Diandra Interviews Francis Aud: An 80’s Inspired Rumi For 2020.

 

I’m in love with Francis Aud. His music is a total vibe, his answers to my interview questions are charming and relatable, and, when combined show a person of real depth like, his favorite philosopher, Rumi. He is a big heart and vast imagination trying to find one simple thing: his happiness. On that journey he makes 80s inspired tracks and love songs that help him realize, perhaps, he is not the best communicator with partners but he is growing. Yet, ultimately, he loves to FONK, and, in our interview, we discuss just what that is exactly or rather, if it was a nightclub, what you should expect?

Take Me Home – Francis Aud (Lyric Video)

Diandra: If “FONK” were a nightclub, how would you define it? What would be its vibe, what would it serve, who would be the fellow artists played, and how would people dress?

Francis: Haha, AMAZING first question. I would define “FONK.” as your “parents’ favorite night club.”

It would look like a raging fun Miami-esque nightclub from the outside, with lots of bright neon lights and pastel colors, but once inside it would be extremely quiet, have walls painted baby blue, and there would be mattresses where people could take naps on. People would come dressed in going out clothes and then, once inside, be given the opportunity to buy an affordable onesie to be super comfortable in.

We would play an eclectic mix of: smooth jazz, Alpha and Beta waves to promote deep sleep, Kenny G, and Enya exclusively.

I think “FONK” as a club is the physical representation of me: Always down to have a good time on the outside but on the inside I’m honestly just tryna take a nap like all the time.

Diandra: You said you listened to “Super Romantic Spanish crooner” music. Who are some of the most romantic, Spanish singers you have heard and what did they teach about love: both in life and song?

Francis: Haha, this is such a good question and is taking me for a loooong walk down memory lane.

Back when I was growing up, my father was (and still is) a big fan of singers like Joan Manuel Serrat and Camilo Sesto. Part of what made these singers so “romantic,” aside from the fact that they were always begging for forgiveness or singing about how much they missed their lovers, was the arrangements of the songs themselves. They were always SHAMELESSLY grandiose – there were string sections, horn sections, timpani, pretty much tiny orchestras in the songs themselves.

I would say that listening to these songs paved the way for me to be unabashedly melodramatic and over-the-top in how I communicate my feelings through music. I think they also taught me that even sadness can be beautiful when accompanied with and communicated through music.

Diandra: Singing to past relationships, what have you noticed about yourself as a partner in writing such songs?

Francis: WOWOWOW. Okay, Diandra, I see you out here lowkey being my therapist, haha.

I think that over the years and, through some of the more painful heartbreaks I’ve experienced, I’ve put up an emotional guard and, as a result of that, I haven’t been the most emotionally communicative or available partner. In fact, once I even had a partner ask, verbatim: “So will I only know how you’re feeling through the songs you write, or will you ever just tell me?”

I’ve had a hard time expressing my boundaries and emotional needs plainly to a partner as well but, through my songwriting, I’ve learned a lot about how to get to the core of what I mean to communicate and stand behind and by what I’m saying.

Because of that confidence, I’ve learned to be a lot more steadfast and assertive in asking for what I want, communicating what makes me happy, sad, etc. and as a result, understanding just how important it is for my partner to have the space to do so as well.

Diandra: You adore 80s music and film. What is one film that you would love to turn into a song? Why and from which character perspective would you sing?

Francis: AMAZING QUESTION. Hands down without doubt, I would turn my favorite move of all time, “Short Circuit 2” into a song.

The movie which came out in 1986 is a sequel to “Short Circuit” (1983) which is about a robot that was designed as a weapon of mass destruction (that also looks A LOT like a bigger version of Wall-E…) that gets struck by lightning and develops a consciousness. It’s pretty much an 80’s take on Frankenstein.

The first movie centers around him escaping the clutches of the company that built him because they want to destroy this now sentient robot, and the sequel focuses on his budding personality and the fact that he is a robot with a “soul.” People get angry with him, let him down, show him love, he gets taken advantage of; basically, all the highs and lows associated with being a human. He also learns how to love and trust over the course of the film, and ,the more I think about this, the more I realize this is like an entire album’s worth of material…

I would sing from the perspective of the robot named, “Johnny 5” because he’s pretty much experiencing everything we as humans go through on a daily basis: loneliness, pain, joy, excitement, etc. and struggling to make sense of it all.

Diandra: How do you feel quarantine has inspired your music? How do you think it has or will change music in the future?

Francis: Hmmmm. Ya know, the more I think on this question the more I realize that quarantine has had a HUGE impact on both the production of my music and the topics/content which I’ve begun to explore in my songwriting.

During the initial couple of months of quarantine, I, along with pretty much everyone else, suddenly had LOTS of time alone with my thoughts. I started writing lyrics that began exploring loneliness and uncertainty and confusion instead of the typical “hey, baby, let’s have fun” and very sort-of “cheeky” and “braggadocio” lyrics I was used to writing for my music.

As a brief aside, I normally only listen to music from the 80’s whenever I’m feeling low or whenever I need a quick pick-me-up that only a cheesy synth can bring. So, as quarantine dragged on longer and longer, I found myself wanting to make my OWN version of that same 80s music to make myself happy and lift my own spirits; all while still exploring these moodier lyrical topics. Thus, as a result, the longer that quarantine went on and social-distancing goes on, the more I find myself working to combine my affinity for the bright and bouncy music of the 80’s with my own brand of contemporary funk/pop music ,which I like to call “FONK” to create honest music that makes ME dance and makes my day better.

