ISSUE #29 MMUSICMAG.COM SPOTLIGHT risman C hris C Andy K nowles FRANZ FERDINAND Setting their own pace in the studio pays off on their latest effort Nick McCarthy, Bob Hardy, Paul Thomson, Alex Kapranos FRANZ FERDINAND CLOSED RANKS claustrophobic toward the end. It’s always each other. You have to say if something’s for the recording of their fourth album, good to do something completely different not good,” says McCarthy. “When you’re Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. next time around anyway.” in a band, you keep the peace sometimes. The Scottish rock band began work on the They also took a more insular approach, That’s why we recorded for a few days and album a year and a half ago with frontman self-producing the album with input from then left it again. That way you could look Alex Kapranos and guitarist and backing Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard of Hot Chip, back at things and not get too pressured vocalist Nick McCarthy meeting in each Björn Yttling of Swedish band Peter Bjorn about recording, and just say, ‘OK, let’s all other’s homes to write songs. “The whole and John, and Norwegian producer Todd listen, see what it’s like, and then everyone recording process was off and on,” says Terje. “All in all, we produced it ourselves,” be really honest.’ And it worked.” McCarthy. “We recorded four or five, then says McCarthy. “While we invited three Recording in their own spaces also stopped, maybe wrote another song or tried producers to collaborate, we oversaw the allowed the group to enjoy additional playing some of the others, and then recorded whole record. We invited people along for freedoms, because “then you can just do again. It was quite a nice way of doing it.” the ride. We’ve always used a producer, and what the hell you want to do, plug things in After an intense two years touring it’s good to have an outside opinion. But Alex wherever you want to without having to go behind 2009’s Tonight, the band chose a produced a couple of records with four other through someone else,” says McCarthy. “‘I more relaxed approach in the studio. “We bands, and I did a few as well. This time we want to do this really stupid thing like plug were doing the opposite of what we did thought, ‘We can do this.’” my guitar into the power socket—see what on our last record, which we wrote and The band recorded in McCarthy’s and it sounds like.’ When you have to go through recorded in the same room,” says McCarthy. Kapranos’ respective studios. But producing someone to do that, you might just say, ‘Oh “We were in there for a year and a half and themselves posed some communication no, I’m not going to say that.’” didn’t really want to do that again. It got a bit challenges. “You have to be very honest with –Amanda Farah SARAH JAROSZ No creative avenue is left unexplored for this bluegrass prodigy AMERICANA SINGER-SONGWRITER SARAH JAROSZ’S third album, Build Me Up From Bones, is her most ambitious project yet—an achievement the multi-instrumentalist largely credits to her education at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music. “School was crucial in pushing me out of my comfort zone,” says the Texas ISSUE native.#29 “ IMt expanded MUSIC my repertoire& MUSICIANS and opened my MAGAZINE ears to different sounds and possibilities.” Painting and poetry classes also had an impact. “Doing something nonmusical was inspiring. For me, writing poetry is a completely different process than writing song lyrics, and it felt good to get freed up with words.” 16 MARCH/APRIL 2011 M MUSIC & MUSICIANS MAGAZINE M mag 29.indd 16 8/26/13 11:56 PM.