Join us as we explore the journey of Franc Loz, an artist on the cusp of something extraordinary, ready to share his unique narrative with the world.
In a world where music often serves as a refuge, Franc Loz emerges with a sound that captures the raw essence of personal struggle and discovery.
Hailing from Monterrey, Mexico—a vibrant city known for its lively spirit and breathtaking mountain ranges—Loz draws inspiration from his surroundings and the warmth of its people.
As he gears up for the release of his debut EP, his latest single “Crossroads” serves as a poignant reflection of his mental state during a turbulent period.
Influenced by musical heavyweights like Radiohead and Phoebe Bridgers, Loz’s sound marries introspection with a captivating melodic flair. In this interview, we dive into his creative process, the struggles of finding his voice, and what he loves most about making music.
HAPPY: What are you up to today?
FRANC LOZ: I just came back from work, so I’m tired and just want to relax for the rest of the afternoon haha.
HAPPY: Tell us a little about where you are from? What do you love about it?
FRANC LOZ: I’m from Monterrey, a big city located in northeastern Mexico, just below Texas. It is a very hectic but also fun place to live in.
This may be a cheap answer but what I love the most about Monterrey is the people, my family and the majority of my friends are there so just because of that it’s obviously a special place in my heart.
People in general are just very warm and friendly in Monterrey.
Other things I love about the city are: the food, the nightlife and the mountains. Every time I go to Monterrey I realize that I had taken for granted the beauty of the vast mountain ranges that surround the city.
HAPPY:What did you listen to growing up?
FRANC LOZ: It depends on which “growing up” phase we’re talking about. I think before highschool, the very first artists that opened the alternative rock door for me were Coldplay and Green Day.
But I had always been exposed to rock music; my dad is a huge fan of bands like U2, Soda Stereo and The Police.
In highschool, I met one of my best friends and my now producer, Donovan Sierra, and he convinced me to listen to two artists that would become my favorites: Radiohead and The Beatles.
I would say this was probably the most important step in the evolution of my musical taste.
Other artists that I constantly listened to in high school were: Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Tame Impala, St. Vincent, Arcade Fire, and others.
HAPPY: What inspired your latest track ‘Crossroads’?
FRANC LOZ: Thematically, I was “inspired” by my mental state during that time, which wasn’t great… I was depressed because I was spending all day working, my body was sort of breaking down, and I was not doing things that I love to do, music being one of them.
The song is just basically a flow of consciousness of what I was feeling around that time. I knew that something had to change in my life.
Musically, my producer and I were inspired by a variety of artists such as Arcade Fire, The Smiths, Boygenius, and Tame Impala.
At the beginning, I wanted the song to have a style like that of “Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers, but as we started to record, different ideas started to flow organically and the production style just became a combination of the sound of some of our favorite artists, which is pretty cool.
HAPPY: Can you walk us through the creative process behind ‘Crossroads’? Were there any specific challenges or breakthroughs?
FRANC LOZ: This is sort of embarrassing, but I don’t remember that much of the process.
I’m pretty sure I started off by writing a bulk of the lyrics, then I created the instrumental melody that the song begins with.
After that, it was a very fast process. During this time, which was the winter of 2022, I wrote 5 songs in total and most of them were completed in a very short span of time, I was just using music to complain about everything I was unhappy with in my life, and I’m very good at complaining haha… so it was easy in that sense.
It was practically my first time writing a song from scratch by myself; surprisingly, there weren’t a lot of times where I felt stuck creatively.
I think by it being my first songwriting experience, I wasn’t thinking about rules or following any pre-set structure in my head, which maybe made it easier to just go with the flow.
Recently, in contrast, I’ve had more trouble when writing songs… maybe I’m more conscious of myself or scared to make a bad song, which I wasn’t thinking about when I wrote “Crossroads” and the rest of the upcoming EP.
HAPPY: How does ‘Crossroads’ fit into the narrative of any upcoming project or album? Is it a standalone single or part of a larger story?
FRANC LOZ: I do think it fits into the broader narrative of my upcoming EP. I didn’t plan it, but Crossroads and the 4 other songs that will comprise it feature similar themes of longing, yearning and being nostalgic for the past.
I just think I wrote all the songs at a point in my life where I felt very lost, so all of them have somewhat overlapping themes.
My plan is to release each song individually, as a single. Once the 5th and final song is released, the EP will also be out.
HAPPY: Who are your biggest musical influences?
FRANC LOZ: There are honestly so many of them; there are also specific songs that have been super influential for me.
I think the artists who have inspired me the most are Phoebe Bridgers, Radiohead and The Beatles. I feel mentioning The Beatles is almost an invalid answer, just because everyone has been directly or indirectly influenced by them, whether they know it or not.
Other artists I also love are Bon Iver, Gregory Alan Isakov, The Strokes… I could go on and on so I’ll stop now haha.
HAPPY: What are your thoughts on the current state of the indie rock scene? Are there any emerging artists or bands that you’re particularly excited about?
FRANC LOZ: I think for me it’s just become hard to discover new artists because I’m always busy and I already have a huge chunk of artists whose music I listen to constantly.
When I was in high school for example, and life was less hectic, I was constantly finding new artists and it was very exciting. I’m trying to go back to discovering cool projects.
Nonetheless, I have been able to discover some amazing emerging artists, some of my favorites are: Harrison Whitford, Angelo De Augustine, Japanese Breakfast, Vlad Holiday, Flower Face, among others.
I think there is a lot of cool music out there and I’m constantly inspired by artists who are paving their own way.
HAPPY: With your debut single out, what are your plans for the future? Can you give us a hint about what we can expect from your upcoming music?
FRANC LOZ: As I mentioned, I plan on releasing four more songs that will eventually lead up to an EP; those songs are already recorded, so I have to focus on planning a decent release strategy for them.
My next single will be released in November, and it’s a folk ballad.
I also want to start recording new material ASAP. I already have some demos and I plan on recording at least two new songs in December.
Something I’ve tried to start doing but haven’t been able to is play live gigs. Between work, personal life, and releasing music, it has been hard to find the time to rehearse, find musicians, etc.
But hopefully some time this year or the next I will start playing in some venues here in LA.
HAPPY: What makes you happy?
FRANC LOZ: Spending time with the people I love, being surrounded by nature (either the sea or the mountains), playing music with friends, listening to my favorite artists, watching new movies and playing & watching sports.
