Q&A: Noah Floersch’s Alter-Ego Album ‘Francis Aquarius’ Highlights Vulnerability and Flaws
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY NINA KUDLACZ ☆
NOAH FLOERSCH ISN’T THE ANTI-HERO - His alter ego ‘Francis Aquarius’ is. Everybody has their flaws, indie pop singer songwriter Noah Floersch is no exception. He released his third album, Francis Aquarius on Oct. 3. The indie pop singer songwriter has been making music going on 13 years, but has been putting out music since 2018.
A polarizing change from his last album, Francis Aquarius dives into Floersch’s painfully honest and messy alter ego. Francis represents the bad habits within oneself. Finding his way through heartbreak and drinking too much, he explores his flaws with incredible vulnerability.
The album’s title came from Floersch’s middle name, Francis, and his star sign, Aquarius. As he built the character, it became easy for him to deal with his insecurities and separate himself from Francis.
Read below to hear about the trials and tribulations that inspired the singer’s alter-ego album.
LUNA: Can you talk a little bit about your inspirations behind this album? Both lyrically and sonically.
FLOERSCH: Lyrically, I'm pulling from real life experience. Obviously, a lot of it is augmented or magnified… I think any creator and anybody who's making a work of art will always kind of make the events a bit grander. Sonically this album is painted with pretty broad strokes; there's a lot of different sounds going on here. A song like "Wild Thing," which is super groovy and funky, doesn't seem like it would fit on the same album as maybe a song like "Somebody Nobody Gets Over." But it works in my head. The through line is in my tone and my delivery and my lyrics. So I think, despite the sonic differences that are being pulled from every which way, I think it still makes sense.
LUNA: I know the album is based around a character, where did you come up with that character?
FLOERSCH: Francis Aquarius is some sort of shadow self, some sort of version of me. Putting a magnifying glass to bits of me that are insecure and shameful and just not great. It's not like this is like the worst guy or anything like that. This guy just kind of sucks and is kind of a loser and is grappling with that. I think that's an interesting story to tell, and I think it was kind of true in my life for a while. It was interesting to reflect on that and build that character.
LUNA: What are your overall inspirations for your sound? Any artists or genres that really speak to you? How has that changed over time?
FLOERSCH: I think historically I've always been a big folk fan. When I got to high school, I kind of branched out in a lot of different ways. Now I gather music from all over the place. I think any artist who really loves listening to music would tell you that they get inspiration from anywhere. I get inspiration from great music. I get inspiration from terrible music that speaks to me in its earnestness.
LUNA: About how many years have you been making music? How have you changed since then? Both as an artist and as a person.
FLOERSCH: Well, I've grown up a lot… I mean, I've gotten better. That's a big part of it. I've gotten to be a much better artist. I've gotten much better at communicating my thoughts and feelings through music as a medium. I think as a songwriter, lyrically, I've just become stronger.
When I first started out, I thought really good songwriting was using big words and telling elaborate stories, and it is in a way, and it still can be. But I've just gotten a bit more tasteful with that approach as I've grown.
LUNA: How did growing up in Omaha and going to school in Lincoln, both towns that aren't necessarily known for producing big artists, change your perspective on music or grow you as an artist?
FLOERSCH: Being from Nebraska is a unique challenge when it comes to music. You're starting out basically with not a lot of footing. There is a little bit of music infrastructure, and there are arts programs and things like that. There's a reason I moved to Nashville, and that was to be geographically closer to the music. It helps a lot to be closer to where the action is.
LUNA: It's been two years since your last album and four years since your first, how would you say your sound has changed, if at all?
FLOERSCH: I think I've gotten better. I think I've left the folk space, not entirely. I still have a lot of folk in me. I feel like what I'm writing now is kind of leaning back in that direction. For Francis Aquarius, this is certainly the most pop album I've done. It's been really, really fun to explore the pop space. It's a space I love writing in, it's a space I love performing in. So I've really been enjoying it.
LUNA: How did you go about choosing your singles?
FLOERSCH: That was kind of a joint effort. I signed for the first time ever this year with Concord Records, and it's been a dope experience. I had a lot of people helping me choose what felt marketable. With singles, you just want to get as many ears as you can on the album.
LUNA: What's been giving you joy lately?
FLOERSCH: I've been playing a lot of soccer. It's really good for me. It's really good to get outside. I love my team. I love being outside.
LUNA: What is your favorite thing about making music?
FLOERSCH: I really love the writing process. That's always been home base for me. That's always where I feel like I can really spread my wings and flex my skills.
LUNA: Your last album was named after you and this album is somewhat of an alter ego, what are the parallels between the two and how would you say that symbolizes you as a person or as an artist?
FLOERSCH: My last album was Noah, and that was a very proud and beautiful album.
There were a lot of songs that I felt showed really good sides of me, whereas Francis Aquarius is a bit more flamboyant. It's a bit more out there sonically. I think that does a good job of this superficial facade that this album is actually kind of showcasing this guy who's really insecure. He's almost trying to distract you with the music.
