"It’s Not Just About a Moment in Time": An Interview with Andrew Falkous (mclusky)
Twelve years ago, the Danish post-punk band Iceage booked it all the way out of Copenhagen, across the Atlantic, to play here at Eclectic. I wasn’t there, since I was nine years old and on the other side of the USA at the time, but it’s hard not to see that show as a precious regional anomaly. One would dream of hailing more bands across the pond to a university with a music scene as storied as Wesleyan’s, especially with how widely available most music is these days, but the USA’s baffling artist visa system has basically made international booking impossible — to the point where no one at Concert Committee wants to deal with the mountains of international tax paperwork. The whole thing’s a shame, honestly: there are a lot of groups on the other side of the Atlantic for whom live performance is essential, one such act I got to talk to last month.
In contemporary terms, I’d describe the Bristol band mclusky as a noise rock shitpost. Currently composed of frontman-guitarist-lyricist Andrew (Falco) Falkous, bassist Damien Sayell, and drummer Jack Egglestone, the band isn’t really as visceral as it is outright absurd. It’s tightly wound, face-smashingly heavy, and (courtesy of Falco’s lyrics) actually quite funny. I could point to any number of songs off mclusky do dallas or the difference between me and you is that i’m not on fire as examples of their particular sound, but you’d probably be better off listening to those albums yourself. They’re really good. Trust me on this.
mclusky broke up in 2005, but Falco has been keeping steady with his other band Future of the Left — also with Egglestone on drums — and his other other (one-man) band Christian Fitness. The band is now back on the road, having played shows for the last few years — including some 2022 dates in the US, before Falco came down with debilitating ear issues — but mclusky really crashed back into the music-internet-o-sphere last September with the release of “unpopular parts of a pig / the digger you deep”, a digital double-A-side heralding their first batch of new music in nearly 20 years. Released as a visa fundraiser for their second attempt at a US tour (“we're to finish what we started in that stupid, wonderful country,” per Bandcamp description), the songs pretty much capture the band in top vicious form. Falco has also announced a new mclusky album on the way soon, as well as the band’s “move” from Cardiff to Bristol; the works.
I reached out to Falco in December, before mclusky announced stateside tour dates, to see if a Wesleyan show could work. For aforementioned USA-bureaucratic-shitfest reasons he shot down that idea immediately, but he instead offered to do an interview, and now this piece has come about. We talked over Google Hangouts on a quiet snowy morning in January: after we got set up — following some very fun mic issues, which lit my nerves on fire if I’m honest — we properly introduced ourselves and got down to brass tacks.
Quick note: I had to trim off some small parts of this interview because I was too American to transcribe them, and Falco is currently too busy prepping for the US tour to look at them. These edits are minimal, so you’re not missing anything.
MAX: [So I had] initially reached out to book you, but we can’t do that anyway, since the Concert Committee does not want to deal with international taxation for artists. *laughs*
FALCO: Well, believe me, I don’t want to deal with international taxation for artists. It’s an absolute— it’s a thoroughly, surprisingly, complicated— you wouldn’t believe the obstacles that US bureaucracy puts in the way of international bands touring; it’s quite incredible. And frankly, those same obstacles are not put in the way of American bands touring Britain and Europe. I have no wish to make it as difficult, but the cost from visas onwards is just preposterous. Anybody would think we would be coming in trying to literally steal the fabric of America back, but no. Anyway, the dates are booked, and we’re coming to play, and we’re very excited. That’s the long and the long of it.
I’m very glad that it ended up coming together! So — fuck — I know that you released the double-A-side “unpopular parts of a pig / the digger you deep” in part to cover US visas. How much of your income [which] covered the visas came from sales of that single specifically?
Well, it pretty much covered the entirety of the visa, which is great; and it left us a little bit of airport transfers; but it didn’t cover the cost of the visas from last year—
*both laugh*
Well, the cost of the cancellations from last year— no, it was great! It’s difficult, in an era where crowdfunding is at your fingertips, it’s difficult to really reconcile how much of it is transactional; how much of it feels like… asking for charity? I realize that charity has a fairly broad definition, and there are a lot of people out there that genuinely just want to help out… but yeah, pretty much the whole of it, to a degree, which was fantastic. No complaints here! I mean, not enough to pay for some debauched nights out on top, but that literally wasn’t the intention. And to be honest, at our age, the idea of “debauched nights out” is ridiculous. I pretty much hit three beers, then I’m asleep on any given evening.
