Franz put pop into book festival

Nick McCarthy and Alex Kapranos explained how they write songs

One of the hottest tickets at the Edinburgh International Book Festival has been a masterclass from a pop band.

Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos and guitarist Nick McCarthy talked about their songs and how they write their lyrics.

It is usually only those concerned with the written word who have taken to the book festival stage, with 600 authors taking part this year.

Kapranos said that it was new territory for the band.

First song

"Songwriting is something we've never talked about before," he told the mainly-teenage audience.

"I've always felt like songwriting is overlooked - in particular lyric writing has for a long time been seen as the poor cousin in the literary world.

"But the most famous Scottish writer wasn't an author or a poet, Rabbie Burns was a lyricist."

With the help of a guitar and piano, they talked the audience through how they wrote their first song, fans' favourite Auf Achse.

As well as tips for aspiring pop stars, there were plenty of revelations for the fans of the double-Brit-winning group.

Kapranos admitted that many of his lyrics were just "nonsense" but somehow sounded right.

When it comes to song writing, there are not any distinct rules - there isn't any right of wrong way to go about it Alex Kapranos

An inability to understand a Queen song book led him to begin writing his own at the age of 14.

McCarthy also brought out his father's cheap effects organ that was used to write one of their biggest hits.

With the machine set to a "Bluegrass" setting, it was Kapranos fooling around while accompanying on guitar which led to the song Take Me Out.

They also revealed that Auf Achse was inspired by a long-forgotten 1980s German TV show.

Distinct rules

The Glasgow-based art school rockers are influenced by friends and everyday experiences, but said there was no secret formula.

Kapranos added: "When it comes to song writing, there are not any distinct rules - there isn't any right or wrong way to go about it. Some of the best things you do are mistakes.

"I didn't have any music training - most of song writing is messing about 'til it sounds good."

More than 2,000 people applied for the 500 tickets available for the event.