Franz Ferdinand Biography

news-detailsFranz Ferdinand were formed in 2002 with members comprising of lead vocalist Alex Kapranos, bass guitarist Bob Hardy, keyboardist Nick McCartney and drummer Paul Thomson. In May 2003, they were signed to independent recording company Domino Records and released a mini album called "Darts of Pleasure". Through the EP, they won "Phillip Hall Radar Award" at 2004 NME Awards.

Eager to build larger fan base, this band decided to move from Glasgow, Scotland to Malmo, Sweden, where they hooked up with producer Tore Johansson. Building a close relationship with the producer, they then worked with him to make music for their self-titled debut album. They experienced massive success as the record peaked at number 3 on U.K. Albums chart and climbed to number 32 on Billboard Hot 200.

A year later, they entered recording booth to follow up their first effort. This time, they stepped behind production table with Rich Costey, the mastermind who previously helped making Muse, My Chemical Romance and Audioslave's music. Having thirteen new tracks on their belt, they dropped the album on October 3, 2005 across U.K.

In early 2007, Alex and the other members returned to studio for their third record. Promising something "quite new" with "quite different sounding," they used human bones to create sounds for their upcoming third major studio album. "I remember we were working on a song called 'Kiss Me' and we wanted to have a real dry, percussive sound in the chorus," Alex said. "We had this skeleton in a box that just ended up sitting in the corner of the studio ... and decided to experiment with it."

Each band's member chose a different part of the body to play on the record. "Nick, our guitarist, had the hands and was clapping the bones together. Paul, the drummer, was working with the pelvis bone and a femur. We put the teeth in a glass jar and rattled that about," Alex explained further. "We smacked the ribs together and we got this really weird, f***ed-up kind of a sound that was wicked. I can't think of any records with human bones on it."

Inspired by the "heavy dub sound of Jamaican reggae stars," the band's upcoming album is called "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand" and has been available for U.K. purchase since January 26. "Right from the beginning, we set out to make a record that had joy in it. Even if you're singing about the darkest of subjects or tragedy, there has to be joy in the performance. There has to be that energy," Alex spoke of the forthcoming effort.