With the realease of their 7th album, The Case Against Art, French TV has entered their third decade of musical collaboration with a bang. Not only is this one of their finest albums, but my stereo can display the track titles from the CD! Now if that's not cool, I don't know what is... Mike Sary, bassist, maestro and ringleader of FTV, sat down (at least I hope he did, as typing standing up doesn't sound too productive or comfortable) to answer some burning questions about French TV's past, present and future.

 
What was the impetus for forming the group? It was the credibility that Asia brought to progressive rock in the 80s, wasn't it?

Sary: I think the seed was 1st planted back in 1979, when I saw and later got to know a local "professional" [that means they played live in clubs and wrote original music as well as lots of cool prog covers] prog group called STRANGER in Austin, Texas. That made me realize all this COULD be done. I was already a musician by then, but wanted to be involved in material that was a little more challenging than the stoopid blues jams/bands I seemed to always get roped into at the time. So it stayed in the " TO DO" list, until I met Steve Roberts in 1982 and realized there was a distribution network and enough support out there that it was possible to bypass major labels and record & release your own music. 

OK, OK, I was forced into action by my horror and disappointment in the 1st Asia LP. So sue me. 

 

French TV has gone through numerous lineup changes throughout the ages. Being the main figure in the band, how have you adapted to the constant flux of working lineups?

Sary: It's weird; often I'm aware I'm having to resort to the same old FTV "recruitment" speech when trying to convince a new musician how much fun it is to write with me and be scorned by modern culture. Aside from that, there's never really a feeling of "here we go again", as usually, there's something in a new guy's playing that interests me and would like to see incorporated in what we do. So that part of it I actually kind of enjoy. 
But I have to say it never really gets any easier dealing with people who decide they want "off the bus" [usually for greener pastures]. In most cases, it never feels like something that's run its course; it usually feels like we still have more music between us that needs to be discovered. But there's also a high quotient of people who leave for a few years, then come back, which also contributes to the "unfinished business" feeling. I don't know that I look at it philosophically in any way, other than feeling it's just part of the job. 
 

You happen to be somewhat of a prog fan yourself. How much does progressive rock influence French TV's music? Who are some of these influences?

Sary: I guess the main thing from progressive rock that I see and consequently utilize in what I do is the idea of trying to see how far to "push" a composition; to generate as many ideas, variations, feels, ways of keeping the listener off-balance, that I & the other players can think of, yet somehow keep the composition from sinking under its own weight from all these ideas-it's a bit of a tightrope act! I try to avoid for the most part the other more obvious aspects of progressive rock [12 strings; mellotrons; soulful Gilmour leads, etc]. Note I say "for the most part" as to not do it at all would be just as self-limiting as to use these motifs exclusively. 

As for influences: just about what you'd expect-Yes, National Health, Happy the Man, VdGG/Hammill, KC, Gentle Giant, Zappa, Magma & off-shoots, Samlas, Bruford, UK, Pekka Pohjola, PFM...also a ton of the 70s fusion bands, especially Weather Report. I kind of think that's the difference between us and a lot of prog bands in that fusion had just as much of an impact on my composing as the more obvious stuff. 
 
In addition to prog, your music covers a wide array of styles. What are the individual influences that are brought together to form the end product? Do you see any dominant individual influences showing through the finished pieces, or have they become melded to a group sound?

Sary: It's funny, in that most of the players I've worked with in the past aren't aware of any prog bands beyond the Big 6, and in many cases, might only like 1 of them. I've sort of been lucky in that the people I work with seem to have enough quirks in their playing so that it isn't easy to pin down their influences and thus sound too derivative [unfortunately this is a marketing NIGHTMARE!]. There's also the matter in which I tend to take everything a song at a time, trying to figure out what we can do to make this bit of music different or more interesting, which doesn't lend itself to much of a cohesive, easily predictable style. 
I'm pretty aware of and appreciative of the other player's' "bag 'o' tricks" and try to incorporate them into the compositions, but nobody has recorded with FTV long enough for it to be evident to the occasional listener. 

What do you have in mind, if anything, when you get together to write and record new material? How much of the pieces are written individually beforehand?

Sary: Up until #7, the other writers & I would write the tunes out before presenting them to the rest of the band. With the exception of our keyboardist John Robinson, we were all pretty flexible in everybody's interpretation of the material, so everyone got to add their on the finished product. For #7 and the one we're working on now, I took a different approach and would record improvisations our former drummer Chris Vincent, and took the best of these improvs and edited them into finished compositions. It's an approach I prefer these days, as it sort of preserves the "mysterious " aspect of music I like so much; the part that makes you wonder "Where the !@#$%^& did THAT come from????" 

