motel void

MOTEL VOID: Could you introduce your project in a few sentences?

FRANS ASTHMA: Frans Asthma is a solo project inspired by the sounds of slowcore and shoegaze. Also very inspired by the paintings of Van Gogh and a lot of literary works by Kafka.

MOTEL VOID: What’s your favorite novel by Kafka? And do you like other writers from this ‘genre’ as well? Like for example Kobo Abe, Albert Camus…

FRANS ASTHMA: My personal favourite of Kafka’s work is currently ‘Investigations of a Dog‘. It’s the most recent one I’ve read so might be recency bias but I connected with it a lot! I’ve actually recently started reading ‘The Plague‘ by Albert Camus recently. I’m very new to his work but I am very interested so far!

MOTEL VOID: Where are you from? And how would you describe the ‘local music scene’ there?

FRANS ASTHMA: I’m from Arizona! The local music scene here is very cool. I’ve been to a couple of local shows that I really enjoyed but still haven’t been able to bring myself to perform locally or anything. I hope to put myself out there more and try to join the scene more in the upcoming year.

MOTEL VOID: I visited Arizona once. I’ve been to Phoenix and Tucson. Where exactly in Arizona do you live?

FRANS ASTHMA: I live in Mesa! It is usually very hot here but it’s pretty nice right now because it’s winter!

MOTEL VOID: You are inspired by shoegaze and slowcore. Who are your favorite musicians from this genre right now?

FRANS ASTHMA: I’m a big fan of Duster, Sign Crushes Motorist, Slowdive, The Loner(s), and Have A Nice Life. Outside of those genres though, I’m also a big fan of artists like King Krule, Attic Abasement, and Joy Again.

MOTEL VOID: Your work reminds me a bit of Giles Corey (from Have A Nice Life), are you familiar with his music?

FRANS ASTHMA: Thank you so much!! I am very familiar with Giles Corey and Have A Nice Life. Both projects are very influential to me especially as I’ve gotten more into them recently! In particular the song “Grave Filled with Books” has been one I’m listening to a lot.

MOTEL VOID: ‘Talk’ is your debut single, will it be part of your first record?

FRANS ASTHMA: More than likely no. I’m very particular about songs on records going together thematically and I feel as though the songs I’ve made and released so far are too broad in topic / production style. I’ll probably release a couple more singles before the end of the year and then start releasing record(s) in 2024.

MOTEL VOID: Could you tell us more about the recording and writing process of your songs?

FRANS ASTHMA: All of the songs are recorded in my bedroom and mixed by me! I love experimenting with different sounds and textures so I feel like recording at home adds not only authenticity but also a very specific roughness you probably wouldn’t get out of a studio recording! My writing process probably isn’t the healthiest as I often try to isolate myself and drown in the feelings I’m writing about.