Music > Interviews

Future of the Left

23/09/14

Future of the Left, rock band extraordinaire, have gone through several member changes, fought battles with record companies and clung on to the the band despite the odds. As a reward for the tougher times, their latest album was crowd-funded by fans within five hours and now they’re coming to the Waterfront studio to play for us. Nature will always have the last laugh, and everything balances out in the end. Singer Andy Falkous is a guy who likes his privacy. His gardener’s only gone and thinned his garden hedge out to the extent that no secret acts can happen in that garden for some months. ‘Tis a shame, but as Andy says, it’ll grow back. Positive to the last. We went on to talk about More Sensible Things..

 How did you meet and form the band?

Myself and Jack were in a band called McClusky which split up in 2005 and then we started this band with a guy called Kelson who was in a band called Jarcrew. Kelson left the band because he couldn’t do band stuff anymore because of life, four years ago. Jimmy Watkins joined to play guitar and a lady caked Julia who used to play in Million Dead took over on bass and we became a four piece. It’s like reading a history of ancient Carthage.

 I read you will be playing some McClusky songs in Cardiff in November to help to save a venue called Le Pub in Newport. How did that come about?

We got asked if we’d do a FOTL thing, but we wanted to do something special for that. I’d always wanted to play those songs before but at the same time the thought of making money from it didn’t fit right, especially when it wasn’t the actual band playing it. You know, I’m as likely to stand onstage with our old bass player as I am to wrestle naked a polar bear, but it just seems like a fun thing to do. I think we’ve already raised £7-8,000 for it, which is fantastic. So much of being in a band at our level is about surviving, not as a creative entity, but surviving in terms of being able to play shows or run it as a very small business; you’re treading water much of the time and as a result you have to think of yourself first, and so it’s often very difficult to do charity gigs as we generally just can’t afford it. But it’s nice to do nice things! I’m looking forward to it…Jarcrew are one of the best bands I ever saw so I’m really excited to seeing them.

 You crowd-funded using Pledge to get your latest album made…Were you surprised that you reached 100% within a matter of hours?

We were surprised. We set the amount pretty low as we didn’t want to fail or to be seen to fail, as it was a bit of step into the dark for us, but it was incredibly rewarding. I wouldn’t say flattering as we’ve worked hard for years so there’s a level of trust people have with us but it’s very nice when people are committed to the idea of a band, and they’ll go, here’s £15, give me an album; I take it on trust that it’ll meet my standards. It was exciting!

 Was it liberating to not have to answer to anyone but yourselves on this album?

Yeah, but to be honest with you we’ve worked with people who we felt weren’t interested enough in our band, and didn’t put enough effort in with us. With all the problems I’ve encountered in the record industry I’ve never had anyone try to steer us in a particular creative direction. It’s great in some ways but it’s difficult too; I do a lot of it but Julia does the majority of the bands’ admin and sometimes when you get to stand on a stage and play guitar, which I only get to do about 14 times a year, I remember that this is what being in a band is for! In as much it’s great that record companies are falling into the dust like the skyscrapers after the apocalypse, you don’t pick up a guitar because you want to be a businessman. There’s considerably less playing than I’d like there to be, and more going through spreadsheets than I’d like.

 You and Julia got married last year, and your latest single French Lessons is a love song…how do you feel about marriage?

The album was recorded two weeks before we got married actually. I’ve worked with people who said “Oh, you’re getting married mate, good luck to you, your wife’ll be telling you what to do all the time”. Sure, there are stereotypical elements to men and women and sometimes people can act up in those ways, but marriage doesn’t have to be a trap, it doesn’t have to be the death of the individual unless you choose it to be. It can be a coupling of the people that you were, with a new link to each other. Of course your life will change in little ways, but you don’t have to follow a formula. The title French Lessons comes from the idea that marriage is not like learning another language.

 Where do you find inspiration for your lyrics? They seem to me to be an outlet for energy and feelings for you. Do you write them in the hope that listeners will ‘get’ you?

It’s neither of those things really…if you overthink lyrics, which I’ve done in the past it can sound quite prescriptive or preachy. There’s a song and the words seem to fall into it. When you’re trying to write you don’t necessarily make a very good job of it; you’ve done all the work before you write the song…the way you interact with people, how you use language, how you think…they all end falling onto the page. The lyrics actually receive very little thought; they are just the undistilled essence of the band really. I love using language; it’s fun to use unusual words in songs. I know lots of people in bands who are intelligent and well read but when it comes to expressing themselves through the medium of rock music they lose all that is special to them. They communicate only in the style of rock music; they’ll sing about politics, alienation in a certain way, and I think that’s a shame. Rock music should be all about the rough edges, that’s what it’s all about. If everyone can understand your music, then there’s something wrong with it.

 Who do you rate at the moment?

I don’t, generally speaking, listen to a lot of music, especially when I’m writing my own. I do always go back to Wire, Mission to Burma and Talking Heads but obviously they’re older bands. I like a lot of the younger bands we play with but I’m yet to be impressed by a record that any of them have made; they tend to have a ‘thing’ that they do and they do that forever. I listen to audiobooks, and read and listen to comedies, so I can’t really give you any recommendations; although Arndales are very good…I really love their track Holiday Inn in particular. It’s got the right level of pop, rock and cynicism for me.

 Future of the Left play the Waterfront Studio on October 4th. Tickets from www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk