Future Of The Left

He shares a name with a Royal Navy Admiral from the 1700s (presumably), but you won’t find Benjamin Francis Leftwich indulging in frivolous sound effects or zany stage antics – the 21-year-old deals exclusively in no-nonsense nu-folk.

With his heartfelt debut album about to hit shelves, I’m expecting Leftwich to be in remarkably high spirits today, but he admits he’s still “a bit ill” after Glastonbury.
“The show was incredible.” he croaks. “I didn’t really know what to expect but it was an amazing gig and it was cool to be there and see the other bands as well.”
In the last nine months, Leftwich has released two EPs and a full-length album, all with indie label Dirty Hit Ltd., despite being courted by some of the major UK labels.
“There have been a couple of bigger labels trying to get involved, but to be honest, I think the major labels are pretty useless,” he shrugs. “They’re not very respectful to any sort of creativity or innovation. I’ve done bits of work with them in the past, but it’s never turned out good. I guess the publishing side of things is different, but in terms of signing a record deal with a major label, so much stuff gets taken out of your control, it’s just not worth it. It becomes a sort of business entity, it sucks. It’s got nothing to do with music.”
You mean he wasn’t tempted by the dough?
“I like to have creative control,” he says. “I’d rather do things my own way than sell however many albums because they dyed my hair blue and made me wear pink jeans.”
Sticking with the DIY mindset didn’t stop Leftwich from drafting in some big name help for his debut LP – he managed to coax Mumford And Sons producer Ian Grimble on board.
“It was a long old process, there was so much going on in the studio. We had such long days so it’s all blurred into one now. We recorded it in a really cool old church in Finsbury Park in London. It’s an amazing place, there’s nothing too shiny about it, it’s really real.”

If you ask Leftwich about his influences, the name Bruce Springsteen invariably crops up. The Boss is hardly the coolest musician alive (Really? Many highly respected judges beg to differ: you need to burn those Sade and Bill Withers records and branch out of your hip-hop/easy-listening soul ghetto, girl! - Sub Ed), but then, Leftwich is the last man on earth to concern himself with musical trends.
“I think he’s really cool,” he protests, “the way that he’s constantly released albums and had such variety in the type of stuff he’s released, and always seems to maintain a level of honestly in his writing, I think, is really amazing. I know when people think Bruce Springsteen they think ‘Born In The USA’ and him shaking his bum, but there’s so much more to it than that. He’s known as The Boss… it’s pretty cool when millions of people know you under that nickname.”
A handful of upcoming Irish dates are just the beginning for Leftwich – the Brit plans to tour right until the end of the year.
“I’m really used to it now,” he shrugs. “ We’ve done a couple of big tours already. Whenever I feel like whinging about it, when I’m tired or whatever, I think, ‘There was a time when a couple of year ago when you would have killed to be playing these shows you’re playing now.’”