Franz Ferdinand have announced that guitarist Nick McCarthy is leaving the band. Founding member McCarthy, who played rhythm guitar and keyboard, has played on all four of the band’s studio albums since they’re debut in 2002.
He recorded four studio albums with the band, as well as last year’s collaboration with Sparks.
Earlier today, the Glasgow band posted a statement that informed fans that McCarthy “will not be taking part in the recording or touring of the next Franz Ferdinand album”.
The reason cited was family commitments: “When we record or tour, it takes a long, full-time commitment lasting a minimum of a year and a half, most of which is spent away from home. Nick has a young family and does not want to be away from them for such a long period.”
“This is not necessarily a permanent situation and we will let you know if circumstances change in the future.”
“We’d love to be able to say this is a result of personal or musical differences, but it’s not. Those differences are what we formed the band around in the first place.”
Clik here to view.
Nick McCarthy (far left) with his former band mates.
McCarthy said: “I’d really like to thank all the fans for being such an inspiration over the years. What an amazing time it has been. I’m going to concentrate on production and writing some completely different things for a bit and we can all look forward to hearing the new Franz Ferdinand album.”
Franz Ferdinand will continue with Alex Kapranos (lead vocals and guitar, keyboard), Bob Hardy (bass guitar), and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals). It’s expected a permanent bassist will be added to the line-up.
The band has been one of the most popular post-punk revival bands, garnering multiple UK top 20 hits and selling over 3 million albums worldwide. They have been nominated for several Grammy Awards and have received two Brit Awards—winning one for Best British Group, as well as one NME Award.
Last year they formed a supergroup with American rock-pop band Sparks, touring as FFS and releasing an album.
The post Franz Ferdinand guitarist leaves band appeared first on Glasgowist.