Francis International Airport are one of Austria’s finest indie bands. Just recently, they released a new album called Cache. While their previous album In the Woods was dominated by guitar sounds, the new one combines both analogue and programmed beats. You can now hear some distinct influences from the 80s and there is this particular attention to detail the band is known for.
In our interview with Francis International Airport, we have talked about music by The Cure, Mark OH, Francoise Hardy and Echo & The Bunnymen. More after the jump.
The Cure Just like heaven
When I was 10 or 11, I got my first record player, and it was a rather cheap one. The first single I played with it was by The Cure. It wasn’t Just like heaven, but Lullaby. I was very fascinated with both the music and the technique of the record player, of how the needle and the loudspeaker worked together. I played that song on and on. I think, one year later my vinyl phase was already over; CDs was introduced, which made you putting up your vinyls up in the attic. Funnily, the first time I listened to the whole Disintegration album was about 15 years later.
Mark OH Love Song
I have to admit: in 1994 / 1995, Mark Oh was THE enemy to me and my friends. Ok, we were young and we needed to find our place. So we had to have someone to attack. And Mark OH was the perfect target, because his music was so terrible. Later I became a Punk, and I went to raves with some friends. I even attended the Love Parade, just for the fun of it.
Just imagine, someone would play Mark OH’s Love Song on the radio today (which does not mean that the radio programme is any better these days). This Eurodance thing started in the early 90s, and it certainly brought down some barriers in the mainstream.
Francoise Hardy Le Temps De L’amour
Naturally, you immediately connect this song to Moonrise Kingdom. The story is very atmospheric. Even if you have not seen the movie, you can hear this certain melancholy that enchants you. “Quand le temps va et vient / On ne pense à rien malgré ses blessures.”
FIA The Right Ones
When we did the demo takes for Cache, there was this terrible earthquake in Japan, and so many pictures of it were circulating in the internet. One of them was shot right during the earthquake. It shows two people holding on to each other very intensively while everything around them falls apart. To me, this picture more or less shows the atmosphere of the album.
However, that does not mean that Cache is only about fear and terror. The dreamlike atmosphere of this picture is what makes it so fascinating. You just want to hear a story about it. To put it shortly: Capturing pictures in music and visualizing music are important aspects of our work.
Echo And The Bunnymen Seven Seas
A single from their masterpiece Ocean Rain. Post-Punk-Pop at its best. For U2, this sound was a model, and they made it really big. But in contrary to U2, Echo And the Bunnymen still preserved some darkness and mystery in their sound. They were an important influence to FIA, like many bands from that time.