As a whole, I think that quarantine is forcing lots of singer/songwriters to become more adept at production and further familiarize themselves with their own musical likes/dislikes, writing tendencies, and really just hone in on what is important for them to communicate. I know its done wonders for me in terms of getting closer to just what exactly my “sound” is.
Over Tonight – Francis Aud & The Professionals (NPR Tiny Desk Concert 2020)

Diandra: If you could have brunch with Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke, what would you want to talk to them about? Moreover, if you take one thing from them, what would it be?

Francis: Jeez Louise. Once again, phenomenal question.

I think the one thing that supersedes my interest in how they both approached music, is my curiosity to know what kept them going and what gave them the drive to push forward every day as artists, as Black men, and as human beings.

Blatantly addressing the elephant in the room, it’s awe-inspiring that two Black male artists that lived in America during a time that was equally (if not arguably more) contentious than the time we’re living in now when it comes to racial turmoil and uncertainty, re: the future to how the future looks, were still able to produce such beautiful and honest art. I think the one thing I would love to take from them is some advice and insight into how they were able to consistently take and turn the animosity towards them, and all of the pain and stress around them, and turn that into such timeless music.

Diandra: What can Francis Aud say about the world and yourself versus “stella”?

Francis: Hmmm, excellent question.

I remember when I first started writing, recording and releasing music under the name “Francis Aud” I was 24 going on 25. I had just quit my full-time office job, I was investing all of my savings into and on my musical development, and I felt like I was making up for LOTS of lost time (not too proud to say that I spent lots of time comparing myself to 17-year old YouTube superstars and child prodigies.)

Because of this, I put A LOT of unnecessary pressure on myself to make everything I made “perfect” and “successful.” As a result of this pressure I needlessly placed on myself, I spent a year so creatively stifled, spinning my own wheels, living in my own head, and not actually making art that I enjoyed. It took me A LOT of time to let myself have fun again with music. It wasn’t until I started playing with a band, and getting more Audacious (pun intended) with my songwriting, that I finally felt like I was able to have a fun again with music.

Because of this, I like to think that Francis Aud is my project for forgetting all of the responsibilities of life and is what really lets me have fun. As a result, the music and live shows take on an inherently more vibrant, cheekier, and spirited outlook in their approach and content.

The ironic thing is that when I was releasing music from 2018 – 2019 under Francis Aud, the content of the songs actually sometimes felt devoid of emotional depth. Then after experiencing a pretty debilitating heartbreak in later 2018, I was sort of plunged back into exploring my emotions and thus my side project “stella.” was born.

This might sound equal parts comical and terrible, but, through stella. I feel like I let myself “feel more” especially when it comes to my “less-than-happy” emotions like heartache and confusion and listlessness. It’s funny that you ask this question because I’m actually in the midst of writing and recording new material for my next stella. EP (due out in 2021.)

stella. as a project is a lot more vulnerable and story-driven, while Francis Aud for sure has an emotional component, but is more groove and good-time-driven and than anything else.

That being said, I see Francis Aud and stella. as two sides of the same coin in regards to myself, and the fact that, personally, we all feel a multitude of different things at any given time and, sometimes, seek different ways of communicating these feelings. Though they’re musically worlds apart, I’m very much looking forward to the point in my songwriting development where I’m able to bridge the gap between the two and find a way of expressing myself totally.
Francis Aud – Without You (Live at Union Pool)

Diandra: Working on a small poetry book, can you give us a preview poem?

Francis: Haha, very smooth ask! Here’s a super duper tiny snippet:

Promise
As I live
for as long
about you
every song
will be.

Diandra: If your life was converted into a poetry book, which poet would you ask to write it and in which of their books would you like them to style it after? Why?

Francis: WOAH. Great question. Honestly, as inclined as the singer-songwriter in me is to choose Leonard Cohen, I think I would have to go with Rumi.

For those that don’t know, along with being a poet, Rumi was a mystic, theologian, Islamic scholar during the 13th century and his poems ranged from being winding twenty-verse epics to small couplets. What I love most about his writing, is that aside from his way with words, all of his poems end up having a moral of the story, at their end, that touches on some greater insight regarding the human condition. As a very confused and tired millennial, I would very much like a mystic to shed some light on the meaning of my life through poem, ya know?

Diandra: What is your favorite childhood memory with family and music?

Francis: Oof. This might be a depressing one but screw it, here we go.

My family (particularly my father) has never been too keen on me pursuing music as a career. I think it comes with the territory of being a first-generation son, born of two immigrant parents, who came to this country and worked their asses off and are now an engineer and nurse respectively. Also, coming from the “old country,” my father has never been emotionally expressive and so you can imagine just how shocked I was when my Dad told me he wanted to sing a song in his father’s memory, at his funeral, and wanted me to accompany him on the guitar.

It was the first time he ever really acknowledged my musical skills as something having significance, and it was also the first time I had ever heard him sing. At the funeral, he made it about half way into the song before he started to cry and then, of course, we both broke down in the middle of the service. It’s a sad memory on the surface, but being able to be there for my Dad during such a rough time in his life, in a musical capacity, means a lot to me.

Diandra: Known for your good humor, what is the funniest joke you have ever heard?

Francis: Haha, the best joke I have ever heard is a VERY, VERY long one that involves:

a world traveler, a Scottish accent, and shagging a sheep or two.

I promise I’ll tell it to you if you come out to a show whenever those start happening again!

Diandra: How do you feel laughter and singing help protect you in the world?

Francis: What a lovely question and great note to end this on.

I feel that laughter and singing help protect me in the world because they are both actions that, when I am engaged in, command my full attention.

Not to get too “hokey” sounding but because of such a demand that both of these actions place on me, I’m essentially forced to live and BE in the present moment and I feel that the only way we can feel fully alive in this world is by giving our all to the time we have in front of us here and now.

For More Information On Francis Aud Click Here.