The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man is a Motern Media novelty song band, often featuring Matt Farley as the sole contributor. To date, Farley has released 17 albums under the moniker, beginning with Songs About My House And Stuff in 2013. This makes it one of Motern Media’s most prolific monikers.
While Farley began using the name as a way to write novelty songs without a set topic (such as his sports bands or Papa Razzi and the Photogs), he began to build lore around the character behind the band, who he named Roy Singerman.
The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man, often shortened to TVNISM, is one of Motern Media’s more famous bands, with fans calling Keep Being Awesome! and Roy and Cathy among the finest work in the Motern Media discography.
History
When creating pseudonyms for his novelty song project, Farley decided that each one should relate to the kind of music each one would write. Papa Razzi and the Photogs would pen songs about celebrities and other notable people, The Toilet Bowl Cleaners would have songs about poop, puke, and pee, The Singing Animal Lover would sing about animals, and so on. Farley created The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man to cover many other unique topics.
As Farley continued to write albums as The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man, he thought it would be funny if he not only gave the artist lore, but also had the artist slowly lose his mind over the course of his career, due to an obsessive work ethic. Therefore, the act became a vessel for more of Farley’s angst-ridden songs, and therefore some songs (and even full albums) from the artist are classified as No-Jokes records.
Farley used the moniker for Good Old Folk Songs, released in May 2025 as part of his attempt to put out one release per month that year. He worked with fan and occasional Motern Media film actor PJ Pajamas on three songs for that record. He also put out Requests and Questions as The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man in January 2026.
While Farley intended on releasing more music in the same vein as Requests and Questions later in 2026 — which would mix No-Jokes and novelty songs together — he decided he was going through a period of “creative exhaustion”. Therefore, it is not known when or if he will release new music as TVNISM at least in the near future.
In the Motern Media universe
Roy Singerman was born in the early 1980s, although not much is known about his childhood. He grew up playing piano, becoming quite an experienced musician by the time he discovered Motern Media’s novelty songs. He was an early fan, becoming familiar with the work of Papa Razzi and the Photogs from their first records in 2007.
Taking inspiration from those novelty bands, Singerman wrote a series of songs and sent them to Motern Media President Matt Farley in 2013. Farley liked what he heard, and therefore signed Singerman to a record deal under the name The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man. Songs About My House and Stuff and These Songs Are About Transportation. Enjoy! came out on December 10, 2013 and December 19, 2013, nine days apart from each other.
For these albums, Singerman received access to high-quality production, Motern Media musicians such as Chris “Pete” Peterson and Chuck Wagon, and extra assistance with his songwriting. He received praise from Farley, since he could write and record hundreds of songs at a rapid pace. Early in Singerman’s career with Motern Media, sessions with other Motern Media musicians could go for over 20 hours at a time, with everyone having fond memories of them.
Despite Singerman’s output and Motern Media’s appreciation of his work ethic, his albums did not receive much attention from listeners. These Songs Are About Transportation, Enjoy! and the following album The Wardrobe Album: Songs About Clothes received little airplay, and TVNISM’s fourth album This is the Body Parts Album only had two hits, “Everybody Has A Butt” and “The Butt Cheeks Song”. Frustrated with the critical dismissal, Singerman left Motern Media for six months to refuel his creative spirit.
Upon Singerman’s return, Farley gave him total freedom with his music. The artist’s fifth album Stuff That Happens took a more experimental turn, and the following Here’s The Office Supplies Album I Was Telling You About took the experimentalism even further. Singerman took his creative freedom to the extremes at this point, and his increasing workaholic nature drove away his friends and colleagues. He lashed out at his bandmates, and his self-imposed ostracizing caused his music to become more angst-ridden. Farley became worried for Singerman’s mental health, but Singerman refused help and continued to work.
