Andrew Falkous
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Andrew "Falco" Falkous (born 5 April 1975) is a Welsh musician best known for being the founding member/frontman for the
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
-based punk rock outfit
Mclusky Mclusky (often stylized as mclusky), originally known as Best, are a Welsh three-piece post-hardcore group formed in Cardiff. The group originally consisted of Englishman Andrew Falkous (vocals, guitar) from Newcastle upon Tyne, Geraint Bevan ...
, current lead singer/guitarist of the band
Future of the Left Future of the Left are a Welsh alternative rock band based in Cardiff. The group consists of former Mclusky members Andrew Falkous (vocals, guitar) and Jack Egglestone (drums) and former Million Dead bassist Julia Ruzicka. History Beginnings F ...
and the sole member of Christian Fitness.


Music career

Falco's professional musical career began in 1996 with the band Best. After a few line-up changes and release of a three-track single ''Huwuno'' on London-based label Seriously Groovy, Best changed its name to
Mclusky Mclusky (often stylized as mclusky), originally known as Best, are a Welsh three-piece post-hardcore group formed in Cardiff. The group originally consisted of Englishman Andrew Falkous (vocals, guitar) from Newcastle upon Tyne, Geraint Bevan ...
in 1999. The line-up consisted of Falco fronting the band, serving as its main songwriter along with Mat Harding on drums and Jon Chapple on bass/backing vocals. Falco and Mclusky released its first album '' My Pain and Sadness is More Sad and Painful Than Yours'' in 2000 on the Fuzzbox imprint before drawing international attention with their critically praised second album ''
Mclusky Do Dallas ''Mclusky Do Dallas'' is the second studio album by Welsh indie rock band Mclusky, released on 1 April 2002 by Too Pure. ''Mclusky Do Dallas'' spawned four singles: "Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues", "Whoknowyou", "To Hell with Good Intentions", a ...
'' in 2002. Harding left the group in 2003 with Falco telling The Telegraph "It was due to differences on just about every imaginable level – personal, musical and professional.". Mclusky recruited drummer Jack Egglestone for their 2004 album ''
The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire ''The Difference Between Me and You Is that I'm Not on Fire'' is the third and final studio album from Welsh indie rock band Mclusky. It was released to positive reviews by Too Pure in 2004. The two singles to be released from this album were "T ...
''. On 7 January 2005, Mclusky announced its break-up. Falco released this announcement on the band's website on three days later: :The three piece rock band known as mclusky have disbanded, as of Friday 7 January 2005. The reason for this parting is private, though probably not as entertaining as you'd imagine. Personally, I would like to thank all the people, places and times that occurred on or near us. I'm grateful for the love and to a lesser degree, the hate. There'll be more music soon, from all of us. Little was said of the reasons behind Mclusky's split, but it later emerged that tensions had arisen between Falco and Chapple. Falco did not stay silent for long, in 2006, he announced the formation of
Future Of The Left Future of the Left are a Welsh alternative rock band based in Cardiff. The group consists of former Mclusky members Andrew Falkous (vocals, guitar) and Jack Egglestone (drums) and former Million Dead bassist Julia Ruzicka. History Beginnings F ...
with
Mclusky Mclusky (often stylized as mclusky), originally known as Best, are a Welsh three-piece post-hardcore group formed in Cardiff. The group originally consisted of Englishman Andrew Falkous (vocals, guitar) from Newcastle upon Tyne, Geraint Bevan ...
drummer Jack Egglestone and former
Jarcrew Jarcrew was a five-piece dance- punk band from Ammanford, Wales. They were a relatively well known underground band (Jarcrew never enjoyed mainstream success) for approximately five years between 2000 and their early 2005 split. They played a b ...
frontman Kelson Mathias assuming bass duties. Their first release was a single, "Fingers Become Thumbs". It came out to minimal fanfare but paved the way for their first CD release ''
Curses A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular ...
'' on
Too Pure Too Pure was a London-based independent record label formed in 1990 by Richard Roberts and Paul Cox. The label gained prominence after the release of PJ Harvey's debut album '' Dry'' in 1992, and subsequently found further success in the late ...
Records in September 2007. They followed-up with ''
Travels with Myself and Another ''For the 1978 memoir of the same name, see Martha Gellhorn.'' ''Travels with Myself and Another'' is the second studio album by Future of the Left. Background Around summer 2008, the band started performing new tracks such as "Drink Nike" and ...
'' in June 2009 on 4AD. ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' ranked
Future of the Left Future of the Left are a Welsh alternative rock band based in Cardiff. The group consists of former Mclusky members Andrew Falkous (vocals, guitar) and Jack Egglestone (drums) and former Million Dead bassist Julia Ruzicka. History Beginnings F ...
's 2009 live album Last Night I Saved Her from Vampires at No. 42 on their list of 50 Greatest Live Records of all Time. and Pedestrian TV calling
Future of the Left Future of the Left are a Welsh alternative rock band based in Cardiff. The group consists of former Mclusky members Andrew Falkous (vocals, guitar) and Jack Egglestone (drums) and former Million Dead bassist Julia Ruzicka. History Beginnings F ...
one of the greatest live bands of all time. In a 2010 interview with
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
Falco stated that Mathias was no longer in the band and bassist Julia Ruzicka (also his then girlfriend, now wife) and guitarist Jimmy Watkins have joined the group as a quartet. In late 2011, the band announced they signed to Xtra Mile Records and released the EP ''Polymers Are Forever'' and the album ''The Plot Against Common Sense''. In 2013, the band released the album ''How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident'' and in 2016 they released the album ''The Peace and Truce of Future of the Left''. In 2014, Falco released an album under the moniker Christian Fitness titled ''I Am Scared of Everything That Isn't Me'', and in 2015 the follow-up album, ''Love Letters in the Age of Steam''. Christian Fitness's third album, ''This Taco Is Not Correct'', was released on
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
on 12 September 2016. A title revealed on an appearance on Conan Neutron's Protonic Reversal to be random placeholder text from the designer (Aesthetic Apparatus) that he felt made a fitting title. "...that appealed to me that (the random text) would become meaningful and the silhouetted angel is pondering something that is ridiculous, racked with anguish over nothing. As much as all value tacos in their correct context, it just seemed perfect". Christian Fitness's fourth album, ''Slap Bass Hunks'', was released - also via Bandcamp and the label Prescriptions Music, on 19 April 2017.