Well, since you’re a dad now, that’s probably fine. *laughs*
No, it is! But the thing is—it is fine, but being a bit older doesn’t change a person’s appetite for rock music or their ability to perform it, unless backflips are a crucial part of the display. But it definitely reduces your energy for the extraneous stuff; whether that’s staying up ‘til 3 and drinking with someone in a park, or… or staying up ‘til 4 and drinking with somebody in a park. They’re the two alternatives presented to you at the beginning of every night. It rather dampens the ardor of the traditional rock’n’roll miscellaneous activities, but that’s never really been a huge part of the band anyway. The reason there is to play rock shows, and to try and play the best rock shows that people have ever seen. And so, if afterwards, I’ve got to gargle some antibacterial muck and have an early night, y’know what — that’s fine. It’s not like I’m missing out on the main course.
With mclusky, you’ve been mostly playing live shows, but you basically surprise announced [the new single] like, “Oh hey! We have a new record on the way.” You’ve been performing for a while now, but what had changed from [the band’s] strictly performing as a live act into recording new music and putting out a new record?
It was just, um… actually having a conversation about it in the first place. It wasn’t something we’d done. The live shows came up by accident, really. They started as a bunch of charity shows, and it kind of gradually wandered into playing some live shows, because people offered us money to do them and it was a fun thing to do. And then we talked about maybe writing stuff, but as we’re all… well, we’re not Young Fathers, but we’re fathers of young children who live in different cities; especially at the start, three of us lived in three different cities. It was incredibly difficult to do logistically, because mclusky isn’t a band where you can send somebody an email with an attached bass line. The songs are written in the room. They rely on eye contact, they rely on body *laughs*, they rely on… y’know, the presence of everybody. And the simple fact is, we just don’t get the chance to rehearse very much; even though now I also live in Bristol, which is where Damien lives as well.
Pretty much every time we rehearse, we get a new song. All we need is a mysterious benefactor who checks us a couple hundred grand and then there’ll be an album in five minutes, but because of the vagaries of work, the vagaries of childcare, because of the vagaries of sometimes… not having the fucking energy *laughs*, it’s taking a little while to get together. But we’ve recorded half an album, and that’s on the basis of maybe — I don’t know — eight rehearsals or something? So it’s very easy, to be honest with you. There’s plenty of songs we’ve rejected, because they’re not quite part of the mclusky recipe.
Now that doesn’t mean we’re cosplaying 2002, because we’re— certainly Jack and myself, we are different people; we’re different musicians to how we were then. Stuff has to have the same spirit, but the stuff which is obviously more nakedly a Future of the Left song — it uses space a bit more — is stranger, for want of a better word. But it’s been thoroughly easy and an absolute pleasure (well, so far), which is how writing rock music — well, playing music — should be. There’s gonna be times where you meet obstacles that you have to [fling] yourself over, but for the most part, it should be loads of fun. Not just the end results, the process as well. Enjoying and accepting the process of it is really where the proper joy comes, I think.
In terms of outliers, [I also wanted to talk about] the track “that was my brain on elves” in particular. It’s like the first “quiet” mclusky song. How did that come about?
I had just put my daughter in the bath, and I was just humming a tune. I ended up writing the song whilst going through occasionally to see if she was cleaning herself properly, and that she hadn’t murdered the ducks… not actual ducks, I should say… When I was singing the chorus, I could hear her harmonizing with me from the bathroom. It was just a beautiful moment. It just came about. All the best songs that I’ve written, or that I’ve enjoyed… You work hard at something for ages, you don’t necessarily get the results, and then in a moment of — however you want to assign it — magic, things just all happen. An idea hits, another idea, and you end up with a thing!
Those things are— just for that moment, they’re loads of fun. I wrote another song that night, which was really good fun, and we danced around the house to it. But it didn’t really have much longevity, whereas “elves” just stuck with me. And it’s a funny title. If I’m gonna be known for anything, it’s for funny, silly titles; instead of any great musical quality. But y’know what, I’m happy with that. Lots of people don’t get to be remembered for anything. *laughs*
You’ve definitely got a very you flair to your song titles. That’s a good legacy, anyway!
