‘Parenthood like Franz Ferdinand’s early days’

Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos has found fatherhood a familiar experience – as it reminds him of his band’s early days.

Kapranos and wife Clara Luciani welcomed their first child last year, and the 52-year-old told BBC Scotland News that going on tour with his band is now “really hard”.

“It’s hard to say goodbye,” says the singer, as his band prepares to release their sixth album, The Human Fare, in January.

“I’ve spent my adult life avoiding responsibility, and being irresponsible as much as possible, so it’s refreshing to be treated with responsibility.

“A lot of people told me that lack of sleep would destroy me, but it was just like 2004 when the band was starting and I never went to bed.

“We’d play gigs, go out all night and then get up at 6 in the morning and fly somewhere. At that point I was sleeping about two hours a night, so that’s it – without the hangover.”

Kapranos will be forced to say goodbye on a few occasions as 2025 rolls on, with a busy year ahead for Franz – now revamped and reformatted from those early days, but still a funky indie. Pop is an expert in writing.

Emerging from Glasgow’s bustling music scene, Kapranos, guitarist Nick McCarthy, bassist Bob Hardy and drummer Paul Thompson enjoyed chart success. Inevitable singles like Take Me Outgained a reputation as one of the country’s best live acts and took out the Mercury Music Prize in 2004.

That victory The band came up with the idea that “anyone but us was going to win,” recalls the singer.

“It’s quite a Glasgow attitude. You’re like ‘we’re not like prize-winning people’.”

Success took time.

Kapranos was born in England but moved to Scotland as a child. As a teenager he became involved in the 90s Glasgow music scene, running club nights and playing in the likes of cult indie band The Amy Fur before forming Franz Ferdinand.

A lot has changed since then. His first album The Human Fear won Mercury with the group’s first studio offering since the departure of original drummer Thompson in 2021.

Guitarist McCarthy left in 2016.

A new lineup has formed around original members Kapranos and Hardy, along with guitarist Dino Bardot, keyboardist/guitarist Julian Corey and drummer Audrey Tate.

Kapranos believes that despite the changes, the band’s identity remains intact.

“Whenever we do a cover it always sounds like us, and I love it. We did Good Luck Baby. [by Chappell Roan] On Radio 2, which is an amazing song but when we play it, it sounds just like Franz Ferdinand.

“Bob and I were talking about it before we made this record, that it’s good to be comfortable with your own identity and your own sound.

“It’s important to know your voice and who you are. You can hear the early records of Birthday Party and then those deep dark ballads. Nick Cave writing now, and it’s still unquestionably him – it’s the same for PJ Harvey or Leonard Cohen.

“He really informed us to make this record. I wanted people to hear it and know that it was unmistakably Franz Ferdinand.”

The 2021 greatest hits compilation and subsequent tour helped the singer “make peace with everything we’ve done before”.

“I’m not a person who likes to look back,” he adds.

“Once we make a record I never really listen to it again, so for this tour I was forced to listen to that music again, and I felt like I felt pretty comfortable with it. I am.”

Celebrating the past meant the band was also eager to try new things for the future.

Human Fair is full of fresh ideas for the group, from the orchestral flourishes on recent single Audacious to the bouzouki used on Black Eyelashes and Celtic-style riff pulsing by the Cats.

However, while the title might suggest a record bubbling with fear, Kapranos says it’s the opposite.

“The greatest moments in life are when you overcome fear,” he says, confessing to his childhood terror. Shark in Jaws.

“Watching scary movies or riding roller coasters gives you a buzz and we should probably approach some broader existential fear with the same attitude.

“I remember growing up in the ’80s and thinking that one diplomatic slip-up would mean we’d all become nuclear toast. There’s always something to be afraid of, and you either can submit to or stand on.”

Politics is something. Franz Ferdinand Have visited before. In 2014 he supported Scottish independence and two years later he released Demagogue, which was aimed at then-US President Donald Trump.

However Trump’s second presidency It is unlikely to encourage such a similar response.

“Trump is not my favorite person and there is so much in politics around the world that is disappointing,” the singer says.

“But it’s also frustrating how everyone’s going on about politics all the time. I find it exhausting and I hate being part of it. Say.

“Some of my friends on social media are vocal about this all the time. The arts are a powerful tool for protest and we should continue to do so, but there’s a difference between that and low-key commotion.”

Although he will not remain silent on some issues.

In 2024 the group were among the Scottish musicians who expressed concern. Possible cuts to arts funding.While a short tour saw them road-test new songs in some small venues across the country.

UK dates for 2025 include the likes of Barrowland in Glasgow, with a summer show booked at the city’s SWG3, but supporting grassroots music is a passionate topic for the singer.

“I spent so many years in the basement of the 13th Note in Glasgow, so it’s part of my DNA.

“Being in a dirty basement with a band playing loud – that’s my happy place.”