Jobs Songs, Household Products and Household Items, and Common Phrases followed, and at this point, Singerman was at a spiritual tipping point. He was revealing more of his tormented soul through his music, dipping further into his sadness and isolation, and threatening people that he would punch them in the face. Despite this unraveling, Singerman released the 74-track magnum opus Keep Being Awesome! in 2016, a slight departure from his usual novelty fare, in which he unloaded his feelings about women, self-loathing, manipulation, and society in general. The album has become one of the most revered Motern Media records of all time.
Singerman continued to record, releasing Games & Sports in June 2017. Later that year, Singerman would begin a relationship with a woman named Cathy, who had just left another Motern Media artist, The Guy Who Sings About Cities & Towns (whose first name is Ebeneezer). The affair between Singerman and Cathy was short-lived, however, and Cathy would return to Ebeneezer. However, the experience inspired Singerman to process his emotions through his music, leading him to write and release Roy and Cathy in October 2017. Yet again, the album was different from Singerman’s usual work, as he recounted the affair between him and Cathy from beginning to end in semi-autobiographical fashion. The record was again lauded as one of Motern Media’s best.
Emotions — a 50-track album — followed soon after in November 2017, as Singerman continued to use his songwriting as a form of therapy. While not as critically praised as his previous two records, it still gained a fair amount of positive recognition from listeners. After this release, Singerman would take another break from writing, except for the November 2019 single “Orange Traffic Cones are Good Things For Always”. Not much is known about the reason for this hiatus, although it is assumed that Singerman used his time to continue soul-searching.
In February 2024, Singerman returned to creating music for Motern Media with I Went to College: University! Higher Education! Yes., a record all about college life. In May of that year, he released Song High School Songs Fun, which was about high school. This marked the official return of the artist to Motern Media, and it appeared that his mental health was in a better place by this point.
In May 2025, Singerman released Good Old Folk Songs, another departure from his usual novelty fare, in that it contains seventeen folk covers. He partnered with musician and Motern Media film actor PJ Pajamas for three tracks on the record. The release was part of Motern Media’s one-release-a-month project throughout 2025.
In January 2026, Singerman returned to novelty songs with the release of Requests and Questions, an album using common requests and questions as song titles and inspiration (much like how Common Phrases used common phrases.)
Discography
| Year | # | Album | Tracks/Run Time | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1 | Songs About My House and Stuff | 90 (2:14:00) | December 10, 2013 |
| 2 | These Songs Are About Transportation. Enjoy! | 95 (2:30:00) | December 19, 2013 | |
| 2014 | The Wardrobe Album: Songs About Clothes | 88 (2:15:00) | February 9, 2014 | |
| 4 | This Is the Body Parts Album | 91 (2:21:00) | April 28, 2014 | |
| 5 | Stuff That Happens | 89 (2:19:00) | September 2, 2014 | |
| 6 | Here’s the Office Supplies Album I’ve Been Telling You About | 92 (2:21:00) | October 2, 2014 | |
| 2015 | 7 | Jobs Songs | 81 (2:07:00) | March 23, 2015 |
| 8 | Household Products and Household Items | 80 (2:01:00) | June 29, 2015 | |
| 9 | Common Phrases | 81 (2:05:00) | November 5, 2015 | |
| 2016 | Keep Being Awesome! | 74 (2:01:00) | March 20, 2016 | |
| 2017 | Games & Sports! | 50 (1:18:00) | June 14, 2017 | |
| 12 | Roy and Cathy | 15 (30:44) | October 8, 2017 | |
| 13 | Emotions | 50 (1:26:00) | November 1, 2017 | |
| 2019 | Orange Traffic Cones are Good Things For Always | Single (1:35) | November 18, 2019 | |
| 2024 | I Went to College: University! Higher Education! Yes. | 50 (1:43:00) | February 20, 2024 | |
| 15 | Song High School Songs Fun | 50 (1:42:00) | April 26, 2024 | |
| 2025 | Good Old Folk Songs | 17 (45:02) | May 19, 2025 | |
| 2026 | Requests and Questions | 31 tracks (1:10:00) | January 28, 2026 |
