François Tétaz | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | (1970-12-22)22 December 1970 (age 54) |
| Genres | pop,experimental,classical,world music,industrial,electronic,rock |
| Instrument(s) | Percussion,Violin |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Sony/ATV,Rubber Records |
François "Franç"Tétaz (born 22 December 1970) is an Australian film composer, music producer and mixer, who won theAustralasian Performing Right Association (APRA) /Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) 2006 'Feature Film Score of the Year'Award forWolf Creek (2005).[1]
As a producer he has worked withGotye,Kimbra,Architecture in Helsinki,Sally Seltmann,Lior andBertie Blackman. He won anARIA for his work on Gotye'sMaking Mirrors album in 2011.[2] He wrote, produced or mixed 7 songs in thetriple jHottest 100 for 2011.[3]
Franc won theGrammy Award for Record of the Year at the 55th annual Grammy Awards for "Somebody That I Used to Know" (Gotye, featuring Kimbra) in 2013. The record was produced by Wally De Backer (Gotye) and engineered and mixed by Wally and Franc. The song also won theGrammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance as performed by Gotye and Kimbra, and theMaking Mirrors album took home theGrammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.[4]
Tétaz is ofSwiss descent.[5]He grew up in a musical family on a dairy farm near Warrion, in the western district of Victoria. His mother, Heather was a music teacher; his father Frank was a dairy farmer and was obsessed with sound and music.[citation needed] In the 1950s he designed and built speakers to broadcast music around the farm, herding cattle to a soundtrack ofBrahms andBeethoven. The family moved to Geelong so Franc and his brother Charles could attend GeelongGrammar School.[citation needed]
After finishing school, he worked in Faggs hardware store in Geelong. Graeme Leak, who was artist in residence at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music at the time, suggested to Franc that he not go to university, but put together his own curriculum. While working, he sat in on a friend's university lectures and studied West African Music, percussion, arranging and orchestration.
In 1992, François Tétaz with Charles Tétaz andDarrin Verhagen formed Shinjuku Thief, a Melbourne-based industrial and experimental music group.[6] They released four albums by March 1994. Verhagen formed the record label, Dorobo Records, to release their latter albums including Tétaz' solo album,The Motionless World of Time Between or the Drunken Taxicab of Absolute Reality in 1997.
He scored student short films, worked on production forPaul McDermott, andThe Doug Anthony Allstars.
In 1998, Tetaz built a studio in a converted chocolate factory in Richmond, Melbourne. The studio was designed by Martin Gill and Roger Wood atWood Marsh. The acoustics were designed by Chris Morton of Aro Technologies. Franc's mastering discography includesMerzbow’sMerzbox 50 CD box set of noise music forExtreme and the remaster of classicTriffids albumBorn Sandy Devotional forDomino.
Francois wrote choreographic scores forChunky Move, Shelley Lasica,Kage Theatre,Lucy Guerin and wrote the soundtrack forPatricia Piccinini’s Venice biennale show in 2003. He composed the score forWolf Creek which won theAustralasian Performing Right Association (APRA) /Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) 2006 'Feature Film Score of the Year' Award.[7] He scored Luke Doolan’s short filmMiracle Fish, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010.[8] In 2012 Francois scored the music forUnderground: The Julian Assange Story, which premiered at theToronto International Film Festival.
Wally De Backer and Tetaz worked together on the Gotye albumsLike Drawing Blood andMaking Mirrors. He suggestedKimbra for the songSomebody that I used to Know.[9] Francois co-wroteSettle Down,Good Intent,2 Way Street, andThe Build Up for Kimbra's albumVows.
In 2012 he co-wrote and producedBertie Blackman's 4th studio album,Pope Innocent X and the soundtrack to the light sculpture Fiat Lux withDrew Berry for theWalter and Eliza Hall Institute.
Franc won theGrammy Award for Record of the Year at the 55th annual Grammy Awards forSomebody That I Used to Know byGotye featuringKimbra. The record was produced by Wally De Backer (Gotye) and engineered and mixed by Wally and Franc.[4]
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| The Motionless World of Time Between |
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| Beautiful Cyborg (with Philip Brophy & Darrin Verhagen) |
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| Under the Radar (Original Motion Picture Score) (withDavid Thrussell) |
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| Thunderstruck (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
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| Wolf Creek (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
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| Rogue (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
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| Judy and Punch (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
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| The Surfer (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
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TheARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres ofAustralian music. They commenced in 1987.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Wolf Creek (soundtrack) | Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album | Nominated | [10] |
| 2011 | François Tétaz forGotye featuringKimbra – "Somebody That I Used to Know" | Engineer of the Year | Won | |
| 2025 | The Surfer | Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album | Nominated | [11] |
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