Ned Franc and Jon Moody, together known as Franc Moody, blend soul songwriting with analog synthesizers and disco grooves to produce dancefloor euphoria. They started out throwing warehouse parties in London, and they recently released their third full album, Chewing the Fat.
Recalling their early days, Moody says the two were friends before becoming bandmates. They built studios in a cavernous, derelict North London warehouse that hosted music rehearsals and dance parties. Eventually, they “fell out of love with the whole thing” and decided to join forces and write music for other people. Shortly afterward, they got a manager who suggested they should start their own band.
At first the duo balked. “ We were like, ‘no, not again, no more bands,’” recalls Moody, but three albums in, “and here we are talking to you guys on KCRW.”
Moody’s mom and sister even became a part of some of their albums. He grew up around music — his mom is a violinist, dad a trumpet player, sister a cellist, and uncle a composer. The first instrument Moody learned to play was the piano, followed by the recorder and the oboe (which appears on some of their tracks).
Meanwhile, Franc describes his parents as music obsessives. His mom got him a guitar teacher at age 11 or 12, and he and two brothers formed a wedding band when they were teens. “We used to play cover songs and probably ruin people's weddings. We were a bit like that band Hanson.”
On Chewing the Fat, the track “Going Through The Motions” is a blend of their 70s and 80s influences like Prince, George Clinton, and James Brown, Moody explains.
“And actually, that track was very much inspired by an LCD Soundsystem gig we went to go and see in … Los Angeles, and seeing ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ live for the first time. And the contrast in the sections is just so powerful,” Moody recalls. “And we're like, actually, let's try something along those lines. And the first and middle sections of those tunes, which are really dreamy and floaty, followed just by a riff, which is as direct and as punchy as we could possibly muster up.”
Chewing the Fat was recorded partially in LA. Moody says that when they were on tour, they found a “real home from home” in a studio here called 64 Sound that features 70s cladding and ample vintage instruments.
Their current sound has noticeably changed compared to years ago. The 2018 track “Dance Moves” is sparkly clean studio disco, while their new album has more raw grit. That’s in part thanks to the cameos from weird synthesizers from Daman Albarn’s (Gorillaz, Blur) personal collection.
“ He lets us have access to [his gear] and personally, we love going for the more quirky style sounds,” says Moody. “[We] ended up trying a whole bunch of stuff, but specifically a couple of really quirky Russian string machines which you can't even read what it says on it, designed to only have a few sounds on it, but very iconic sounds, very rare, a very warm, fuzzy analog sound.”
The band’s new direction came after feeling burnt out on their past iteration, a feeling that hit home during their Glastonbury set that coincided with Elton John’s final performance.
“ We were a little bit thin on the ground in our crowd, but it exposed the set a little bit for how it was and that it was a little bit jaded,” Franc explains. “We've been touring and releasing albums, and we've been playing as a six piece — and I think that era of the way we were writing, maybe, and the way the band was got a little bit … overplayed. … It just came to its natural end. … You could tell that there was a little bit of fatigue drawing in, a little hint of lacklusterness or whatever it was. And it just needed a fresh, new lick of paint.”