Critical, But Funny With It: FTSE On 'Joyless' And Collaboration

Sam Manville is a realist. He named the debut FTSE album ‘Joyless’ because, sometimes, that is exactly how he feels about life.

Delving into the cultural trends that commonly undermine modern society, his ability to translate ugliness into melodic entertainment is wonderful and unique. Brash of attitude and fearless in the face of the adversity he wades through on Brits Abroad and Blood On My Hands, he runs ironic, bitingly funny commentaries on the outrageous wrongs accepted by us all daily.

His lyrical flow and punchy production feels distinctly British. Layered instrumentals subtly elevate his deadpan, chatty delivery, with the message behind his music the main focus. The splashes of negativity are his his greatest asset. While his fellow musicians may be coining romantic choruses about lust and cash, Manville is outlining the implications of Brits vomiting up their sambucas in Ayia Napa while on the warpath in pursuit of drugs and sex.

“People might listen to it and feel offended because they might think I'm taking the piss out of them and trying to dictate how we should live our lives,” he says. “Maybe next time I should make the joke a bit more obvious.”

The album is described as a manifesto, commenting on the unfairness of certain cultural regimes and powers. What impact do you hope ‘Joyless’ will have upon those unfamiliar with your music and message?

I think the album is just an expression of how I feel and see the world. But also you can’t help but be aware that if people like it, they will like it for the content. It just highlights what's happening. You would have to be out of touch to feel like the ideas I'm replicating are entirely original. If some people do pick something up that’s new and they develop an opinion, that's great but honestly it's mainly just an expression.

You're critical of the hedonism displayed by this generation and yet you manage to portray that in a poetic way. How did you turn such a negative sentiment into something so flattering?

I think that’s the secret, it's all written from the first person. I never set out to do that, but everything was written from a first person experience, so that’s what I do now. That was written from me being a character as opposed to taking the piss out of someone and saying ‘why are you doing this? why are you doing that?’. Humour is the only way that works, otherwise it would be too preachy. Some of the record delves into my critical traits but I think part of the secret is trying to keep some bits light hearted. There are a few tracks on the record that some of my mates didn’t get, which I can understand.

Did you ever go on a 'lads' holiday when you were younger?

No, I was never interested. I had lots of friends who did, 10 years ago. I just thought let them get on it with it, but sensibly I never got involved.

What was the vibe like at Reading festival this year?

Reading was amazing. I don’t think it could have got any better. We had a well over a half full tent and everyone was crammed at the front. We had a mosh pit for the first track. It was ace. One of the best shows we’ve played ever. The team was great.

Did you ever go to Reading as a kid?

Yeah, it was the first festival I ever went to on my own, because my parents used to take me to festivals when I was younger. I went to a few growing up in my early teens with them. But when I was 16 I went to Reading. I remember everyone got their GCSE results when I was there. I didn’t for some reason, I just waited till I got home. It was funny going back. I don’t think I've been there since, 12 years later. I’ve heard it’s got a lot more rowdy. We were some of the last people at the camp when I was a kid. We found an axe and there was loads of tins of food. Breakfast in a can. We were playing baseball with an axe and a load of tins. That's probably one of the only memories I have of the experience, that and carrying a massive bag.

You work with such a wide variety of talents. Are there specific qualities which draw you specifically to working with new artists?

There are a few people that I work with regularly who are the perfect combination of talent and personality. Sometimes we become friends and continue to be creative, which allows for us to both come out with stuff that we are equally happy with, consistently. That doesn’t happen very often. Other people that I have worked with consistently I might not necessarily be mates with but you know that when you get together it just gels creatively. There isn’t one thing I look for in an artist. What I do as a producer is so spread across such a wide spectrum. You can work with someone, sit down at a piano and write a Take That style of soppy love song and know it’s a great shit pop song.

But then you hear something in someone that's totally unique, which makes you feel like you could jump on a track together and make something very different that might not sell loads of records but it's amazing artistically and has a lot of credibility. If you find someone who is amazing as an artist at just doing one thing, even if that's it and you don’t want to make it any different, you realise you know what it takes to just make them that little bit better at being a folk artist, just writing. A lot of it is just being objective, saying it doesn’t really matter if I love what they are doing or not but I understand it and I think I can help the process.

What is coming up for your hardcore collaborative project with Jakwob, Get Hot?

We just hung out down the studio to see what we came up with on the production and writing side of things and we ended up realising we had tonnes of mutual friends from bands and the hardcore scene. Towards the end of the session we tried to do a bit more electronic work, more so than I think people would have expected us to do. Then we just got the drums out and plugged loads of synths into amps and pedals. Then I took it home and sent Jakwob a mix of it a couple of days later and he called me and said he thought it sounded brilliant. A bit of a happy accident! We’ve had a record pretty much in the bag for the past six months. We have a little mixing left to do on a couple of tracks. Between us we have both been busy. So we are just waiting for a window of a week where we can get into the studio and just finish it.

'Joyless' is out now on Lucky Number.

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