No, I’m more than happy with it. I’ll take it. It’s better than being famous for wearing a particular type of shoes.
Circling back to the recording of the new album— when did that start?
We just did two days in a studio in… late August, or early September, I think? Whenever it was, I can’t remember. We just did like two days, and it was great! Loads of fun. [We recorded] with a friend called Anthony Chapman, who recorded the last Future of the Left album The Peace & Truce of Future of the Left. We originally went in thinking it might just be some really posh demos, but it all sounded so good — what’s the point in demoing stuff up to a certain level and then trying to re-record it? It had all the energy, it had all the excitement we wanted; so it’s just those recordings.
And again, we’re the kind of band where, when it all comes together, it’s not a question of fitting together — 150 moving parts — it’s just three people going into a room, getting the right take, and then I sing my nonsense over the top of it. It’s very, very easy, and— the studio’s called Otterhead, near Rugby and Warwickshire. It was a very pleasant place to be, and between takes you could go for a walk, and there’s a field of cows around the corner. So, y’know, you can have a chat with the cows, and then you can come back in and do some rock music. It was a wonderful experience.
So you had recorded in early September, and then… you were like, “oh, this is actually really good,” and you wanted to cover the US tour, and you’re like, “OK! Let’s release this [now] to cover it”?
Yeah! Rather than taking on extra masses of credit card debt in order to pay for stuff, why not give something to people as well, that they’ll enjoy? It would seem that everybody wins; or at least nobody loses, which is often the same thing. But yeah, it seemed like a cool and fun thing to do, and the response to it has been— if there has been a negative response to it, I haven’t seen any of it. And that’s unusual, for a band to come back after so long and not disappoint people; I think that’s a victory in itself.
I remember seeing a comment on the new single saying, “They’re still shitheads! Good to hear!” *laughs*
*laughs* I think, um… y’know, it’s not that I take exception with that, but I think it’s definitely music which sounds as if it’s made by shitheads. I would, ideally, believe that we’re not shitheads. But when we step onto that stage, we think we’re the best band in the world. And so, on one level, that’s the sort of process of a shithead. On another level, that should be the sort of process of every band that steps onto a stage. What’s the point of stepping onto a stage if you’re not the best band in the world? What are you— making up the numbers, you’re just filling in the gaps between the proper bands?
But we do— I mean, it’s what we’ve always wanted. In the past, it’s all I wanted; whereas now I want that, but I also want to have a nice time with my friends. I’d eat nice food in a restaurant in Melbourne that I wouldn’t normally get a chance to go to, [or] stay in a really flash hotel room in Adelaide, which I could never afford, y’know, off my own dime. International air travel is incredibly exciting — somebody else is paying for that, to take me somewhere! That’s not me going on holiday, I’m still — even though I’ve done this for over 20 years — I still feel incredibly… “lucky” isn’t the word, because luck doesn’t come into it, or “luck” just involves avoiding serious illness long enough to be able to continue doing it… but there is a privilege to it. It’s, um… it’s really delightful.
[And now] you’re coming back to the United States, for a second attempt at a tour—
*laughs* Yeah! The do-over, as you people say!
Yes, the “Do-Over Tour!” *laughs* Put that on the poster! Is there any place in particular, on this side of the pond, that you’re looking forward to playing again?
Ah, well, pretty much all of it! There’s a couple places that we haven’t been before, like Pittsburgh and Nashville, so that’ll be fun. The best shows are usually Seattle and Chicago. We’ve already done Seattle when we did the West Coast. Seattle just has something special about it; even when we played with other bands in the States, Seattle would always feel — and again, maybe this is me inventing a narrative; for my own purposes, it would always feel like, at a show, it wouldn’t matter if we’re playing with another band. Chicago is great.
The biggest cities tend to be more exciting… and this is just human nature, because the venues are bigger, and also you tend to have a bigger variety in the age and demographic makeup of the crowd… which aren’t the words that run through my brain when I look at the crowd. But sometimes, if you’re just playing to a bunch of guys in their thirties and forties, you feel rightly (or wrongly, sometimes) that you’re just singing to yourself. And when you’ve got a range of people — younger people at the front, a selection of more veteran bastards in the pitches behind them, and then older people fanning out at the back of the venue — that’s when it feels special, I think, because it feels like you’re not just singing to yourself in the mirror. I mean, I wouldn’t do that for a start; I’m not a huge fan of looking at my own face. But there is something about the band which, obviously— there’s the nostalgia, because people were a particular age when we first emerged… We’re a part of their musical growth at those crucial ages, kinda between 18 and 23, where the music you tend to love for the rest of your life really hooks you.
