Karl Puschmann is Culture and entertainment writer for the New Zealand Herald. His fascination lies in finding out what drives and inspires creative people.
Alex Kapranos is not afraid. But the frontman of Glaswegian indie-rockers Franz Ferdinand has had fear on his mind.
”Fear is what defines us, what makes us human,” he explains.
“We all have the same fears but how we react to them is how we find out who we are. Overcoming fear makes you feel alive. That’s why we ride on rollercoasters and watch horror films.”
We’re talking about fear on this bright and sunny summer’s morning as the band has just released their sixth album, The Human Fear.
It’s their first album in seven long years and one filled with the band’s signature twitchy riffing, earworm hooks and natural swagger while also finding room within their sound to move into many different places without losing its way.
And while the title may suggest a dark, heavy listen, that’s not the case. Kapranos says the record is a celebration of overcoming common fears, things like being rejected by your peers, committing to a long-term relationship or leaving a long-term relationship that’s gone south.
”But please don’t call it a concept album,” he jokes. “I don’t think I could ever write a concept album.”
Concept or not, this idea of fear has been bubbling away in his mind.
”I think fear is in all of our minds all the time,” he says. “You can’t live life without having fear. And if you did, I don’t think it would be a proper life. Because it’s not the fear itself, it’s overcoming the fear and knowing that you went through it.”
Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand at Lowlands Festival. Photo / AFP
For example, he says to think about your significant other and the first time you asked them out or let them know your feelings for them.
”To do that with another person? You’ve gotta overcome a hell of a lot of fear to do that. But my God, the sensation when you do, it’s glorious!” he beams. “The thrill that comes to you because you’ve overcome that fear, well, it’s the deepest thrill available to humanity.”
Of course, not all fears are conquerable. Kapranos still hasn’t overcome his fear of sharks, instilled after watching Jaws as an impressionable 8-year-old.
”I’ve been terrified of sharks ever since then,” he laughs. “I still like to swim in the sea, but I’ve never quite overcome the fear. I always think that they’re underneath me, just checking me out.”
One fear he did conquer, however, was that of the schoolyard bully.
”A lot of your childhood is spent overcoming fears and confronting danger and learning to stand up to the things that intimidate you. I remember being at school and punching the bully on the chin who was like a foot taller than me and having to overcome a hell of a sense of fear to do that.
“But I knew that I had to do it, otherwise my life was going to be miserable. I did it and felt good about it as well.”
Overcoming fear may feel euphoric, but fear itself can be suffocating. It exposes your flaws, insecurities and shortcomings and ruthlessly cuts through your ego. Fear is a difficult thing to sit with.
“Absolutely,” he agrees. “It’s very easy to spend your life completely ignoring your fears, especially the really deep, dark ones like non-existence, losing loved ones or the futility of it all. Most of the time we deal with that stuff by pretending that it’s not there. The abyss is right in front of us but we just totter around the edge pretending that we don’t see it.”
“Alex”, I say, “you’re bumming me out!” which causes him to explode in laughter. Then he tells me a story.
”Everybody told me, ‘Oh, you’re going to have so much love for your baby when he’s born,’ but it didn’t prepare me in any way for the completely overwhelming sensation that arrived,” he says of the birth of his son in 2023 with wife, French singer-songwriter Clara Luciani.
”I’m a man of certain years and I’ve loved in my life and I thought I knew what love was. I thought I knew everything I needed to know about love. But when he arrived when the physical waters broke, it was as if these emotional waters broke within me and suddenly there was a release of this new sensation, this new form of love that I’d never experienced before.
“It was overwhelming. I was drowning in love when it happened.
“When I got over the shock of that, it made me consider all those big fears, all those existential fears, the ones that have always been in my mind. Because if I have moments where I let myself run into dark introspection those things can overwhelm me just as much as they can overwhelm anybody else. The thing is, suddenly, when compared to this overwhelming sense of love, those fears didn’t disappear but they felt inconsequential. They felt trivial, irrelevant, in comparison with this huge sensation of love that I have within me.”
He pauses for a second and then says: “I don’t know if that sounds drippy or daft or what, but it’s just an honest description of how I felt at the time. It really felt like a total relief.”
Then Kapranos smiles and says: “I know the abyss is still there, I just don’t give a f*** anymore.”
LOWDOWN
Who: Alex Kapranos, frontman of indie-rockers Franz Ferdinand
