François "Franç" Tétaz (born 22 December 1970) is an Australian film composer, music producer and mixer, who won the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

(APRA) / Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) 2006 'Feature Film Score of the Year'

Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

for '' Wolf Creek'' (2005). As a producer he has worked with

Gotye Wouter André De Backer (; born 21 May 1980), known professionally as Gotye ( , , ), is a Belgian-born Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his 2011 single "Somebody That I Used to Know" (featuring Kimbr ...

Kimbra Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known Mononymous person, mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two 2 ...

Architecture in Helsinki Architecture in Helsinki was an Australian indie pop band which consisted of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland. Before its hiatus, the band released five studio albums: '' Fingers Crossed'' (2003), '' ...

Sally Seltmann Sally Mary Seltmann (born Sally Mary Russell, 11 September 1975), is an Australian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and Record producer. From 2000 to 2009, Seltmann used the stage name, New Buffalo. Under that name, Seltmann wrote, perf ...

, Lior and Bertie Blackman. He won an

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

for his work on Gotye's ''

Making Mirrors ''Making Mirrors'' is the third studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Gotye, released in Australia on 19 August 2011. In December 2011, it was announced that ''Making Mirrors'' was voted Triple J listeners' number-one album of 2011, m ...

'' album in 2011. He wrote, produced or mixed 7 songs in the

triple j Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll presented by the publicly-funded Australian youth radio station Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Music of Australia, Australian and alternative music of th ...

for 2011. Franc won the

Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

at the 55th annual Grammy Awards for "

Somebody That I Used to Know "Somebody That I Used to Know" is a song written, produced and performed by the Belgian-Australian musician and singer Gotye featuring vocals from the New Zealander singer Kimbra. The song was released in Australia and New Zealand through El ...

" (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 the

Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance The Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 63rd Grammy Awards category rules, "this categ ...

as performed by Gotye and Kimbra, and the ''

'' album took home the

Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Ho ...

Early life

Tétaz is of

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

descent. 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. In the 1950s he designed and built speakers to broadcast music around the farm, herding cattle to a soundtrack of

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. The family moved to Geelong so Franc and his brother Charles could attend Geelong

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Career

1992-1997: Early years

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 and Darrin Verhagen formed Shinjuku Thief, a Melbourne-based industrial and experimental music group. Note: n-lineversion established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. 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 for

Paul McDermott Paul Anthony Michael McDermott (born 13 May 1962) is an Australian entertainer, best known both for '' Good News Week'' and for his role as a member of the musical comedy group the Doug Anthony All Stars. He has frequently appeared at the Mel ...

, and The Doug Anthony Allstars.

1998–present: Composition and production

In 1998, Tetaz built a studio in a converted chocolate factory in Richmond, Melbourne. The studio was designed by Martin Gill and Roger Wood at

Wood Marsh Wood Marsh Architecture, styled Wood , Marsh Architecture, is a Melbourne-based Australian architectural practice founded by Roger Wood and Randal Marsh in 1983. History The company was founded by Roger Wood and Randal Marsh, both Melbourne-born ...

. The acoustics were designed by Chris Morton of Aro Technologies. Franc's mastering discography includes

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita, best known for a style of harsh noise music. Since 1980, Akita has released over 500 recordings and collaborated with numerous artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada a ...

’s ''

Merzbox ''Merzbox'' is a box set compilation by the Japanese noise musician Merzbow. It consists of 50 CDs spanning Merzbow's career from 1979 to 1997. 30 discs are taken from long out of print releases, while 20 are composed mainly of unreleased m ...

'' 50 CD box set of noise music for Extreme and the remaster of classic Triffids album ''

Born Sandy Devotional ''Born Sandy Devotional'' is the second studio album by the Triffids, released in March 1986. The album was recorded at Mark Angelo Studios in London in August 1985 with Gil Norton co-producing with the band, and mixed at Amazon Studios in Liv ...

'' for

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...

. Francois wrote choreographic scores for

Chunky Move Chunky Move is an Australian contemporary dance company from Southbank, Victoria. History Chunky Move was founded in 1995 and debuted at the Melbourne International Arts Festival with artistic director Gideon Obarzanek. The company's work is d ...

, Shelley Lasica, Kage Theatre, Lucy Guerin and wrote the soundtrack for Patricia Piccinini’s Venice biennale show in 2003. He composed the score for '' Wolf Creek'' which won the

(APRA) / Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) 2006 'Feature Film Score of the Year' Award. He scored Luke Doolan’s short film '' Miracle Fish'', which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010. In 2012 Francois scored the music for '' Underground: The Julian Assange Story'', which premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

.
Wally De Backer and Tetaz worked together on the Gotye albums ''

Like Drawing Blood ''Like Drawing Blood'' is the second studio album by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye, released in Australia on 21 May 2006. All the sounds on the album were collected and assembled or performed by Wally De Backer in bedrooms around Me ...

'' and ''

''. He suggested

for the song ''

Somebody that I used to Know "Somebody That I Used to Know" is a song written, produced and performed by the Belgian-Australian musician and singer Gotye featuring vocals from the New Zealander singer Kimbra. The song was released in Australia and New Zealand through El ...

''. Francois co-wrote '' Settle Down'', '' Good Intent'', '' 2 Way Street'', and ''The Build Up'' for Kimbra's album ''

Vows A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise that is solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedding ...

''. In 2012 he co-wrote and produced Bertie Blackman's 4th studio album, ''Pope Innocent X'' and the soundtrack to the light sculpture Fiat Lux with Drew Berry for the

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute WEHI (), previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research research institute, institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobe ...

.
Franc won the

at the 55th annual Grammy Awards for ''

'' by

featuring

. The record was produced by Wally De Backer (Gotye) and engineered and mixed by Wally and Franc.

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, ''Wolf Creek (soundtrack)'' , Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album , , ARIA Award previous winners. , - ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, François Tétaz for

featuring

– "

" , Engineer of the Year , , , -

References

External links

Official site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tetaz, Francois APRA Award winners ARIA Award winners People educated at Geelong Grammar School Living people 1970 births Australian people of Swiss descent Grammy Award winners