Interviews: Flannel Mouth

In this new occasion we have the awesome opportunity to interview the Rock/Western/Punk/Scream band The Flannel Mouth from USA, here we will let you their FACEBOOK PAGE to give them a like and follow them.We have nothing more to say, so enjoy this interview!

Key - L: Luke (Vocals/Guitar), R: Ryan (Bass/Vocals), T: Tyler (Drums/Vocals), Z: Zach (Guitar/Vocals/Aux)

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

L: Oh, we planned it.T: Yeah, we had a theme for the EP, it was kinda like a western thing — like a western vibe to the music. Luke’s always had a great way with words and it’s fitting that it matches that definition exactly. Either that or I’m just confusing reality with how I answer this question all the time anymore. L: Ryan said ‘no’ to everything [else we came up with]. R: I disliked it at the time. L: He still doesn’t like it, and no one really likes it. T: That’s not true; it’s awesome. L: Basically we watched Bonanza and Hoss Cartwright told us the band name. T: And neither of those things are true.

2.Why did you want to play this genre?

L: What genre? T: Yeah, we don’t have a genre! You tell us — what genre are we? For real, though, we never set out to be a genre; I don’t think we really resemble any genre. I know rock music is the big umbrella, but, I mean, there’s really nothing else we resemble. R: That’s the easiest way to explain it! T: I suppose, but it’s also the hardest way and the most pompous way to explain it, because — R: Rock ’n roll. T: Well, rock ’n roll is good, but I’d say The Skulx are more like rock ’n roll. I mean those guys are doing it. That’s what rock ’n roll is. L: We’re madrigal punk. R: Magical punk? T: So ‘why did we want to play this genre?’ Because this genre — whatever the genre is — is about as honest as we can be musically, because it’s literally what we do. A lot of bands go out and they have like thirty verses and sixty choruses written, and some songs don’t work. But for this record, we have twelve songs, fourteen total tracks out of…twelve songs and fourteen total tracks. We play our genre because it’s as honest as we can get and be.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

R: Yes! L: We were actually in the Backstreet Boys before we were in Flannel Mouth. T: It’s true. Luke was Nick, I was Brian — L: Ryan was in South Carolina. T: But he looks like Howie. L: Spiritually, from South Carolina, he was Howie D. And Zach was K-Kev. T: He is indeed tall and handsome. L: He dyed his hair blonde for Flannel Mouth. Not to be confused with his past. T: That actually is how Luke and I first started bonding musically. We were doing the Backstreet Boys dance moves on his front porch when we were eight years old in his neighborhood, just blaring his boombox all the way up. But I learned some NSYNC songs behind his back because the girls in our grade were into it and he was absolutely livid when he found out. L: I almost killed him. Betrayal of the worst kind. T: Yeah, we all did miscellaneous activities in grade school, I moved away in high school, but stayed in the band. After high school we went to college, did some battles of the bands, played in local bands; we’ve all been friends much longer than we’ve known how to play instruments.

4. Each band member favourite band?

T: Ooh, good question. R: Way to put me on the spot! L: I’m in love with the band Cursive. Z: I have no favorite. T: But who are your tops? Z: But they asked for one! There’s not one. L: Just shout one, man. One bammy. Z: (unintelligible audible gasp) L: That’s my favorite band too! R: I mean, you said Cursive. I’d probably say — I’ve been listening to Kings of Leon lately, so we’ll do that. T: Ew, why? R: (shrugs) T: For me it’s always Circa Survive, Brand New, and Closure in Moscow. It’s always rotating between all them. R: Zach? L: Zach, who’s your favorite god-darned dingalinga band? Z: That’s such a dumb question! T: Pop Goes the Dear Hunter. L: I know he listens to lots of Frank Zappa. Z: It’s constantly changing. R: That’s why I said what I’m listening to right now. T: I got you a Thank You Scientist vinyl for Christmas, so that’s your favorite fucking band now. Z: I’m just saying I’ll list one and regret it right away and not list off like twenty more. L: But you can! T: It’s a difficult question, man. Z: That’s a dumb question.

