interviews

Franz No of Amanonn

Amanonn, what's that name really...

Many a definition of the word or concept exist. Here's our favourite: Amanonn is the Love Goddess of Ancient Iran.

What are you then, Love Gods?

My name is No, Franz No. With my friends François and Pit we fuzz noise with a sentiment.

Franz No's your name uh? What's your game then?

Whatever. No matter what's our style, it's ours.

What would you define as your influences, apart from other musicians?

Girls, in general. The "Muse of October Night", for me in particular. Women as different as the third wife of a merchant in quattrocento Florence or a teenager with a skateboard inspire us.

Maybe defining your music could be achieved by knowing the instruments you use...

Why not: monophonic analogue synthesizers François tweaks and manipulates, filters, mixes and demixes; bright and clear electric guitar with the right amount of natural overdrive Pit touches; self-customized electric bass guitar I myself sub-play. And our TR drummers miss the foul-smelling armpits, being mass-built in industrial factories. But we all do have a go at everything with our own greasy fingers.

You split works with strange people for such a poppy band... (like Tekken -grindcore or Tin.RP -beat industrial)

Simply shows how difficult it is to find a pigeoncage to pigeonhole us.

Your image is based on Women, mostly drawn women, and never appears sexist to me. That itself is a performance. How do you manage that? Where do the drawings come from?

I draw and François takes the photographs. Our idea is to pay homage to Feminine Beauty, Grace, Subtlety and Sensitivity. Sexism, chauvinism or exploitation simply are out of our subject.

WHat would you define as success?

Success would mean having the music spread as widely as possible. Which means being signed on a label. On the other hand, success as it's sold by majors or television isn't for us.

Hence: self-releasing your music?

One, autoproduction was mandatory when we decided to pass the doors of our rehearsal room to have people listen to our music. Two, it's also a choice we made: no compromise, we accept full responsibility for the quality (or non-quality) of what we do.

Kinda strange you say you wanna be signed and say ready-made success is an illusion, kinda weird you send music to labels while claiming self-releasing your works is a choice...

Paradox and charm of what Gainsbourg called "Art Mineur", popular music that is.

Live? When?

We'll open for Electric Press Kit and Planète Asphalte during spring 2005. And we're open to just about everything... See what I mean? http://amanonn.free.fr

You all play all kinds of instruments. How do you expect, any of you, to become the next Yngwee Malmstinoknoepfler?

François and I just left Pit trying to.

Any success so far?

With Girls, yeah, definitely. With How-To-Play-SemiQuavers-At-210BPM magazine, who cares.

As a conclusion, could we call Amanonn the Anti-Metal-Urbain?

Nope, no anti-anything, more a pro-something, like a pro-Tin.RP for instance.

Yeah, baby, yeah.

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Franz No of Amanonn Amanonn, what's that name really... Many a definition of the word or concept exist. Here's our favourite: Amanonn is the Love Goddess of Ancient Iran. What are you then, Love Gods? My name is No, Franz No. With my friends François and Pit we fuzz noise with a sentiment. Franz No's your name uh? What's your game then? Whatever. No matter what's our style, it's ours. What would you define as your influences, apart from other musicians? Girls, in general. The "Muse of October Night", for me in particular. Women as different as the third wife of a merchant in quattrocento Florence or a teenager with a skateboard inspire us. Maybe defining your music could be achieved by knowing the instruments you use... Why not: monophonic analogue synthesizers François tweaks and manipulates, filters, mixes and demixes; bright and clear electric guitar with the right amount of natural overdrive Pit touches; self-customized electric bass guitar I myself sub-play. And our TR drummers miss the foul-smelling armpits, being mass-built in industrial factories. But we all do have a go at everything with our own greasy fingers. You split works with strange people for such a poppy band... (like Tekken -grindcore or Tin.RP -beat industrial) Simply shows how difficult it is to find a pigeoncage to pigeonhole us. Your image is based on Women, mostly drawn women, and never appears sexist to me. That itself is a performance. How do you manage that? Where do the drawings come from? I draw and François takes the photographs. Our idea is to pay homage to Feminine Beauty, Grace, Subtlety and Sensitivity. Sexism, chauvinism or exploitation simply are out of our subject. WHat would you define as success? Success would mean having the music spread as widely as possible. Which means being signed on a label. On the other hand, success as it's sold by majors or television isn't for us. Hence: self-releasing your music? One, autoproduction was mandatory when we decided to pass the doors of our rehearsal room to have people listen to our music. Two, it's also a choice we made: no compromise, we accept full responsibility for the quality (or non-quality) of what we do. Kinda strange you say you wanna be signed and say ready-made success is an illusion, kinda weird you send music to labels while claiming self-releasing your works is a choice... Paradox and charm of what Gainsbourg called "Art Mineur", popular music that is. Live? When? We'll open for Electric Press Kit and Planète Asphalte during spring 2005. And we're open to just about everything... See what I mean? http://amanonn.free.fr You all play all kinds of instruments. How do you expect, any of you, to become the next Yngwee Malmstinoknoepfler? François and I just left Pit trying to. Any success so far? With Girls, yeah, definitely. With How-To-Play-SemiQuavers-At-210BPM magazine, who cares. As a conclusion, could we call Amanonn the Anti-Metal-Urbain? Nope, no anti-anything, more a pro-something, like a pro-Tin.RP for instance. Yeah, baby, yeah.