Q&A: Fear, Loathing, and Pop: Flooding Unveils New EP ‘Object 1’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY NICO CHODOR ☆
Photo by Fabian Rosales
BY DEFINITION, FLOODING IS THE EXPOSURE TO FEAR TO EXTINGUISH THE FEAR—otherwise known as implosion therapy for treating phobias. That, or KC-based experimental noise rock trio fronted by guitarist and vocalist Rose Brown. Flooding (therapy) is more harsh than gradual desensitization, Brown explains to me. It forces the individual to confront the source of their fear with maximum intensity, and no escape. Likewise, Brown works together with Cole Billings (bass) and Zach Cunningham (drums) to blend slowcore and post-punk with pop song structure on the inescapable object 1, Flooding’s latest EP.
Track 1, “your silence is my favorite song” sets the vampiric tone for the rest of the EP, exploring the tormenting nature of manipulation from the predator’s side of the aisle. Brown taps into the self-deprecating, oh-so-fragile mindset of those who perhaps love the Smiths, and hunting women for sport. Lyrics haunt, Brown’s vocal luster shines bright, and post-hardcore, grunge-like distortion abounds.
“complete detail” follows with more drawn-out chord progression that creeps up on you, slowly, deliberately. Brown breathes down your neck on this track. Her tone is darker, more gnarled and perverse, willing your tail between your legs before crashing into raw emotion on the second verse. “Do you exist unless someone’s watching?” screams Brown, as Billings and Cunningham back her rise in fervency. Drums and bass lurch forward and then pull back just as quick, replicating the tug-of-war metaphor, i.e. difficult thoughts will control you the longer you resist. The resulting soundscape is abrasive, a harsh break from the traditional rules of harmony, yet woven together by softer vocal undulations which force you to reckon with the possibility of power. What would you do in the shoes of the antagonist, questions Flooding. What do you do when you’re alone?
In similar fashion, tracks three and four present thrashing, feedback-ridden noise rock music that rips. Brooding on desire as a form of hope, “depictions of the female body” came out earlier this summer, using artwork by Em Davenport for the single cover. “Object 1,” the final song on the EP, is pure instrumental implosion therapy, drum-forward, sonic abstraction laid bare. Fear, loathing, and pop lie at the center of this latest installment, where production by Corey Coffman lifts the band to the next tier of artistic accomplishment.
Supporting Slow Crush and Teethe on tour across the U.S. this fall, Flooding will soon be taking object 1 for the ultimate ride. Read below to meet the lovely Rose Brown, who speaks on working with Corey, funneling inspiration without correlation, narcissism, and arachnophobia. Object 1 is out now.
LUNA: You have talked about writing awesome rock songs that hold a mirror up to losers who think they run the world … can you speak more on the intersection between satire and shame on object 1?
BROWN: Yeah, for sure. Narcissism and shame are two big themes that I wanted to talk about in the EP, because I think that, right now, it’s just so relevant with the internet. It’s really jarring to be like, constantly seen all the time. I think that has brought on a lot of self-obsession, so much so that I can honestly empathize with people who are narcissists. Not to say that you can go around and treat people like shit, but that is such a common thing. It’s just interesting to think about. I find it really fascinating.
LUNA: Did you say empathize with narcissists?
BROWN: Maybe not empathize with, but I think that we can all see ourselves in people who act that way. There’s a darker side to all of us. I don’t know, I think it’s cool to represent that and be able to act that out in a way that is creative and not actually harmful to other people [laughs].
LUNA: [Laughs] I like that a lot. And this is your second time working with Corey on a body of work! How did the creative shift on this EP come together with him specifically?
BROWN: Ooh, well I just love working with Corey because it’s really easy. He just, like, gets what I’m trying to do. We worked with him on our second LP, and for the second time on this EP. Sonically, it’s a lot more drum-focused, I would say. He helped push the songs more drum forward, for sure. That was definitely different for us. I feel like I have mainly written guitar music in the past. I could go through and play an entire song on guitar, and it would be complete. But with this EP, I really wanted to focus on the drums and bass. I love those instruments, and I also just think it’s the time to experiment. Like with writing, especially on an EP. It just felt like the perfect time to do something new.
LUNA: Did you go out to Corey’s studio?
BROWN: No, we still record ourselves at my house, but then we send all of that off to be mixed and mastered.
LUNA: Okay, so your house is like the hub. Has it always been that way?
BROWN: When we first started, we would practice and record and mix everything in Zach’s parents’ garage. They had this big, detached garage, and it was definitely a moment. Then, we started practicing at me and Cole’s house when we lived in Lawrence, but we recorded our second album and this EP at this house I live in right now in Kansas City.
LUNA: What’s the KC noise rock scene like?
