Alex, speaking of shoes and such, and jumping around onstage — blisters. You've got quite a few blisters haven't you? Wasn't that one of your early bands, The Blisters?
Alex: My God, you're a good researcher aren't you? Yeah, that's true.

What were The Blisters like?
Alex: It was, ummm, I guess similar. Just a lot of teenage energy and spazzing out onstage. Maybe not as focused as we are today.

So here we are Franz Ferdinand in Vancouver, British Columbia...
Nick: Er, yeah. [laughs]

Canada:
Nick: Yup.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. What are the Canadian connections to Franz Ferdinand?
Paul: We toured with Hot Hot Heat.

You toured with Hot Hot Heat. You can't get more Canadian than that! Actually, Hot Hot Heat opened... no, you opened for Hot Hot Heat.
Alex: Yeah, we opened for Hot Hot Heat. We did a tour with them and The Fiery Furnaces. Hot Hot Heat were great. We love their attitude. They're a fun pop band. They make people dance. They're cool.

How about their shoes? How are they? Do Hot Hot Heat have better shoes than me?
Alex: Dustin’s got good boots.
Bob: Steve, he's got good shoes. So does Paul. So does Dante. They've all got good shoes.

So Franz Ferdinand, any other Canadian connections? Hot Hot Heat, you opened for them.
Alex: My mother and my grandparents emigrated to Canada, lived here for three years and then they emigrated back to South Shields.

Whereabouts and why did they leave?
Alex: They lived in Toronto and they left again because they had no money. But that was ages ago in the '60s.

I was thinking another Canadian connection which you haven't mentioned yet, Alex. Yummy Fur was one of your bands. And Yummy Fur is a Canadian comic book by Chester Brown. Is that true?
Alex: That's correct. The Yummy Fur had an album out called The Canadian Flag, too. But Paul's more the Yummy Fur man. I just played bass for a bit at the end.

You had an album called The Canadian Flag?
Paul: With a Canadian flag on the front, yeah. Inside a hand.

When was that?
Paul: '98 or something like that.

So we have Yummy Fur, we have Hot Hot Heat, we have your relatives and we also have The Monochrome Set.
Alex: [laughs] What's the Monochrome Set connection to Canada?

First off, what's the importance of The Monochrome Set to Franz Ferdinand?
Alex: Well, for me, I know Bid of The Monochrome Set and he's been very supportive of music I've done before. I've written things for him and worked with him before. He's a cool guy.

And one of the dudes from The Monochrome Set lives in Montreal now!
Bob: No.

Yeah.
Alex: Which one?

I'm not sure. One of the dudes from The Monochrome Set. Another connection to Franz Ferdinand. And lastly, another Canadian connection, Isobel from Belle And...
Bob: Sebastian?

Belle And Sebastian. Played her last gig ever with Belle And Sebastian in Toron...
Alex: Is that right? Toron-TO. [laughs]

Toronto!
Alex: Is that true?

Yes!
Bob: And we toured with Belle And...

Se...
Bob: Ba...

S...
Bob: Ti...
Alex: An...In fact, part of the reason we had our band together was because of Belle And Sebastian. Mick, who plays the trumpet and bass sometimes in Belle And Sebastian, gave me an old bass guitar and said "Do something useful with it," so I kind of taught Bob how to play it and that's how the band sort of started.