Franz Ferdinand makes some sense

Two guys from Franz Ferdinand are this months 20 Questions interview.  I really liked a couple of the answers.

Q13
PLAYBOY: Do you ever want to mix politics into your music?
ALEX: I feel slightly uncomfortable talking about politics because I never want to turn into one of those horrible, moralizing sods in a band who try to tell people how they should see the world.
NICK: For us it’s not the right place.  I appreciate what Bob Geldof has done, though he’s not doing it in his music.  Not too many bands do it well.  They may be doing it for a good cause, but you often have the idea that they don’t know what they’re talking about.

What a refreshing attitude from musicians!

Q17
PLAYBOY: Some musicians aren’t very happy about the iPod.
NICK: I’m not quite sure.  I think if you’re in one place, it’s nice to have an actual album, a record sleeve, the lyrics.  So there will always be that element of wanting to own something and not just have a song on a hard drive.  But I know I travel a lot - and I’ve always liked to travel light - I don’t like to have a lot of posessions.  What I do is buy a CD and stick it in and rip it.  Then I can listen to it and have it with me even if I lose the CD or give it away.
ALEX: I like the idea that, because of downloading, people are going to buy songs only if they are good.  I think that’s a positive thing.  It means lazy bands aren’t going to get away with giving you one hit single and an album full of filler.  We like the idea that every song should stand up in its own right so you don’t have to listen to a song in the context of an album to understand it.  I suppose that’s why I’m sympathetic to the download environment.

This doesn’t surprise me.  Hard working bands have been saying for years that they dislike the whole single/filler scenario that is so common in music.  I also like that Nick described the exact behavior for which the RIAA is trying to prosecute people.  The first time the RIAA sues an artist for this crap, watch the RIAA fall apart very quickly due to a lack of support.

I think I’ll download a few FF songs from iTunes just to say thank you.

Digg this story. (UPDATE - sweet, it made the front page of Digg.  Thanks Diggers!)

Posted by JimK at 09:24 AM on February 14, 2006
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Categories: Entertainment,  Music
Tags: Franz Ferdinand iTunes iPod politics music