5. You are going to release a new full length album, what can you say about it?

T: Right now? Absolutely nothing. R: It’s not out yet. T: I already said there’s fourteen tracks and twelve songs, so two interludes. It’s a three-part act; it’s a concept album in three parts. What else? L: It’s bloody and beautiful. R: It’s very storytelling-esque. L: Storytelling-esque? T: No, it’s literally storytelling. L: Yeah, it’s almost like we’re telling a story. T: It’s a lot like that. It’s like 100% that. It’s on SwitchBitch Records, it comes out March 11, Mike Abiuso produced and engineered and mixed it, Zach got a sweet production credit on it. Pretty gnarly. L: It’s pretty gnarly. I think you’ll all love it. T: If you like Gnarls Barkley, boy will you be absolutely whelmed. L: You’ll be okay with it! T: You’ll acknowledge that it’s music, sure!

6. Who or what inspires you to write the songs for it?

L: I’d say what inspires me is Netflix and reading books. T: I don’t have a say in this one, because I just hit shit until you guys smile. I hit stuff and you guys shake your heads and look disappointed or go smoke a cigarette, but when I start hitting stuff and you guys kinda smile and play along, then I know my job is done. L: I don’t know, I’d say — R: You said something about being movie-based. L: Yeah, it’s movie based. I like to put elements of any TV series I watch. Netflix, man!

7. What is the meaning of the EP/CD name?

We missed this one, I’m sorry! Not sure how it got skipped, but we didn’t catch it.

8. Is there a meaning behind the entire album?

R: That’s all [Luke], dog. L: Dammit, I don’t know. T: Is there a theme? L: There’s a theme to the album, and it is love, and the difference between first love and true love and love that doesn’t really matter. R: …wow. L: Yeah, it’s deep, man. T: What I always focused on — well, the drum parts — was, like, the murder. L: There’s lots of murder. R: But it’s actually about love. L: Murder is a metaphor for love in this album, and everybody kills everybody! Because love is great, and everybody loves each other, so happy birthday, Jesus, it’s Christmas Eve! T: Thank you, happy birthday. L: Really, though, it’s a story about love and regret, and blaming yourself for your mistakes. T: Come check it out! R: Come check it out on March 11 — Prisoner’s Cinema!

9. If you have to pick one song, which one would you pick?

R: Ooh, good one, very sneaky. T: It’s like they’re trying to pit the band against each other. L: You know, I’m really into “Dead Man Walking.” I like the guest vocalist, John Clark, and Lexxii Leigh — they fucking killed it. Z: I was gonna say something. R: What do you want to say, Zach? Z: I was gonna say “Dead Man Walking.” L: Then agree with me, bro! Z: I get lost in that song! T: I like “Pleading Insane,” because I like the swing beats. L: I like playing “Pleading Insane” a lot. T: And I like the crazy amount of drums in it. It’s very fulfilling, especially when I play them correctly. L: Ful-fill-ing. T: Ha! R: Drums! L: Fills! T: I think I like the vocals to “La Deuxième [Partie]” a lot, too. Those are really well crafted. Good job, Luke. L: Thanks, Tyler. R: “Dead Man [Walking]” is one of my favorites, but I’d say “[The] Honorable Mr. Black” is obviously one of my favorites. T: Why is that obvious? Can you explain? R: I really like Zach’s [trumpet] part. “[The] Showdown [in the Courtroom]” is always good for me. Z: Yeah, it depends — they’re all different. L: You’ve got to listen to all of them or it won’t make sense. You’ll just think that we’re murderers. R: Every time I listen to it I pick a new favorite.

10. Are there some lyrics that you´d love to share?

R: Why are you trying to sneak stuff out of us?! L: You’re being real sneaky. T: You should take some lyrics totally out of context and say those. L: “Oh, wounded lamb, oh, wounded lamb, I — wait —“ T: “See you struggling.” L: “I see you struggling to —“ R: “To breathe.” L: “To breathe. Blood on your hands, blood on your hands, uh, you’re soul is mine.” T: From our teaser, called “Prisoner,” up on YouTube right now!