BROWN: That’s such a thing here, for some reason, but it’s definitely adjacent to the hardcore scene, which is way bigger.
LUNA: Gotcha. Do you have KC hardcore bands that you’re into right now?
BROWN: I really like the band Violet Approach. They’re really cool. They’re more of a punk band, actually, but I like what they’re doing. They’re fun. I’m not a huge fan of hardcore music, honestly. It’s so … male.
LUNA: It is. I do kind of feel like I’m drowning past maybe one or two songs live.
BROWN: No, yeah.
LUNA: Walk me through naming the band. Why “Flooding”?
BROWN: I named the band Flooding because I was a psychology major. I got a psych degree, and we started the band while I was in school. And flooding is a form of exposure therapy, so say, like someone had a spider phobia, then the doctor would show up with a jar of spiders, no warning. And it actually works a lot of the time. So I thought that was really cool. Plus, it’s also just a cool word [laughs].
LUNA: [Laughs] It is a good word. You said you formed the band when you were in school. Had you been playing music or writing prior to that?
BROWN: Yeah, I had been writing and recording music under the name Window Seat, which is just me and an acoustic guitar. And then I wrote the first Flooding album thinking it was going to be for Window Seat - until realizing I wanted to do more of, like a moodier, aggressive thing, full band. I had actually never played a show live until Flooding existed.
LUNA: Woah. And now you’ve played alongside so many fellow heavy-hitters, too: Curse the Knife, Traumy Ray, Stab, TAGABOW, Shower Curtain. Most recently Cryogeyser. Who do you take current inspiration from? Do you have dream tourmates looking forward?
BROWN: I mean everyone around us who we’ve played with and who we are involved in the music scene with, are obviously super inspiring. But, I love King Woman. I’ve loved her since our first album came out. So that’s always been a dream tour. I would love to open for her. A lot of the other bands I like, it might be weird for us to open for them…I like to be inspired by a lot of different things that maybe don’t correlate.
LUNA: Yeah, I mean I read the interview where you said early Coldplay is influential, which I was so curious about.
BROWN: I don’t know. I grew up listening to Coldplay. My dad really liked Coldplay when I was a kid, so their first two or three albums, actually, I would say their first two albums, they’re so good. Have you ever listened to them?
LUNA: Not all the way through! That’s why reading that kind of threw me off, but hey, maybe I need to go front to back on Parachutes.
BROWN: Oh, yeah, I’ve always loved those first couple of albums. I took inspiration from them in terms of writing music for the feeling it gives you on this EP. I think that pop songs are so cathartic because they’re literally being written for the purpose of giving listeners that feeling. I really wanted to use that for object 1.
LUNA: Can I ask what other bands you don’t think necessarily correlate with Flooding’s sound inspire you?
BROWN: I really like Astrud Gilberto right now. She’s a bossa nova artist. And then my favorite artist is Coco & Clair Clair. I f*cking love them. They’re just so fun. And independent. I love that.
Photo by Fabian Rosales
LUNA: They’re super dope. My next few questions are about cover art, specifically the Dennis Hopper’s ex-wife piece used for “your silence is my favorite song.” Why did you choose that particular piece?
BROWN: There were a couple of artists whose art I wanted to use. That one is by Em Davenport, and I picked out two of her paintings. And then Sarah Ellington sent me a bunch of scans of her crochet lingerie that she makes. We picked out one for the EP artwork, and then it just made sense to use the Dennis Hopper ex-wife painting for “your silence is my favorite song.” Just because it looks like a guy holding this woman, he’s holding her hair, almost holding her shoulder back. To me, it just looks so like, what’s the word…
LUNA: Ominous?
BROWN: Yeah, it looks ominous. And then we used another Davenport piece for “depictions of the female body” because it’s a picture of a woman’s body. You can’t even see her face.
LUNA: You can barely see the outline of her eyes. And then with the single artwork for “your silence is my favorite song,” I love her eyes. I love that you can’t see his.
BROWN: Same. I think that visual art and music should definitely be paired together, like they’re not entirely separate.
LUNA: Definitely. And then what’s next for you this summer? Is there an object 2 coming soon, or 3-6? I can already see the Audiotree version of object 1 coming to fruition.
BROWN: [Laughs] object 2, for sure. And I’m mixing my Window Seat album.
LUNA: Oh, you’re still doing Window Seat!
BROWN: Yeah, it’s gonna be my first album for that. I’ve got drums and bass and cello and piano, so I’m super excited for that. It’s all recorded. We’re mixing it next week. And then, we don’t have any tours coming up for Flooding this summer, but we’re doing one in September with Slow Crush.
LUNA: Oh my god, awesome. I’m so excited for you, for both projects.
BROWN: Hell yeah, so nice to meet you.
