Franz Ferdinand
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When last year's well-documented Eliot Spitzer payola investigation became public knowledge, Franz Ferdinand were one of the many musical acts whose name came up in the news. However, the band themselves weren't exactly thrilled about seeing themselves in the press for this reason.Speaking to The Daily Yomiuri in Japan, singer Alex Kapranos said, "To put it mildly, I find it embarrassing...It's [this payola issue] something that's got nothing to do with us, and it's something that really gets my back up. I was gonna say that I don't approve of it, but it's something that's more extreme than that--it's actually something that makes me feel really annoyed that people want to do that."
Kapranos continued, "American radio is totally f----d because of things like that. There's no freedom of expression, there's no freedom of choice for the deejays either. They are told to play what they play, and that's a very depressing state to be in." He adds that he finds the whole issue unsavory, comparing it to a political scandal. "You know when a minister is really into some kind or perverted form of sex or prostitutes or something like that, and the prime minister gets painted because of his pal's pervy behavior?," he told the newspaper. "That's how I feel about this payola scandal in America."
Franz Ferdinand have a handful of dates in South America on their schedule, three of which are opening slots for U2, before kicking off their co-headlining tour with Death Cab For Cutie here in North America.
