Four piece band FLUSH from Finland has been known as the third best hard punk rock band in this galaxy we call our world and it's outsides! Since their formation they have released several demo's and EP's and have an album out soon enough. The band goes on to say much about themselves and what the future hold.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Flush was founded many decades ago by innocent teenagers learning their instruments, finding their voices, and dreaming of big stages and bright lights. The core of the band has remained intact throughout various incarnations of the band, but the current line-up, established in early 2018, is when the band really found its essence and sound. Lasse (vocals, guitar and song-writing) met Börje (drums) at the delicate age of five, while shooting imaginary bad guys with toy guns in the Helsinki suburbs. In the early teens, the interest in toy guns switched to an interest in beer, girls and rock’n roll, and this can only lead to one thing: a band is formed. This is when Janne (guitar) joined and Flush was born. During the early years, bass players arrived and departed, and for some time Flush also remained as a trio. In 2018 Eero (bass guitar) joined the band and the current line-up was established. This was a new beginning for the band, leading to the recording of an EP, an increased frequency of live shows (including a Slovakia stint), and the recording of a full-length album in 2020.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
A simple word with multiple meanings of which one relates to toilets – can there be a better name? No, there cannot. Well, except for the classics Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, but they were already taken. This was the third best name available and we took it. Being third best is great.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
It is a well-established fact that Helsinki (Finland) is the rock capital of Northern Europe. Flush was founded in Helsinki and still resides in the city. The music scene is vibrant and continuously evolving. In the early 00's local rock and metal bands like HIM, 69 Eyes and The Rasmus made it to the big world stages. Today the scene is more diverse and there are still loads of great punk, metal and rock bands around. The biggest concern we have, even prior to Covid-19, is the survival and livelihood of live venues. We need all of you music lovers to support your local venues - go see shows and help these places thrive! Without live venues there will be no rock bands. From the local scene we want to give a special shout-out to our local buddies in the band Ninetyfive50. These guys perfectly master the cross-over between groove metal and death metal. Check them out! (https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCQwkdz-kEWMtBoFrYO4lmag)
4. How would you describe your style?
Describing our music is complicated, especially for us. People, who appreciate fast and melodic punk rock in the style of Bad Religion and Hüsker Dü, will like us. People, who are into power pop á la The Posies, will find our songs appealing. We have elements of hard rock guitar riffs that could be found in music by The Hellacopters, Helmet or Rage Against the Machine. We love Biffy Clyro, Against Me!, The Menzingers, Slipknot and all those 90s indie-guitar bands like Sonic Youth, Pavement and many others. In a record store, we would like to be found either under ‘punk rock’ or ‘alternative rock’. We love to hear from listeners how they describe us as they often come with very surprising descriptions.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
We’ve released a bunch of demos and EPs throughout the years, most prominently the 2018 EP ‘New Beginnings’, and now we have an album coming out. People should expect to hear a mix of short, fast and melodic punk songs, intertwined with riff-based hard rock. We like vocal harmonies, meaningful guitar solos, and an occasional play with dynamics and rhythms. Lyrically we deal with things on the darker side of life: anxiety, depression and abuse are common topics. While most songs deal with very personal topics, there are also songs like ‘Surreal Experiment’ and ‘New World Order’ that comment on the miserable state of the world today. Writing songs is a great form of therapy, so getting this out helps both ourselves and hopefully some of our listeners too.
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
Our 2018 EP ‘New Beginnings’ is soon followed by a full-length album called ‘It Began as a Mistake’. It will come out October 23rd 2020 and is produced by legendary Finnish metal producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Amorphis, etc). The 13 songs on the album represent our sound and our voice, and we’re hopeful people will find a few different favorites on the album.
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
Long range planning is hard when nobody knows what will happen with small and medium size venues in the next 6-12 months. We’ll celebrate our record release day (October 23rd) with a show in Helsinki at Boothill Bar, followed by a couple more gigs in the Helsinki area in November. We have tentative plans for a Central Europe minitour in Spring 2021, but we won’t be able to confirm this until we know how the pandemic situation evolves. 2021 summer festivals are definitely our target and we hope to be able to visit some of the other Northern European countries then.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
Getting the album out is a massive achievement for us and we deserve big pats on our backs for that. Our next goal is the live stage (as many as possible of them), but in these uncertain times we’re also keeping the door open for more recordings. Maybe another EP in 2021… We have enough material so that is not an issue at all. Now that we know our essence and how to structure songs around it, we can also explore and stretch some boundaries a little more.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Our new album is out October 23rd and will be available on all digital platforms. At the time of writing we have two singles out and the third one, ‘Two-Minute Punk Song’ (this is a killer song btw!), comes out October 6th. The easiest path to our online presence is either through our website https://flush.rocks/ or our Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/flushmusic. Once we have details on the physical distribution of the album (CDs) we’ll post it there as well. We’ve got some cool merch in the works too.
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Hope. As long as we breathe there is hope. No matter how down or anxious you are, how deeply you worry about a person close to you, or how messed up our societies are, there is always something that can be done for small, incremental improvements. Scott Hutchison, the great songwriter from Frightened Rabbit, put it so eloquently: “While I’m alive I’ll make tiny changes to earth”. We’re all going through hard times in our own ways, but we can all help each other, bring tiny glimpses of hope to each other, and find comfort in things like loud rock music.
Post a Comment