But there’s more to the band than that, as well. It’s not just about a moment in time: there’s a deeper substance to it, even if that substance is silly as fuck. It is a substance, and it does speak of the personalities involved in the band. I think that’s why it probably has longevity, because the music isn’t cookie-cutter; it has a personality, which can help, uh, piss its way from the records to the live shows. But yeah, I mean, I’m looking forward— I’m looking forward to all of it. Boston should be great, Philly should be great, Toronto… all of it! I’m looking forward to Jack’s mouth noises, I’m looking forward to Damien taking pictures of everything, um… we recently got an expensive camera, and oh boy — I mean, he’s really good at it, but, um, I don’t know if you’ve got any friends who are photographers, but there’s a lot of photos going on! I can’t wait for all of that. I can’t wait to take the piss out of American crowds. I can’t wait for them to take the piss out of me. It’s, um… yeah, it’s gonna be great.
And if any of us get ill, we are just gonna Weekend at Bernie’s it. We’ll push somebody around in a wheelchair, or whatever, because we can’t possibly cancel another tour. That was just too embarrassing and humiliating the first time.
I mean, yeah, hearing damage is no joke, but… yeah. I guess that’s showbiz. *laughs*
Yeah, y’know, it was very serious; it was an awful experience. But if you like something enough— you always gotta give yourself a little bit of time, but you also gotta work around it. And I hope, more than anything, if anybody does have any issues, and they are a musician — I realize, again, that term can be very general; we’re all musicians in our own way — that there is a way through it, as well. Solutions aren’t perfect, and tinnitus is… very interesting, as well as a complete pain in the arse *laughs*. But yeah, I refuse to let tinnitus be the story of the band. And if I have to wear ear defenders on stage, with in-ear monitors or anything, so what? Nobody’s there to see my pretty fuckin’ ears. It makes no difference to my performance whatsoever; if anything, it allows me to hear my voice more clearly, and preserve it a little bit better, because believe it or not, singing like that for an hour and twenty minutes a night can take its toll a little bit.
I have worn earplugs to every show [that I’ve been to]… the first show I’d gone to when I started at Wesleyan was Slauson Malone 1, and it was a really— it was a decidedly loud show. It was sort of hanging between quiet and loud; sometimes [Jasper Marsalis] would scream into the mic and I heard staticky noises in my right ear, and I was like, “Oh… shit, I need to jump on this,” so the next day I got a pair of earplugs. It is no joke. It fucking messes with you so much.
No, it does. And, y’know, I’m speaking as somebody where— I wore plugs almost continually since the age of 30, so for the last eighteen years; but it still got me. Y’know, the same with how some people smoke for a year and get cancer, [then] some people smoke for their whole lives and barely get more than a dodgy ankle. I always worked on the basis of “if something was too loud, I would move away from it.” Stuff was never— if I went to a gig, if it was too loud, I had no motive to get closer. I would move away from it, or I’d get out of the room, or whatever. But I still ended up with issues.
So, it’s important: you trust your body, especially if music’s gonna be your career, and huge in your commerce; or it’s gonna be a huge part of your life and you wanna keep enjoying it, then it’s very important that you take those simple precautions. If you go and see Swans live and put your head next to the PA, then you might get exactly what you deserve. But, y’know, you can watch some bands in some venues where it isn’t particularly loud, and you can be in the back of the room, and it’s fine! But, like with most things in life, it’s all about just being fucking sensible about it, and not being a dickhead. And also not making decisions when you’ve been drinking, or you’re high. *laughs* Because, “ahh, this doesn’t seem that loud anymore!” That is not— that is not objective reality! But like I said, I refuse to be defined by that, and… I’ve actually only had one comment, in Brisbane, where we just were — that quite literally was one of the best shows I’ve ever done, by the way; they were just an amazing crowd — but we walked on stage and some girl went, *nasal voice* “HE’S WEARING BLOODY HEADPHONES!”
