Catalogue number: UKM 065
Release date: 06.04.2018
vinyl, limited CD & digital
Info:
FFRANCIS is a musical project between the successful songstress Misia Furtak and well-established electronic producer Hatti Vatti.
„FFRANCIS is like a completely autonomous person. Like a child of yours on one hand, like a close friend on the other ” says Misia Furtak, who with Piotr Kalinski (aka Hatti Vatti) recorded „Off The Grid”. An album with 13 premiere songs, where distorted guitars collide with drum machines. „The album is a
collection of strange songs” – Piotr describes their collective work. “It’s really hard to assign it to a specific genre which is probably its unique advantage – you won’t get bored, because the next song will surely surprise you with a twist you didn’t expect.”
„It’s a chronicle of our collective work fluctuating from cool to lava eruptions. It’s neither my record, nor Misia’s separately – I hear the four of our hands in it, so to say, I hear the spirit of this band. On top of everything else the work was also demanding, because we did almost everything on
our own. We recorded big parts of the album at our homes and where we lived changed multiple times during the process. We recorded at our friend’s apartment in the old town in Warsaw, which we turned into a recording studio. I recorded some ancient analog bit machines at a repair workshop of Maciek Polak of Analogia.pl and Pin Park, and a 200 years old organ at a rehearsal space in Reykjavík. My Icelandic friend’s grandfather used to play them at their church, which brings us to Iceland and nicely closes the topic of volcanoes.” – Piotr Kaliński describes the recording process.
The 43 minutes spent with FFRANCIS bring something new each time you listen to the album. There are surprises hidden within the tracks in example the already mentioned 200-year-old organ from Reykjavík and a Casio toy keyboard recorded though a mobile phone, just to name a few.
These surprising details make “Off The Grid” even more special. A debiut record, which comes more than 2 years after the first joint recording of Misia and Piotr – a 7’ single released worldwide on U Know Me Records (uknowme.bandcamp.com/album/ffrancis-7 [UKM 039]).
“Looking at FFRANCIS you see the band moments, you see yourself and the passing of time and you also realize, that regardless of whatever plan you had this exceptionally autonomous individual without asking a single question created a very own presence. It is a
part of you in one way and it’s next to you and you recognize the connection and the resemblance but you also notice so many distinctively peculiar characteristics that you can’t help to wonder there they came from. It’s a very curious experience.” – Misia Furtak sums up.
„Off The Grid” comes out on vinyl (with a CD enclosed), a very limited compact disc (a 100 numbered digipack copies with a special booklet) and via the digital streaming and download platforms. Michał Kupicz is responsible for the final sound (mix and mastering), and the graphic designers (and photographers!) behind the artwork are the befriended COALS, themselves.