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AIDS Artist's Violent Silence

Author: Jonty Skrufff
Monday, October 18, 2004
London based Italian producer Fran chatted to Skrufff this week and revealed he's drawing on his own experiences of living with HIV for his new single Violent Silence. The track samples Madonna's 1994 track Why Is It So Hard and comes with remixes by Pharaoh Roche, Mickey Guy Vertigo and Marc Almond (in his Replicant guise).

"Being ill and stuck at home I realised how the whole HIV situation has been lost, it's disappeared from public attention and there's no way of mirroring such an experience in society," said Fran. "It's easy to feel invisible and isolated, people don't understand how that contributes to the illness."

Dabbling in hard drugs and unsafe sex on London's gay scene of the early 90s, Fran was diagnosed HIV positive in 1994, at a time when infection was considered to be an effective death sentence. However, despite advances in treatment therapy, Fran told Skrufff it still took him until last year to properly come to terms with his condition.

"I had periods when I felt more at ease with it than other periods, for example when friends were getting ill with AIDS; some of them died, and those things frightened me," he admitted.

"I saw some friends getting really ill to the point of losing their sight or losing their minds, I've seen a lot of horrible things that AIDS can do. One friend used to get lost in his own house, he couldn't remember where the bathroom or bedroom was," he said.

More recently, Fran revealed he's found a new partner and sense of renewed purpose with his music and has enlisted old friend Marc Almond on remix duties for his new single.

"Ever since I've known Fran his music has documented life through his eyes with an emotional intensity," Almond said on collaborating on the track.

"His music reminds us that HIV and AIDS is very much with us and is still making its presence felt on yet another generation. It must not be sidelined or forgotten," he said.

Violent Silence is released on Franb9 Records in November.
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