FFS (an abbreviation of Franz Ferdinand and Sparks) was a supergroup formed by Scottish

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band Franz Ferdinand and American

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

band Sparks. Their formation was announced on 9 March 2015, but the two bands had been recording since at least the mid-2000s. The group's eponymous debut studio album was recorded in late 2014 and released through the

Domino Recording Company Domino Recording Company, or simply Domino, is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called ...

in the UK on 8 June and in the US on 9 June 2015.

History

Pre-formation (2004)

Franz Ferdinand and Sparks originally began working on music together in 2004, shortly after the release of Franz Ferdinand's eponymous debut studio album, when it was discovered that the two bands were fans of each other. They had sent each other a few demos, one of which was "Piss Off", the twelfth track on ''FFS'', but the two bands were busy with other activities and they were not able to fully record an album together. Sparks' demo recording of "Piss Off" was released on their greatest hits collection ''Past Tense: The Best of Sparks'' in 2019.

Formation and ''FFS'' (2014–2015)

In 2013, it was announced that the two bands were both performing at the 2013

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...

. While searching for a dentist in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Alex Kapranos Alexander Paul Kapranos (born 20 March 1972) is a Scottish musician. He is the lead singer and lead guitarist of Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been a part of the supergroups FFS and BNQT. Early life Alexander Paul Kapranos ...

, the lead singer of Franz Ferdinand, was found by

Ron Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

and

Russell Mael Russell Craig Mael (born October 5, 1948) is an American singer best known as the lead singer for the band Sparks (band), Sparks, which he formed in 1971 with his elder brother Ron Mael. Mael is known for his wide vocal range, in particular his f ...

of Sparks. The Mael brothers invited the band to watch their set at the festival, and later, the two bands agreed that it was time to record an album together. On 9 March 2015, it was announced that Franz Ferdinand and Sparks had formed a supergroup together by the name of FFS. On 1 April, it was announced that the band would be releasing their eponymous debut studio album on 8 June in the UK and 9 June 2015 in the US '' FFS'' was recorded at

RAK Studios RAK Studios is a recording studio complex, with residential facilities, used by Rak Records, and located near Regent's Park in central London, England. It was founded in 1976 by English record producer Mickie Most. History The RAK complex res ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

during a 15-day period in late 2014. It was also produced by Grammy Award-winning music producer John Congleton. '' FFS'' was released to a positive critical and commercial success. In support of the album, FFS appeared on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television show ''

Later with Jools Holland ''Later... with Jools Holland'' (also known as ''Even Later... with Jools Holland'', and previously known as ''Later Live... with Jools Holland'' and ''...Later with Jools Holland'') is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jo ...

'' on May 21, 2015 ( season 46, episode 4).

Disbandment

Franz Ferdinand and Sparks returned to working on their separate projects. Sparks released the album ''

Hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...

'' in September 2017, with Franz Ferdinand's ''

Always Ascending ''Always Ascending'' is the fifth studio album by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand. It was released on 9 February 2018 through the Domino Recording Company. It is the band's first non-collaborative album in over four years, following ' ...

'' following in February 2018. FFS marked the last participation of

Nick McCarthy Nicholas John McCarthy (born 13 December 1974) is an English-German musician. His main focus is on songwriting and song production. He is also a guitarist, singer and keyboard player. McCarthy was a founding member of the Glasgow-based band Fr ...

alongside members of Franz Ferdinand, before he left the band due to family commitments. Alex Kapranos has publicly stated in multiple occasions that Franz Ferdinand has no intention to resume the band's activities.

Members

– lead and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

– lead and backing vocals, lead and

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

, occasional keyboards *

– rhythm and lead guitar, keyboards, backing and occasional lead vocals *

Ron Mael Ronald David Mael (born August 12, 1945) is an American musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the keyboard player and principal songwriter in the band Sparks (band), Sparks, which he founded with vocalist, occasional songwrit ...

– keyboards, backing vocals * Bob Hardy –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, backing vocals *

Paul Thomson Paul Robert Thomson (born 15 September 1976) is a Scottish musician who was the drummer for the Glasgow-based band Franz Ferdinand from their formation in 2002 until October 2021. Biography Thomson has always been interested in music, able ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, backing vocals

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Promotional singles

References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2014 Domino Recording Company artists Rock music supergroups Scottish rock music groups Art rock musical groups Indie pop groups from Los Angeles British electropop groups Dance-rock musical groups Musical sextets