As a devout fan of Franz Ferdinand I search them often on the web. A delightful website by the name www.franzferdinand.org is the greatest fan community ever! Franzferdinand.org is loved for many reasons such as the close link between site and the band and the fantastic person running all of it: Mr. Graham Searle combined with the most enthusiastic fans. FF.org has everything from articles to pictures to news to a fan forum, making it one of the most informative, user friendly and well established fansites on the net. On having the opportunity to interview the site maintainer, I asked Graham the following questions;
Auriliea: How much do you think people benefit from ff.org?
Graham: I'd love to say that people benefit a lot from the site, but to be humble about it, all a fansite does is collate a lot of information from a wealth of different sources and present it to the fan-base. I'm proud of what we've created, and to think that people use it as their first point of call for information on the band is amazing. I'd never have dreamt that would ever be the case when I first put pen to paper and jotted down the first few ideas for the site. I've benefited a huge amount from the site myself... It's certainly opened doors that otherwise would have been closed. I've written an article for NME about the band, I'm in daily communication with the band and their management, I've made so many new friends and important contacts. The only downside, if I could ever call it one, is that now I'm writing so much for so many people and I've got projects on the go everywhere that I'm just insanely busy 24/7. I'll never complain though, I'm having too much fun. Failing my degree, mind...
Auriliea: Any partner sites? Which brings me to my next question…
Graham: Not as such. I experimented with a joint news service with another FF fansite, but our writing styles differed so much that it just looked messy on the eye, and hard on the brain. I'm looking to work closely with a new website which is hosting a huge amount of FF images, photos and scans. Kris who runs that designed some of our new artwork, so we'll be looking to give both sites a common template so it's visually connected.
Auriliea: Any other sites you maintain other than ff.org?
Graham: None whatsoever. I was approached by the band to redesign the official website, and I was working with another band on the revamp of their site too. But neither really came to anything. I've often been tempted to branch out a little, but I couldn't dedicate the time to it if it was to rival FF.org for content and updates.
Auriliea: Why do you start a fan site? (ok maybe I know the answer to this one...)
Graham: The band just blew me away when I first saw them. I was waffling on about them to anyone who'd listen for ages, but noone paid any attention. Then FF released 'Darts Of Pleasure' and went on a wee tour. I got to see the band live a couple more times, and it cemented it in my mind that they were going to be huge, they had to be huge! I had a poke around the net to find websites for the band, the official one was terrible. I eventually found another fansite, but by then I'd already started working on a design of my own. I thought FF deserved a fansite that could provide everything I wanted to know about the band. Noone was doing it, so I set about doing it myself.
Auriliea: How did you start it and how long has it been up?
Graham:I started working on the site in December 2003, trying out designs and gathering images and audio and biographical content to flesh it out. I had some spare webspace on a site I'd managed for an Irish Record label so I "borrowed" some of that, and published what I'd designed to the internet in early January 2004. By the time it took us to buy "franzferdinand.org" as a name and purchase our own webspace, we went live on 12 January 2004, the same day 'Take Me Out' was released.
Auriliea: Who helps you?
Graham: I've had help along the way from people who've contributed news articles or who translated our content into French, Dutch and German - something I abandoned last Autumn - but on a general day-to-day basis, it's just me who runs it. From top to bottom I'm responsible for all new content and updates. There are special people who've been major helping hands along the way, my former housemate James for one, who did a lot of technical work behind the scenes early on. And of course everyone who's ever donated to our server fund to help us stay online, launch a new design or expand the site. I just hope I'm providing what people want to see. It's amazing to get e-mails from people in Chile, Taiwan, Africa, and so on, who have heard about the band and have turned to my site for information, and they crave more! My daily e-mail turnover is huge, and for all the times something goes awry or I stare at a list of jobs that need doing, the thought that someone, somewhere is looking at my website cheers me right up and motivates me to always make the site better, bigger, faster, and more entertaining. Some of the feedback and comments on the forum are great to read, if a little embarrassing at times. It's great to know you're admired!
There's a long list of why the orgsters love Graham and some love the site even more. I asked a few people about the site and this is what they had to say:
"This site encompasses everything from Franz Ferdinand information, to the new indie music scene, to fangirling, to art and writing, to general amusement. It is fasinating to see such a diverse group of people coming together cohesively through the music of Franz Ferdinand." -Erin
"I like the fact that it has a very well updated news section, I love the stylish layout, and just the feeling of being part of such a diverse and interesting community." -Elen
"Loads of people united by the love of Franz" -Sarah
There are many reasons as to why FF.org has such a cult following. The news is very regularly, The music is excellent and the people are fantastic, the variety never ceases to please. The site has had many acclaimes including 3fm's Website of the Month, and a nomination for the Digital Music Awards being among them. The site has attracted attention from all over the world, and rightly so, it is a encylopaedia of Franzy goodness, and makes the girls want to dance almost as much as the music does.
Site: www.franzferdinand.org
Forum: www.franzferdinand.org/forum
Webmaster: Graham
Staff: Josie, Erin, Lisette, Ryan
Auriliea: How much do you think people benefit from ff.org?
Graham: I'd love to say that people benefit a lot from the site, but to be humble about it, all a fansite does is collate a lot of information from a wealth of different sources and present it to the fan-base. I'm proud of what we've created, and to think that people use it as their first point of call for information on the band is amazing. I'd never have dreamt that would ever be the case when I first put pen to paper and jotted down the first few ideas for the site. I've benefited a huge amount from the site myself... It's certainly opened doors that otherwise would have been closed. I've written an article for NME about the band, I'm in daily communication with the band and their management, I've made so many new friends and important contacts. The only downside, if I could ever call it one, is that now I'm writing so much for so many people and I've got projects on the go everywhere that I'm just insanely busy 24/7. I'll never complain though, I'm having too much fun. Failing my degree, mind...
Auriliea: Any partner sites? Which brings me to my next question…
Graham: Not as such. I experimented with a joint news service with another FF fansite, but our writing styles differed so much that it just looked messy on the eye, and hard on the brain. I'm looking to work closely with a new website which is hosting a huge amount of FF images, photos and scans. Kris who runs that designed some of our new artwork, so we'll be looking to give both sites a common template so it's visually connected.
Auriliea: Any other sites you maintain other than ff.org?
Graham: None whatsoever. I was approached by the band to redesign the official website, and I was working with another band on the revamp of their site too. But neither really came to anything. I've often been tempted to branch out a little, but I couldn't dedicate the time to it if it was to rival FF.org for content and updates.
Auriliea: Why do you start a fan site? (ok maybe I know the answer to this one...)
Graham: The band just blew me away when I first saw them. I was waffling on about them to anyone who'd listen for ages, but noone paid any attention. Then FF released 'Darts Of Pleasure' and went on a wee tour. I got to see the band live a couple more times, and it cemented it in my mind that they were going to be huge, they had to be huge! I had a poke around the net to find websites for the band, the official one was terrible. I eventually found another fansite, but by then I'd already started working on a design of my own. I thought FF deserved a fansite that could provide everything I wanted to know about the band. Noone was doing it, so I set about doing it myself.
Auriliea: How did you start it and how long has it been up?
Graham:I started working on the site in December 2003, trying out designs and gathering images and audio and biographical content to flesh it out. I had some spare webspace on a site I'd managed for an Irish Record label so I "borrowed" some of that, and published what I'd designed to the internet in early January 2004. By the time it took us to buy "franzferdinand.org" as a name and purchase our own webspace, we went live on 12 January 2004, the same day 'Take Me Out' was released.
Auriliea: Who helps you?
Graham: I've had help along the way from people who've contributed news articles or who translated our content into French, Dutch and German - something I abandoned last Autumn - but on a general day-to-day basis, it's just me who runs it. From top to bottom I'm responsible for all new content and updates. There are special people who've been major helping hands along the way, my former housemate James for one, who did a lot of technical work behind the scenes early on. And of course everyone who's ever donated to our server fund to help us stay online, launch a new design or expand the site. I just hope I'm providing what people want to see. It's amazing to get e-mails from people in Chile, Taiwan, Africa, and so on, who have heard about the band and have turned to my site for information, and they crave more! My daily e-mail turnover is huge, and for all the times something goes awry or I stare at a list of jobs that need doing, the thought that someone, somewhere is looking at my website cheers me right up and motivates me to always make the site better, bigger, faster, and more entertaining. Some of the feedback and comments on the forum are great to read, if a little embarrassing at times. It's great to know you're admired!
There's a long list of why the orgsters love Graham and some love the site even more. I asked a few people about the site and this is what they had to say:
"This site encompasses everything from Franz Ferdinand information, to the new indie music scene, to fangirling, to art and writing, to general amusement. It is fasinating to see such a diverse group of people coming together cohesively through the music of Franz Ferdinand." -Erin
"I like the fact that it has a very well updated news section, I love the stylish layout, and just the feeling of being part of such a diverse and interesting community." -Elen
"Loads of people united by the love of Franz" -Sarah
There are many reasons as to why FF.org has such a cult following. The news is very regularly, The music is excellent and the people are fantastic, the variety never ceases to please. The site has had many acclaimes including 3fm's Website of the Month, and a nomination for the Digital Music Awards being among them. The site has attracted attention from all over the world, and rightly so, it is a encylopaedia of Franzy goodness, and makes the girls want to dance almost as much as the music does.
Site: www.franzferdinand.org
Forum: www.franzferdinand.org/forum
Webmaster: Graham
Staff: Josie, Erin, Lisette, Ryan
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