11. Which inspirations haven been important for this album ? Like musically or friends, family, someone you'd love to thanks specially?

T: No, absolutely not. Why do we have to thank everybody else for something we accomplished? We’re the ones that did this. We’re the ones that made it work. L: I would like to thank all of our families, all of our Ryans, all of our Tylers, and both of our Zachs that are living today. T: I’d like to thank Kirsten [Krupps], because she and her family got us the hookup on a practice space, our photos are really, really well done, and I used her computer to do a lot of the album art and all that stuff. So that’s awesome — that’s worth mentioning. L: All the people that appeared on the album, and Mike [Abiuso], of course. T: There’s John, Lexxii, Benny — but wait, we haven’t announced the track list or guest vocals yet. R: We can’t do that. T: We mentioned it during “Dead Man [Walking].” If someone reads the interview and news breaks that there’s guest vocals, awesome. At least someone gives a shit! That’s cool! R: They’re just trying to sneak shit out of us. T: Luke, you mentioned your inspirations earlier, didn’t you? Like movies and — L: And Kurt Vonnegut, who comes from the grave and stabs me in the face until I write a song. T: So clearly it’s Luke’s schizophrenia that really gets some things done. R: He’s got a “Netflix and chill” situation with him. T: He’s got a Max Bemis schizophrenia situation going on here. Like, he needs a mental asylum…Love you, Max.

12. What bands have inspired you the most?

L: Oh, you know, The Venetia Fair, Cursive — T: Cursive and The Dear Hunter would be the ones that stick out most for this album because of the way it’s set up. L: But, I mean, everything, you know? T: What doesn’t inspire us? L: Mostly when I write songs I get inspired by — R: Everybody that we’ve ever had contact with ever. That’s what inspires us. T:That’s actually a very small fraction of the amount of people there are, so — L: We’re talking about over seven billion people, here. We’ve seen probably, like, you know — T: At least sixteen people. L: At least, you know.

13. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for? 

L: The D. R: Can I have that? T: What was it from? Why did we have that? R: It was from Father’s Day. T: Yeah, it was just the letter D, a block letter. And we had it at the show on the [Peoria] riverfront. L: We were asking people if they wanted the D. R: No, it wasn’t. It was the Speakeasy [in Pekin, Illinois]. T: That’s right! Because we saw her later when she brought the D to the [riverfront] show. L: We all presented her with the D. All four of us. T: It was actually a very close friend of ours’s sister, so we probably shouldn’t have.

14. What do you think of your fans?

L: We fuckin’ love them. R: We do love our fans. L: If we could, we’d make love to each one of them. Z: In the earholes. L: We do in the earholes already. T: The one question I have for all our fans is “why?” L: I love when our fans make us breakfast at their houses. R: Yeah. L: They’re all wonderful people. T: They’re super passionate, super genuine, super nice — we’ve definitely already experienced too much good. L: We’re just so grateful for every single one of you. R: Anyone who ever likes us, they love us. There’s actual love between us and our fans. L: Yep. Actual human love. Between humans.

15. What do you think of our site?

L: We love it! R: Didn’t you cover the tour news or something? T: And South by Southwest last year! R: Yeah? L: Yeah! It looks really good, too. T: Concise, pretty, full of good music. It’s awesome. R: They dropped our teaser too. That’s good shit. T: But not the only good shit! L: Check the site! Breathing the Core! R: Woo!

16. Something to add?

T: Definitely! Pick up the album. It’s vital for your health. R: March 11! T: We’ve only got so many, so you could die really quickly. L: There’s seven billion of you out there, so fight to the death! T: Bring a melee weapon and fight in our front yard to the death. R: We may lose count on who dies, though. T: But no, for real, pick it up, it’s vital to your health. We’re going on tour to South by Southwest, so make sure, if you’re in the area, that you catch us live, because we’re way less awkward and strange when we’re playing our music than when we’re answering interview questions. That’s a fact. L: Make us breakfast if we stay at your house. And let us stay at your house. R: And don’t steal our trailer! T: Thank you!