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LIVING FOR A WEEKEND?

Hôtel Amour, Paris – a man hiding in a dark corner wearing his white sunglasses and a bright green jacket: Firouz Farman Farmaian is the head of Playground and fits perfectly in this hip venue. The confident upcoming artists of Playground are releasing their single Livin' on a Weak End, under StarLab Rex, before heading for a European: Live on a weak end club tour. What sounds so fresh and new is the actual story of a come-back. Playground's debut album What's your game never actually made it big and the band is giving rock n roll a second chance with new disco electro pop beats.

Katharina Kowalewski caught up with the charismatic singer and tries to scratch on the surface of a "superficial" party band image in reflecting roots, inspirations and attitude. Here the conversation:

Sun glasses, fluorescent colours and nylon jackets - Living for a weekend ? Tell us more about this party attitude?

Firouz: Glam has to be back, where have T-Rex and Bowies Aladdin Sane gone?

I'm not talking Glam like Jon BonJovi and his heavy haired eighties buddies tried to pull it off.

Is it really the "old" glam that you are looking for. Can Playground be qualified today as a "PARTY" group doing just good music in a club? I saw you are friends with THE MAN from Germany on Myspace (friends of mine in Berlin) who have also this kind of attitude to perform with sunglasses and who have been characterized as new party band generation where fun and style give an added value to the music?

Firouz: Yeah, Jasper from the `man is a friend of mine and I could say we are linked in many ways. I guess PlayGround, like u said, has an old school stance. Our references are numerous, from Marlon Brando in Dark leather to Mick Jagger inn Altamont or Brian Johnson singing Highway to Hell while Travolta spun on a Saturday. But our real master is and will always be `quincy Jones. Dino, the other half of Playground, once said : " There was rock before Beat it from Micheal Jackson, and there was rock after"

Where is the reference to your own roots? PlayGround is not new and you call it a "come-back". What is left from the noisy rock and sometimes destroyed feeling of your last album and songs like Performer, 1994?

Firouz: You will have to wait and Nightology, our upcoming second album, have a clear idea of that. But I will clearly say that we have left a lot of our anger behind.

How about your own roots?

Firouz: I was born in Tehran in the 70's, before the Shah was toppled. My family was and is a very respected and wealthy family from Persia.

And where did the music and anger come from?

Firouz: My Father had his share of partying and LSD trips in the 60's and I learnt a lot of the rocknroll era through him

So, you started to be connected very fast with music and a certain anti-attitude?

My first musical love story was Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" at 12 that i learned by heart and in order to recite it right I asked my mum for a guitar. That's how i got into music, with an anti establishment hit song!

I can imagine your parents encouraged you?

Firouz: Not really. They are very conservative. It was a struggle. I had to let them go at a point. I was mostly brought up in Paris by my grandparents, while my parents left off to live in Morocco.

In which way does your international background has opened doors and in which way has it closed them?

Well. I guess trying to make it as an international artist in France hasn't been easy and that our music sometimes reflected the angers we had with the French entertainment system. It depends where you live. Paris has still a lot do, especially in my field- music-, on that level. Sometimes the city tends to forget it is European as much as it is French.

So was there always rebellion and music for you or are there other strong interests and inspiration sources in your life?

Firouz: Moving to Paris was horrible. We were living south of Spain and they suddenly sent me to boarding school at 10 in the Parisian suburbs...part of the anger can also come from the years spent in boarding school; very conservative English type boys only school you know. My interests are very wide. I've been painting since I'm 12 too. I've been into graffiti squads at 14. Skateboarding was big then i later started to shoot super 8 experimental short movies.

Did you start to play in bands as a youth ?

We were a little community of 60's fans in boarding school, watching Woodstock, Monterey pop, Stones at Hyde Park over and over again So we started that no name community band and wrote a song about Woodstock in English that we eventually recorded in the school studio and sent to a local band battle contest. We made it 3rd out of a 100 competitors after our liver performance of the song. I was 16. The band split an hour after the show on the parking lot...

You loved the stage?

Firouz: I did not realize at the time, but I felt home.

Did you meet some of the future playground members there?

Firouz: No Playground came way later. There was a guy called Eric Guillanton that signed years later on Barclay with his electro project "Henri goes dirty".

But your teenage crisis with playground is not over ,as you state come back?

Firouz: I never really had a teenage crisis. It has been an ongoing thing!

So, there is no discrepancy about this mature band coming up after a break with a song that sounds like being still young, fresh and living at the parent's place looking forward to go out? Is it really your revolution or the revolution of some listeners/fans who really do live for the weekends?

Firouz: Music is constant revolution starting within ourselves. Well there are different ways to read this song, and that is why I think it's good. Some can see it like a basic teenage rebellion.

Some, like the electro fans, will see it like a 24/7 partying song. Others into the rock scene will see it like a Fuck all attitude protest song.

How do you read the song?

The thing is, I just had to live this way for a long time in between the 2 albums. I lived mostly at night, shadow dancing with daylight

We were truly bored of the Indie Rock Slim jean scene...

And what is your conclusion about this period? Did you loose connection to real life?

Not at all. We wrote about 30 songs in that period, got to know more about the Electro `and electro rock emerging scenes and started incorporating programmings, synths, moogs gradually. We basically got involved in a new scene: we were truly bored of the Indie Rock Slim jean scene...

Did electro give playground a second life?

Inspiration. I mean if u listen to 1994 its all there. You can call it Electro. I personally would use disco. We are closer to House music, The French touch and all than to electro in our hearts. Justice is House music to us.

So the future of the playground sound? House, rock or both? - Is there a major line and spirit that you have in mind?

Firouz: Today yes. We are mixing House and Rock. But I think we will always be able to use the medium that will give our rock n roll its best creative, musical and appealing aspect.

Do you see a difference in the public reaction after adapting to the new "disco" influence?

1994 was already tagged as disco. But, it's true the LOVE goes right there, specially in the Vincent Vargas Versus Remix. Most think the song can hit the charts. Why not!? It would be great having that in the charts.

What about the playground style and attitude: Do you always wear your white sunglasses: I can you very well picture you as a fashion underground - playground band!

Firouz: Just like in the Tiga Reprise of the 80's Corey Heart song " I wear my sunglasses at night"...Or just as a "homage" to David Bowie's song " Andy Warhol"

__I mean the major companies are not making any money anymore, and their 90's marketing strategies are as worn out as fucked up 501's...''__

How much marketing/show and concept does a band need? thus is it important for you to built a "b(r)and image" right from the start?

I mean the major companies are not making any money anymore, and their 90's marketing strategies are as worn out as fucked up 501's... So, what is left to bands like ours is THE TRIP We maybe have an Bobo, or I'd rather say a Beat-Bo (beat generation influenced bobo).

Glam or Grunge? Just call it Glunge (Laughter and ) attitude , fact is we are mirroring a trip u can adapt to your style of life. That's how we can survive today, being a community.

Can you sum up the playground style and music for me in a few words?

In one word ? its all in our next album : Nightology.

The idea to dance away the problems? has you constant quest for rebellion reduced to a club and nightlife attitude? I am sure there is something more behind. Can you explain this philosophy to me.

You never dance away the problem, u dance with and despite the problem. I mean Radiohead had its time BEING the problem. We want to bring things back to a simpler and more optimistic place. We want songs like Miss you or Billy Jean back.

Good times baby

Yes, very nice... even if I do not get this hiding behind sunglasses thing - you did not look bad in the 1994 video... so why are you disguised in a ghost in the one for Livin' for a weekend...?

It's because i want to double the effect when I take them off on the second single !!!

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Photographer Ben Dauchez