You Need Satan More Than He Needs You

If you read Future Of Left’s myspace blog you’ll discover that Andrew Falkous is a very complex individual who likes to express his thoughts in public. Unfortunately via email he wasn’t as talkative, preferring to leave many topics in the past, including his anger towards the individual who leaked the band’s latest album; constantly dealing with the Mclusky hangover and addressing crowd hecklers with a sarcastic kick in the teeth.

With two former members of Mclusky and one former member of Jarcrew; Future Of The Left has a certain enduring reputation, but singer/guitarist Andrew ‘Falco’ Falkous would rather we didn’t talk about that. Both bands ended badly and now all three members are firmly focused on Future Of The Left. Rumours quickly emerged in 2005 after Mclusky announced their break-up that it was due to tensions in the band between Falkous and fellow band mate Jonathan Chapple. In his closing statement on Mclusky’s website, Falkous promised fans, “There’ll be more music soon, from all of us.” After approximately sixteen months hidden away from the public, both Jack Egglestone and Falkous returned to the stage in July 2006, along with Kelson Mathias (whose band Jarcrew had also disbanded around the same time as Mclusky) and Hywel Evans, who is now a member of Welsh math rock band Truckers Of Husk. To avoid Mclusky and Jarcrew devotees turning the band’s first few gigs into embarrassing reunion shows, the quartet played under a number of different names, including Monks Of Passim, Guerilla Press and Dead Redneck. It wasn’t until a small UK tour in September, 2006, that the band chose to stick with the name Future Of The Left.

Sick of hearing Future Of The Left compared to Mclusky, all Falkous will say on the matter is that “it would be nice if it would tone down a little.” The band has a special rule to deal with Mclusky requests, “It happens occasionally,” he says, “and allows us to respond with a pre-prepared line… The special rule is that if someone requests a Mclusky song then we don’t play it. Mind you, we don’t play it anyway.” But while Falkous wants to go forward with his new band, and wants the crowd to appreciate that Future Of The Left is not a continuation of Mclusky or Jarcrew, he admits passionately that personally he doesn’t want to forget about Mclusky. Frustrated with the public’s confusion around FOTL’s unwillingness to play any Mclusky songs, he doesn’t want people thinking that he is deliberately ignoring his old band. “I still have the same voice and stupid guitar tunings… there’s a keyboard but it’s hardly played in a freshly fruity manner. I was in that band for eight years, so y’know, it’s hardly a figment of my imagination.”

Impressively, just three and half years after forming the band, Future Of The Left has already built a hefty catalogue. Their first album Curses, released in 2007, won over a new audience, while strongly clinging to a devoted group of fans who could see beyond the fractured Mclusky reinvention. In early 2009 the band released a live album titled Last Night I Saved Her From Vampires, which immediately had some critics questioning the move and coming just a few months before the band’s pivotal second album was released it was indeed an interesting decision. However the move seems to have paid off, FOTL’s reputation benefited greatly, drawing a world-wide audience into their at-times humorous live antics; calling out members of the audience and demanding respect via a sarcastic pitch that often has their crowd in hysterics. On the live album Falkous calls out a fan who interrupts his stage banter, “You’re wearing a Tool t-shirt, so your opinion is invalid,” he pipes back. “I enjoy Tool as much as anybody else who never listens to Tool does… at the end of the day they’re a bunch of hippies who dress like the cast of the Matrix, ” he says sarcastically.

“I grew up in an environment where I was exposed to many different ideologies and regard them all with a total lack of disrespect…”

He admits that his approach on stage can sometimes cause conflict, however he seems to laugh at fans becoming overly sensitive about his remarks and he says he’s never ever felt intimidated on stage. “If it gets out of hand there’s usually security.” And while interaction with the audience appears to be a huge part of the band’s live performance, he says, “It doesn’t always work but we attempt to engage the crowd as much as is appropriate. Sometimes it becomes a major feature of the show and sometimes it merely bookends the noise. Either is fine.”

Engaging might also be a good term to describe the band’s lyrical content, or perhaps the term aggressive is slightly more appropriate. Falkous has no problem directing insults towards particular politically or religiously motivated groups whose opinion he staunchly disagrees with. The final track on the band’s new album Travels With Myself And Another is testament to this. The song, titled ‘Lapsed Catholics’, attacks religious extremists for their close-minded view on human nature and their approach towards non-believers. He says, “I grew up in an environment where I was exposed to many different ideologies and regard them all with a total lack of disrespect. I admire the idea that you should try and be a good guy but for its own sake, not necessarily because a bearded guy may wreak revenge on your soul at the end of your days.”

Is the name Future Of The Left a political reference? “A reference and allusion, yes. A mission statement, no. We’re all left-leaning individuals but we’re no political activists,” he says. However despite his claim that they are not political activists, they are definitely doing their bit to push their own left-wing, socialist opinions. Songs like ‘Chin Music’, ‘The Hope That House Built’ and ‘You Need Satan More Than He Needs You’ all have obvious political messages. Perhaps he has just come to accept his place among the working class. He adds, “We’re certainly not from rich families and as a result of having dedicated our lives to this shit are unlikely to be able to send our kids through college.”

Recently Falkous went public with his anger towards the person who leaked FOTL’s latest album online. On the band’s myspace page he expressed bitter anger and pain towards the online music community, threatening to kill the the person who originally leaked the entire album. Perhaps then, there is a bit of sadness in his voice when he talks about putting his kids through college. All he wanted to say on the matter was that “the problem with the internet is its lack of accountability. All I can do is express my sincere opinion on the matter and then move on.”

 Future Of The Left- Chin Music: MP3

 Future Of The Left- Myspace

 Buy Travels With Myself And Another at Insound

Posted by Nick Fulton under Wales