*both laugh*
Well, say what you see, y’know, say what you see… but I was. I mean, there’s no other way of putting it. But, like I say, it doesn’t affect the show. If people don’t like it, they can just close their eyes and just… well, I don’t give a fuck.
You’re still putting on the best show in the world, like, who gives a fuck?
Yeah, yeah! As far as we’re concerned, we are. Again, I realize how hollow and silly that sounds — callow, I love using the word “callow” — how callow it sounds, but that’s the intention. And I know from having played… not as many rock shows as I’d like, that we’ve given people some really— when you see people leaving the room smiling, that’s… that's what it’s all about. Albums, they’re works of art — silly works of art, but they’re works of art. A live rock show, that’s proper light entertainment. You’re gonna get the kick drum in the chest, you’re gonna get some silly jokes in between songs (but not too many; it’s not the Bloodhound Gang), and you’re gonna get the rock music. That’s what you’re gonna get. We’re not precious about it. We’re not artistes on stage. We are a three-piece rock band. *laughs* That is all we are.
OK, so that was the majority of what I wanted to talk about … I think I just wanted to close off with one more casual question: what have you been listening to recently, in terms of other people’s music?
I haven’t really been listening to much! I listened to lots of stuff on my touring, because you want to get the right bands to play with. I’m pleasantly surprised as compared to, say, when the band existed in its first roll-around, or even early Future of the Left… I think there’s a lot more interesting noisy rock out there [today]. I’m certainly not saying it’s inspired by us, but it’s inspired by a lot of bands who were around at the time and are now the influence for a lot of bands; it’s kind of pervading into popular culture a little bit more. It’s generally great. I can’t think of a poor band we’ve played with. I’ve been reading a lot; when I’m listening to stuff, I tend to be wandering around listening to podcasts more than music. I am more of a fan of making music than listening to music.
But occasionally, when I listen to something which catches me just right, it can open up a thousand possibilities. It’s something, frankly, that I need to make more time for; listening to music. But my daughter— when she gets home, we’re either listening to “Ghostbusters”, “Bare Necessities” or the Frozen soundtrack. You can see my eyes glassing over as I say that last bit.
But yeah, it is definitely— there’s always room for personal growth in this world, and my personal growth will come when I give a bit more time to other people’s music rather than being almost entirely self-possessed in that regard. I’ve been reading, though — I just read a book which just won the [annual UK/Ireland literary award] Booker, called Prophet Song, which was very good! I enjoyed that. I re-read The Man in the High Castle, which I read when I was a kid. I actually thought it was… really awkward and boring? *laughs* And, I’m about to read a book by Zadie Smith, I’ve forgotten… oh, yeah, The Fraud by Zadie Smith. So yeah, I’m about to read those.
Um… what else am I doing? Pretty much, um… pretty much just walking about 15, 20 miles a day. That’s my idea of a good time. And that’s a problem, because American cities don’t tend to be walkable. I mean, you guys are in abusive relationships with your cars, even in terms of the Western world. When we were in LA two Septembers ago, we were staying in Koreatown, and we decided to walk to Hollywood, and the looks you get on the street from people when you’re walking, it’s like, what— what exactly is wrong with you? And people know you’re British straight away. They can just tell. If you’re walking somewhere, and you’re clearly not a homeless person, people just know that you’re British. So that says a lot, doesn’t it? That says a lot.
Car culture is definitely fucked up… I actually am from LA, like that’s where I was born and raised. Sometimes I’d go out to Glendale and— the intersections and roads there are so wide that you’re— [when you step] on that crosswalk, even when the light is red, you’re basically making a death wish just because of how wide those roads are. It’s really easy to be turned into a hood ornament right now.
*laughs* Yep. I don’t doubt it. I mean, throw in, too, the most intimidating police force probably outside of Brazil. Yeah, it’s loads of fun. But yeah, thank you for that! … I’m going to see what my wife was calling me about. You never know, frankly. Could be any one of 8 million things…
Well, over here, it’s a beautiful snowy day. I’m gonna go slip on black ice now! Have a good one!
Marvelous! Well, don’t damage your ankles on the way down. Speak to you soon!
Cover image taken from Michael Byzewski’s artwork for “unpopular parts of a pig / the digger you deep.”
Infinite thanks to Emma (Stecky) Steckline and Sophie Chang ‘24, for tolerating our shit-talk in their living room while they were asleep. 2 Warren forever!
