tune".
The band were chased by 40 record labels before
signing a deal "We want people to go away from
the gigs humming the tunes that we were singing.
But at the same time bringing an edge to it."
Franz Ferdinand had a question they asked themselves
every time they wrote a song, Kapranos said. "Where's
the fun in that?" they pondered at every stage,
making enjoyment the top priority and ensuring
they did not disappear up their own muso posteriors.
The band started out with a DIY ethic that saw
them take over a disused art-deco warehouse in
Glasgow and rename it The Chateau. The venue soon
became legendary - so well-known that the police
spent a month trying to find it, eventually raiding
it and arresting Kapranos. But the charges of
running an illegal bar and contravening health
and safety, fire hazard and noise abatement laws
were dropped. Buzz The band took over an abandoned
Victorian courtroom and jail instead, and named
that The Chateau.
The buzz about the band soon spread around the
music industry and 40 record labels turned up
to one gig in Glasgow - which the band thought
was "totally ridiculous". "I'm really glad it
was almost comical because we weren't overwhelmed
by the seriousness of it," Kapranos said. They
signed with independent label Domino, home of
Smog, Sebadoh and Four Tet, in June 2003.
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