A career in music comes with its own series of goals, but it's not everyday that one is achieved in tandem with literal goals.
Imagine Young Franco's surprise, then, when his music was selected to be part of the newest FIFA video game soundtrack – not once, but twice.The prolific electronica and dance producer smiles when thinking about his younger self realising he'd appear in a FIFA game – although, not quite in the way the aspiring footballer may have originally hoped.
"My dad's Italian, and he played soccer his whole life," Young Franco explains. "My mum even used to come watch him play before I was born. They put me into the local team, and they started volunteering at the club.
"I don't know what it was, but I loved it straight away. I'd obviously go on to play FIFA a lot – all before I'd ever even thought about taking up music – so to play it now and hear my own song? That's really fun. I think it was a manifestation from a long, long time ago."
Franco's love of the world game led him to a pre-game and half-time performance at the A-League Grand Final at Melbourne's AAMI Park back in May, alongside rappers Tkay Maidza and Nerve.
The trio's collaborative track, 'Real Nice', became the A-League's theme song for its 2021/22 season – another surreal moment for the football-mad producer.
"I got to fly my parents down for that, which was really special," he says. "I got really lucky, and I'm really proud of that performance."
It's also led to an unexpected friendship within the Australian music industry – with folk singer-songwriter Alex The Astronaut, who once played college-level soccer while studying in New York. "I've asked her to join my mixed futsal team," Franco laughs.
"I play in this team with my sister, and as soon as I found out Alex was this gun player I started texting her every couple of weeks to come down and play a game. Unfortunately, she's got other commitments – but we're good mates, and I love her music."
The way Young Franco's schedule is currently looking, however, indoor soccer may soon become the least of his concerns.
The 28-year-old has spent most of 2022 back on the touring circuit, performing both headlining shows and a string of festivals – which will continue over the new year period, with dates locked in for both the touring Falls Festival and Adelaide's Heaps Good Festival taking place between late 2022 and early 2023.
Among these earlier shows was a curious first for the producer – he had the dubious honour of playing Sydney's Enmore Theatre some 24 hours after Genesis Owusu infamously broke the floor.
"I was out with my girlfriend, we'd gone to see 'The Batman'," Franco recalls of the night. "My phone was on silent, and every time I looked over I saw it face down and flashing with new notifications.
"When I got out, I couldn't believe it. The venue worked overnight to fix it, and get clearance from their structural engineers. The show itself had been either cancelled or postponed maybe five or six times, so there was this huge build-up. That night, I played without a stress in the world – I was like, 'if we can deal with this, we can do anything'."
Along with performing around the country, Young Franco has also had the opportunity to begin playing internationally again after over two years away.
This included headlining shows in cities like London, Los Angeles and New York City, as well as appearing at festivals such as Lollapalooza – quite a feat for a producer that began in his bedroom at 19 years old.
Franco is far from the only Australian dance act making an indent overseas, either – the likes of RÜFÜS DU SOL, Flight Facilities, Flume, Running Touch and Crooked Colours are just some of the names garnering considerable international followings.
What does it mean to Franco to have his immediate community represented on the other side of the world? "It's inspiring, first and foremost," Franco replies. "It's a big world out there, and there's more and more new music making its way through the door every single day.
"To see your peers, as Australians, out there touring the world? It makes it achievable. I want a young musician to see what we're doing and think, 'I could do that. I live in the same area, I have the same tools.' If we can reach these levels, so can they – and that's really exciting.
"I think the other thing is that it creates a sense of home, no matter where you are. You can meet these people around the traps in Australia, and then the next thing you know be hanging out with them at a festival in a completely different part of the world. You definitely get a little bit less homesick once you hear that accent."
In amidst Franco's extensive touring commitments, new music is bubbling under the surface. Having shared three standalone singles and two remixes this year, there's more yet to come from the prodigious musician when 2023 rolls around.
"I've got three or four new songs on the boil that I'm really excited about, and want to get done as soon as possible," he says.
"I want to have them ready to include in my set over this festival season, just to see what happens and what reaction they get. If people don't like it, I'll have to go back to the studio, but I am really excited about these new artists I'm collaborating with."
When pressed about who exactly is in the mix for these new singles, Franco naturally plays coy. "I don't know that I can say just yet," he laughs.
"I will say, they're really good ones – they're all artists I've been meaning to work with for awhile, too. We went into these songs all guns blazing, and I really hope people like it."
Young Franco plays Falls Festival in Melbourne 29 December, Byron Bay 31 December and Fremantle 7 January. He also performs at Heaps Good at Adelaide Showground 6 January.
Falls Festival 2022-2023 Dates
29-31 Dec - Sidney Myer Music Bowl (Melbourne)31 Dec to 1-2 Jan - North Byron Parklands (Northern Rivers)
7-8 Jan - Fremantle Park (Fremantle)
Falls Festival 2022-2023 Line-up
Arctic MonkeysLil Nas X
Peggy Gou
CHVRCHES
Jamie xx
Aminé
Ocean Alley
Camelphat
Spacey Jane
DMA'S
G Flip
PinkPantheress
Rico Nasty
Amyl And The Sniffers
Mall Grab
Ben Böhmer (live)
DJ Seinfeld
Genesis Owusu
TSHA
CC:Disco!
Young Franco
Anna Lunoe
Luude
Lastlings
May-A
Choomba
The Vanns
King Stingray
Peach PRC
Beddy Rays
Jean Dawson
Telenova
Biscits
Barry Can't Swim
Floodlights
Elkka
Wongo
Yng Martyr
1300
Moktar
Magdalena Bay
Dameeeela
Ebony Boadu
Elsy Wameyo
Rona.
Juno Mamba
+ Special Guests The OG Wiggles
Heaps Good 2023 Line-up
Arctic MonkeysPeggy Gou
CHVRCHES
Jamie xx
Ocean Alley
Spacey Jane
PinkPantheress
Young Franco
King Stingray
Peach PRC
Ebony Boadu
Plus more to be announced
