CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos says he’s not a guy who likes to look back. But now that the Scottish band has turned 20, he’s making an exception.
The group formed in 2001 in Glasgow, after its members had played in other bands around the city. Taking its name from the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose June 1914 assassination sparked World War I, the group was on top less than three years later with a platinum single, “Take Me Out,” and an equally successful self-titled debut album -- which won Britain’s prestigious Mercury Prize in 2004. Since then Kapranos and company (only he and bassist Bob Hardy remain from the original lineup) have released five studio albums, a batch of other U.K. hits and a 2015 collaboration with Sparks dubbed FFS.
So the group has ample reason to celebrate its first two decades, which it’s doing with the new “Hits to the Head” compilation, a 20-track set that includes a pair of brand new tracks, “Curious” and “Billy Goodbye.” The group -- whose last new album, “Always Ascending,” came out during 2018 -- is back on the road and will be back in North America during August. And Kapranos, 49, tells us via Zoom from London that he’s “ready to start a Vol. 2″ of hits with more new music in the offing:
Do you feel like your life is flashing in front of your eyes, or ears, with “Hits to the Head?”
Kapranos: It’s funny because putting this record together, you know, I don’t really listen to records once I’ve made them. I generally don’t look back at the past. I like looking to the future. So this was the first time I had to listen to all those songs collected together in one place, and I really enjoyed that. It’s good in your life, occasionally, to take a glance backward to understand where you are so you can go into the future. And I’m glad to be moving into the future as well, working on new songs.
What kind of perspective did you get from re-immersing yourself in Franz Ferdinand’s past for this?
Kapranos: Well, I couldn’t have known it would last more than a couple of singles back then when we got the band together. Of course, you have lofty ideas and ambitions, creatively. There are things that you want to put down and accomplish. Having been in bands before, I know they’re delicate. They can flip at the slightest personality trait. So I had no idea 20 years later I’d still be playing and talking about it.
What feeling do you get from lining these songs up, back to back to back?
Kapranos: I get a good feeling listening to all these songs together. I can hear them and think, “There’s a Franz Ferdinand song” and there’s an identity for the band despite all the different directions and sounds we’ve explored over the years. I guess in any artist endeavor that’s really what you want to achieve, isn’t it, to have an identity that’s instantly recognizable, yet still explore tributaries of the same river.
So how would you define the characteristics of Franz Ferdinand’s identity?
Kapranos: That’s interesting. For me, part of that knowing is indistinct -- you just feel it. Straight away, you know what it is. It’s like a Hitchcock film; You know it’s a Hitchcock film right away. If you see a Warhol painting, you know it’s Warhol right away. The Beatles might be a better example -- if I listen to something from “Sgt. Pepper” compared to “Love Me Do,” I know it’s the same band even though they sound very different. I think what’s defined us right from the start are the bold lines, maybe the nature of my voice, the lyrical content, unconventional song structures, melancholia sung with an uplifting beat. The music’s uncluttered by excess. There are a few different elements I think would define what we do. And the ‘What the (expletive)?!’ moments, the stuff you wouldn’t expect to happen. We love having those in there.
Do you have particular memories that you’ve held onto over the years?
Kapranos: It’s just crazy, crazy, crazy to think it’s 20 years, you know? There are so many lifetimes within this lifetime -- where do I begin? Just traveling and the experience of the planet is one of the greatest privileges. And then working on “Sorry Angel” with Jane Birkin or singing with Debbie Harry or having LCD System cover one of our songs (“Live Alone”) and us covering one of theirs (“All My Friends”), or Stephin Merritt or ESG covering our songs. I remember once standing on the side of the stage for Parliament or Funkadelic at a festival in Ireland and Grace Jones appeared beside me. I knew the guy who was with her and he said, “Grace, this is Alex from Franz Ferdinand.” I remember her looking at me going, “Alex, hi” and giving me a big smacker on the lips. How many folks get that?
You and Bob are the only two guys still in the band from the beginning. What keeps the two of you together?
Kapranos: It was me and Bob at the beginning as well. We first started talking about the band that would become Franz Ferdinand in the summer of 2000. We were working together in a kitchen. Bob didn’t plan in instruments. A friend gave me a bass and said, “Do something useful with it,” so I started showing Bob songs I had, like “Darts of Pleasure,” and we started writing songs together. Then late in 2002, we met Nick (McCarthy), and then Paul (Thomson) kind of joined us after that. So I guess me and pop have been right here from the beginning. I do feel very close to Bob. But Paul is still such a good friend, even though he decided he doesn’t want to tour the world anymore.
How did you go about picking the songs for “Hits to the Head?”
Kapranos: Most of the stuff is easy. I just thought, “Would I play the song if I was headlining a festival?” If the answer is yes...I mean, it’s the hits, the songs people know and can engage in. The bangers! (laughs) It’s the songs that have universal appeal. They’re not necessarily my personal favorites, even. I’d say songs like “Fade Together” on the second record (“You Could Have It So Much Better,” 2005) or “Lindsey Wells” (aka “L. Wells”), which was a B-side, or “Lazy Boy” off the last record are maybe some of the songs I personally love, but maybe don’t belong on a hits record, but I’m glad they’re on there, too.
You have new songs on the album. Where did they come from?
Kapranos: I wrote both of them over lockdown. They’re quite different songs. “Curious” definitely has the dance floor, slinky side of the band you get in songs like “No You Girl” or “Stand on the Horizon,” whereas “Billy Goodbye” is more like “Do You Want To” or “Darts of Pleasure.” I’ve written a group of songs, but both of those really like they belonged on this record, which is why they’re here.
Are there more new songs on the way?
Kapranos: Yeah, there’s a bunch of stuff we’ve been working on -- recording, not finished. We need to mix and stuff like that I made a vow I wasn’t gonna talk too much about records before they went out in the world because you build up people’s expectations and then you change your mind. That’s your prerogative as an artist, to change your mind and do something else. So I have no idea what direction we’re going in.
Do you think another FFS project with Sparks could happen?
Kapranos: No way. That record was fun because it was a surprise -- THAT was a what the (expletive) moment. It’s not Franz Ferdinand or Sparks for that matter. It’s a different thing, a different world. To come back and go “Surprise!” again doesn’t quite have the same impact, does it?