Perhaps the most formidable rival to their Scottish soilmates Twin Atlantic, Franz Ferdinand has, over a period of four or five years, forged a distinct unique sound, whoever you might think they sound like. It’s a winning formula that’s served them well as evidenced by their huge hit single “Take Me Out”, the Song You Couldn’t Escape in 2005. Here is what many would consider to be the definitive party band, seeing as how admittedly the band formed for the sole purpose of playing parties. They could also be pointed to for the sudden surge in popularity of the whole dancepunk craze, and what seems like a thousand bands the quartet has launched in their wake. Red Bull Music Academy Radio has the latest on the band, and their new album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand.

Global Inheritance’s exhibits are pretty much an expected staple each year at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. For the past 6 years (out of the 10 that Coachella has been running) G.I. has had a presence, and hopefully has made an impact on its viewers. Dedicated to making activism hip for the next generation to embrace, this non-profit didn’t disappoint.

This year they showed their creativity with the 18 & Up exhibit. 18 & Up being a tongue in cheek reference to golf of course, as they took 7 re-claimed golf carts and re-engineered them to run on alternative forms of energy. Various artists then suped them up paying homage to performers who were in some way involved with this years line up.

One of the most successful carts was the one pictured above dedicated to Amy Winehouse, who was slated to play this year, then wasn’t, then was, then wasn’t for sure. At least her spirit was with us. The Hollywood based design firm, Eyerus executed this Ethanol run Rehabulance with an amazing degree of attention to detail. The Amy mannequin had near perfect replica tattoos, the upholstery was custom printed fabric, and the engine appeared to run on ethanol delivered by Jack Daniel looking bottles with custom Amy Winehouse Ethanol labels.

The other carts were no jokes either. The Turbonegro wind- powered cart was covered in dark denim, a long standing element of the band. Franz Ferdinand was represented in plaid.  Sir Paul McCartney was represented by a fun solar powered yellow submarine motif.  And M.I.A.’s cart was powered by paper planes…..no wait, that’s not right, it was solar as well.

G.I. also had a tent in the V.I.P. area that provided information on their initiatives. It contained a bike that provided a bit of a science experiment as in, how much power does it take to generate light?  I jumped on and have to tell you, its a LOT and should not be taken for granted.  They also had an exhibit of the cutest mini-re-cycle bins that various artists had transformed into artful reminders to recycle, a few of which they raffled off each day.

Words by Barbie Brady, photos by Matt Brady