‘Fatherhood’s like the early days of Franz Ferdinand’

Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos has found fatherhood a familiar experience – as it reminds him of his band’s early days.

Kapranos and wife Clara Luciani welcomed their first child last year, and the 52-year-old told BBC Scotland News departing on tours with his band is now “really difficult.”

“Saying goodbye to him is hard,” says the singer, speaking as his band prepare to release their sixth album, The Human Fear, in January.

“I’ve spent my adult life shirking responsibility, and being as irresponsible as possible, so being presented with responsibility is quite refreshing.

“A lot of people said to me that sleep deprivation would destroy me, but it was just like 2004 when the band was kicking off and I never went to bed.

“We’d be playing gigs, going out all night and then be up at 6am to fly somewhere. I slept about two hours a night back then, so this is the same – just without a hangover.”

Kapranos will be forced to say goodbye on a few occasions as 2025 goes on, with a busy year in store for Franz – now revamped and reformatted since those early days, but still adept at writing artful indie pop.

Emerging from Glasgow’s bustling music scene Kapranos, guitarist Nick McCarthy, bassist Bob Hardy and drummer Paul Thomson enjoyed chart success with inescapable singles like Take Me Out, earned a reputation as one of the country’s finest live acts and snagged the Mercury Music Prize in 2004.

That victory came as the band thought “anyone but us would win,” recalls the singer.

“It’s quite a Glasgow attitude. You’re like ‘we’re not the sort of people who win prizes’.”

Success had taken time to arrive.

Kapranos was born in England but moved to to Scotland as a child. As a teenager he became entrenched in the 90s Glasgow music scene, running club nights and playing in the likes of cult indie band the Yummy Fur before forming Franz Ferdinand.

Much has changed since their debut album won the Mercury, with The Human Fear marking the group’s first studio offering since the exit of original drummer Thomson in 2021.

Guitarist McCarthy had left in 2016.

A new line-up has formed around original members Kapranos and Hardy, with guitarist Dino Bardot, keyboardist/guitarist Julian Corrie and drummer Audrey Tait joining up.

Kapranos believes the band’s identity is intact despite the changes.

“Whenever we do a cover it always sounds like us, and I like that. We did Good Luck Babe [by Chappell Roan] on Radio 2, which is an amazing song but when we play it, it just sounds like Franz Ferdinand.

“Bob and I were talking about this before we made this record, that it’s good to be at ease with your identity and your sound.

“Knowing your voice and who you are is important. You could listen to early Birthday Party records and then those dark sombre ballads Nick Cave has been writing now, and it’s still unmistakeably him -it’s the same for PJ Harvey or Leonard Cohen.

“That really informed us making this record. I wanted people to listen to this and know it’s unmistakeably Franz Ferdinand.”

A greatest hits compilation in 2021 and ensuing tour helped the singer make “peace with everything that we’ve done before”.

“I’m not the kinda person who likes to look back,” he adds.

“Once we make a record I never really listen to it again, so for the tour I was being forced to listen to that music again, and I found I felt pretty comfortable with it.”

Celebrating the past meant the band were also eager to try new things for the future.

The Human Fear is filled with ideas fresh to the group, from orchestral flourishes on recent single Audacious to a bouzouki being used on Black Eyelashes and the Celtic style riff pulsing through Cats.

However, while the title might suggest a record bubbling with dread, Kapranos says it’s about the opposite.

“The greatest moments in life are when you overcome fear,” he says, admitting his own childhood terror was the shark in Jaws.

“Watching horror films or riding rollercoasters gives you a buzz and we should maybe approach some wider existential fears with the same attitude.

“I remember growing up in the 80s and thinking one diplomatic slip-up would mean we’d all be nuclear toast. There’s always something to be afraid of, and you can either submit to it or stand up to it.”

Politics is something Franz Ferdinand have visited before. In 2014 they backed Scottish independence and two years later they released Demagogue, aimed at the then incoming American President Donald Trump.

However the second Presidency of Trump is unlikely to spur such a similiar reaction.

“Trump’s not my favourite man and there’s so much in worldwide politics that’s disheartening,” says the singer.

“But it’s also disheartening how everyone is going on about politics all the time. I find it wearying and I’m loathe to do my share of it. It should be obvious Trump is an idiot and self-centred, does it need me to say that?

“Some of my friends on social media just bang on about it all the time. The arts is a powerful tool of protest and we should continue to do that, but there’s a difference between that and low key whinging.”

They won’t remain silent on some issues, though.

In 2024 the group were among Scottish musicians raising concerns over possible arts funding cuts, while a short tour saw them road-test new songs in some of the country’s smaller venues.

UK dates for 2025 include the larger likes of the Barrowland in Glasgow, with a summer show at the city’s SWG3 also booked in, but supporting grassroots music remains a passionate subject for the singer.

“I spent so many years in the basement of the 13th Note in Glasgow, so it’s part of my DNA.

“To be in a dingy wee cellar with a band playing loudly – that’s my happy place.”