[Big revelation time] I don't really think visually or have plans and goals when getting this stuff from my brain to the recording studio-it's all just notes and chords and melodies that hold my attention and won't go away. This is probably why we haven't caught on the majority of prog fans in general; I'm not really interested in generating any sort of "emotional" reaction from the listener; that mind-set just seems too manipulative to me. I'd rather just organize this pile of sounds somewhat coherently and let the listener sort it out! 

What are your favorite FTV songs? Album?

Sary: Ah, they're ALL my babies, even the ugly ones. Like most musicians, the latest album is always my favorite. Song-wise, I kinda think "And The Dead Dog Lept Up and Flew Around the Room! "[from #2] was a breakthrough, compositionally. Everything else previously seemed raggedy and like a car with 3 tail fins. "The Souls of the Damned Live in Failed Works" [from #4] is a fav due to it not having any noticeable padding I can see-also quite fun to play live. Plus I got to trot out my Coleman Francis impersonation! "The  Kokonino Stomp" [from #6] is nice as it's very concise yet keeps our usual compositional density. I like everything from the new cd and don't really see anything I'd want to change, but "One Humiliating Incident After Another" really works for me. It's the only one I essentially myself [at least the structure & framework] and consciously avoided as much repletion as possible. 

 

In a genre lauded for its originality, FTV goes against the grain with the frequent cover songs you do. All of them are fun to listen to, and some even top the originals. What brought you do doing them? Any we can be looking forward to in the future?
 

Sary: Most of them have different reasons for existing. A couple were commissioned exclusively for tribute albums; the Nektar cover was a to include a bonus track on the re-release of #2, the Samla & VdGG covers were just riffs we fooled around with in rehearsals and decided to just go ahead and learn the rest; the Happy the Man cover was a way to work with original HtM'ers Cliff Fortney & Mike Beck [Mike's participation didn't work out ultimately]. The covers are always a lot of fun to re-imagine and put our spin on, and sort of a tip of the hat to the people who drew me into this line of work. For the next CD we're planning on doing a cover of an unreleased National Health tune. I don't want to give it away just yet, as another possibility has come my way recently that I want to investigate 1st. 
 
You had said before that most of the recording for FTV 8 had taken place around the same time as FTV 7. When can we expect a release of this material?

Sary: Actually, not so much recording as composing-the tunes were in the writing & planning stages as we recorded #7, and since then we've been rehearsing them and working out the logistics [as keyboardist/winds player Warren Dale & guitarist/violinist Chris Smith live in San Diego, but have their own studio]. If all goes on schedule, there's no reason #8 shouldn't be out by the end of the year. But then, nothing ever goes on schedule...... 

 

ELP OR ASIA?

Sary: ELP, in that they are less filling and don't leave that bitter after-taste. 
 

You recently contributed bass tracks to the latest Trap album (Insurrection). Are there any other projects outside of FTV that you're working on?

Sary: Nope. Nobody likes me. Everyone hates me. I'm going to eat some WORMS! 
 

How often does the band play live?

Sary: We're pretty streaky-now that the band is 1500 miles apart; we really have to pick our spots. As mentioned in the website, we had a short-lived Louisville version of the live band, but our drummer decided it was too important to listen to his friends than his brain. We're working on a tour for summer, but it's still in the TBA stage. 
 

With varying lineups, is there a certain repertoire that one band would favor over another?

Sary: Yeah, more or less. Usually it's most convenient for the live players to concentrate on the tunes they've recorded with FTV, as well as fulfilling. 

Does improvisation play a role in French TV's live gigs?

Sary: Yes, BIG TIME. We generally allow for about 10-15 minutes per set for improv, and this means STRAIGHT improv, where there's no previously worked-out riffs to open with and mutate. We just go in with an open mind, and the rest seems to care of itself. 

French TV has slowly evolved over the years. Are there any surprises in store for the next release?

Sary: I suspect the tunes of the next CD will mostly be seen as being a bit more fusion-y than what we've done before, mainly due to the influence of the new drummer, and just the way our compositional process has evolved. I keep wondering if I need to add more twists and turns to these new songs, but I'm also trying to be faithful to the original improvs they came from. So generally, I'm trying not to "tart" them up too much. 
 

Thanks for the interview. Anything you would like to add?
 

Sary: Yes..... Thanks for noticing me..... [done in Eeyore voice] 
 

- Mike Prete [April 2002]