Falco vs. illegal music downloading

Falco became a surprise player in the debate over illegal musical file sharing when the second Future of the Left album ''
Travels with Myself and Another ''For the 1978 memoir of the same name, see Martha Gellhorn.'' ''Travels with Myself and Another'' is the second studio album by Future of the Left. Background Around summer 2008, the band started performing new tracks such as "Drink Nike" and ...
'' was leaked online in late April 2009, more than two months before its official release. Falco took to the web and released a seething open letter to those that chose to leak the album, stated that continuing to illegally share music will make it harder for legitimate musicians to continue to make music. In his letter, Falco stated: :Please be careful, or we'll get the world we all deserve. Hobby bands who can tour once every few years if they're lucky, and the superstars, freed from such inconvenient baggage as integrity and conscience, running the corporate sponsored marathon of £80-a-ticket arena tours and television adverts til their loveless hearts explode in an orgy of oppressive branding and self-regard. Some of us, in all honesty, just want to make the music we love and play it around the world without living in poverty.
UK Music UK Music is a British umbrella organisation which represents the collective interests of the production side of UK's commercial music industry: artists, musicians, songwriters, composers, record labels, artist managers, music publishers, studio ...
decided to take out a full-page advert in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', reprinting Falco's letter, making him an advocate for bands and sparking further debate on behalf of artists. Later, in an interview during a 2011 Australian tour, Falco stated that his "problem comes when people try to say it's a fight against the oppressor", a mentality of sticking it to some faceless entity. He continued to say he's encountered people complaining about paying money to see a band and the cost of an album, but would then turn around and spend more money on a round of drinks at the show.


Discography


Mclusky

* '' My Pain and Sadness Is More Sad and Painful Than Yours'' (2000) * ''
Mclusky Do Dallas ''Mclusky Do Dallas'' is the second studio album by Welsh indie rock band Mclusky, released on 1 April 2002 by Too Pure. ''Mclusky Do Dallas'' spawned four singles: "Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues", "Whoknowyou", "To Hell with Good Intentions", a ...
'' (2002) * ''
The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire ''The Difference Between Me and You Is that I'm Not on Fire'' is the third and final studio album from Welsh indie rock band Mclusky. It was released to positive reviews by Too Pure in 2004. The two singles to be released from this album were "T ...
'' (2004) * ''
Mcluskyism ''Mcluskyism'' is the final release by Welsh rock band Mclusky. A singles and rarities package, it is released in two formats, a one disc singles only package, and a three disc format. On April 18, 2015 it was released as a one disc vinyl edi ...
'' (2006)


Future of the Left

* ''
Curses A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular ...
'' (2007) * '' Last Night I Saved Her from Vampires'' (2009) * ''
Travels with Myself and Another ''For the 1978 memoir of the same name, see Martha Gellhorn.'' ''Travels with Myself and Another'' is the second studio album by Future of the Left. Background Around summer 2008, the band started performing new tracks such as "Drink Nike" and ...
'' (2009) * '' The Plot Against Common Sense'' (2012) * '' How to Stop Your Brain in an Accident'' (2013) * '' The Peace & Truce of Future of the Left'' (2016)


Christian Fitness

* ''I Am Scared of Everything That Isn't Me'' (2014) * ''Love Letters in the Age of Steam'' (2015) * ''This Taco is Not Correct'' (2016) * ''Slap Bass Hunks'' (2017) * ''Nuance - The Musical'' (2018) * ''You Are the Ambulance'' (2019) * ''Hip Gone Gunslingers'' (2021)


References


External links


Andrew "Falco" Falkous on Allmusic

Future of the Left gig review, Blacklevel Embassy @ The Corner Hotel, Melbourne (02/01/2011)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkous, Andrew 1975 births Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne Musicians from Cardiff English rock singers English rock guitarists English male guitarists English male singers Living people