Page 43 - ION Indie Magazine MayJune 2021

“I absolutely love collaborating. That's

what really gets the ideas flowing.”

Mal Whichelow: When did you start rapping? Was it with a band
or as a solo artist?

Franz Von: Firstly, rapping was just something to do. Me and my
brothers would go link up with our friend Emil 'Lanzalot,' an emcee.
He would record our sessions on cassette tapes, TDK 90. Ha ha!
The first time I listened back to the recording, I was so disappointed
and a bit embarrassed with my freestyle attempts. This could have
been a reason to never do it again, but it went the other way. I would
go link up with Emil as often as I could to try and do a better
recording than the last one. I started taking it a bit more seriously
around 2007. I was part of a hip hop group 'Northern Alliance,' based
in Sheffield. We made some good tracks, we played some fun gigs,
I learnt a lot, and I made some really good life-long friends from that
experience.

MW: Do you prefer to work solo or collaborate with others?

FV: Most of my writing I do solo. It's just that losing yourself and
getting in that zone type of activity for me, usually, late nights when
everything is quiet and there's less distractions. I always feel a
sense of pride and achievement from my solo work. However, I
absolutely love collaborating. That's what really gets the ideas
flowing. I love the different energies that other artists and musicians
bring to the equation, either on a track or a full project. I love jamming
with live musicians where you can feel a real energy connection. I
love rap cypher sessions with its competitive undertones, and I love
the creative nature of working with other people. Most of my
favourite work has been collaborative. It also gives me the chance
to write and perform to different music genres like afrobeat, highlife,
reggae, drum & bass, as well as hip hop. I've been lucky to have
done some really good collaborations with some very talented artists
and groups internationally and from around the UK.