FRANC MOODY
Having toured with the likes of Friendly Fires and won widespread acclaim (plus a passionate audience) for their DIY early releases, ‘Night Flight’ was conceived – write Franc Moody – “to create the illusion of space flight through the medium of funk bass, tabasco bottles, oboes and techno synthesisers. Imagine Yuri Gagarin slapping the bass onboard Vostok 1. Or Buzz Aldrin two-stepping his way off the Lunar Landing Module onto the moons surface in 1969.” The results – both bigger in sound but also sweatier, more sensual even in groove – suggest a band whose ambitions are also only just taking flight.
Like so many things, it all started with one great night out. Franc Moody see themselves as a collective, and have countless members once you include the musicians, guest vocalists, producers and animators that all play a part. But at the core of the band are the two ringleaders and songwriters, Ned and Jon. While Jon was born into a family of classical musicians, Ned was musically educated by the stereo in his parents’ car, blasting old soul, 50s/60s New Orleans music. The pair first met when they were part of a group of bands and musicians who took over an abandoned warehouse in North London, which soon became a stape of the local area thanks to the raucous live shows they put on which lasted well into the night: the kind of parties where there’s no bouncer, one portaloo, and hundreds of party-goers crammed in like sardines as sweat dripped from the ceiling. “We learned to love performing music that made people dance,” explains Ned, “in the same way those old funk and soul artists used to. In fact, what we were doing at the warehouse was sort of in a similar tradition to the Zydeco sessions and crawfish boils around South Louisiana, purely focused around dancing. It was quite simple really.”
Balancing classic sounds with timeless concerns, Franc Moody’s sound conjures up vintage funk awash with electronic inspiration, and one that spiritually evokes DIY, homespun touches as much as it does throbbing, hedonistic grooves. Like heroes Daft Punk and Jamiroquai, Franc Moody draw from the styles and techniques of funk, disco, techno and soul while simultaneously threading influences of contemporary dance music into everything they do. Together with recent single ‘Make Me Smile’, ‘Night Flight’ is the mark of Franc Moody truly coming into their own, keeping that history of underground dance culture (its energy, community, and urgency) firmly in the rearview so as to truly move things forward.
SATURDAY 20 APRIL
THEKLA BRISTOL
The Grove, Bristol BS1 4RB
Doors 7:30pm
Ages 14+
Advance tickets available from:
www.alttickets.com
www.gigantic.com
