Franz Ferdinand

Scottish rock group Franz Ferdinand appeared in Glasgow in 2002. The group’s founders are:

• Alex Kapranos – born in 1972, has Greek roots. Between 1996 and 1998, Alex worked with the band The Karelia. In 1998, he joined The Yummy Fur and met Paul Thomson.
• Nick McCarthy – born in 1974, learned how to play piano and contrabass in the Munich Conservatory. Together with the group Embryo, he performed all over the world. Nick worked with Scatter in Glasgow.
• Bob Hardy – born in 1980, went to art school. In 2001, Kapranos convinced him to join Franz Ferdinand.
• Paul Thomson – born in 1976, played different musical instruments. In 1997, he worked with The Yummy Fur. After its disbandment, the musician worked as a DJ.

The artists rehearsed in an empty warehouse during the day and gave free concerts in the evenings. They called the band in honor of the archduke, whose death initiated World War I.

The new group was quickly gaining popularity and caught the attention of recording labels. In 2003, the musicians signed a contract with Domino Records. In September, they presented the first single “Darts of Pleasure”, which came in 5th on the UK Indie Singles Chart and settled on the 44th position of the UK Singles Chart.

In February 2004, the band presented its first LP, Franz Ferdinand. It earned positive reviews from the critics, topped the UK Independent Albums Chart, came in 3rd on the UK Albums Chart and settled on the 32nd spot of Billboard 200. It made it into the “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” list and won a Mercury Prize. Many organizers started trying to book Franz Ferdinand for private events.

The single “Take Me Out”, featured in the debut LP topped the UK Indie Singles Chart and came in third on the UK Singles Chart. In the USA, it settled on the 3rd spot of Alternative Songs Chart. One more track “The Dark of the Matinée”, which came out as a single in April 2004, topped the UK Indie Singles Chart.

In 2005, the band spent almost the whole year working on the second LP, You Could Have It Much Better. The album officially came out in September. The album topped the UK Albums Chart and came in 8th on Billboard 200. The most popular single was “Do You Want To”. It topped the UK Indie Singles Chart and came in 9th on US Alternative Songs Chart.

In 2007, Franz Ferdinand recorded its next LP, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, in an abandoned house in Scotland and Mr. Dan's Studio in Arizona. The album’s theme revolved around parties and the mornings after. The LP came out in January 2009, came in 2nd on the UK Albums Chart and settled on the 8th position of Billboard 200. In spring, the band went on a tour of the USA to support the album.

In 2010, the group started working on the 4th LP, recording it in different places. In 2012, the artists gave numerous concerts and participated in many shows and festivals. In August 2013, they finally presented the long-awaited LP, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. The album topped the British charts.

In March 2015, Franz Ferdinand and Sparks joined to form a band called FFS. In June, they presented an LP, FFS, which got positive reviews from the critics and reached the fourth spot of US Heatseekers Albums Chart. After the album’s release, both bands focused on their own projects.

In July 2016, one of the founders, Nick McCarthy left the band. In 2017, Julian Corrie and Dino Bardot joined the group.

In February 2018, Franz Ferdinand released its fifth LP, Always Ascending, which topped US Independent Albums Chart and came in second on the UK Independent Albums Chart.

The band continues recording new hits and performing live.