TORCHE:
Stoner pop? Beach Boys-like doom? Whatever

COBALT:
I don't really consider us black metal in any sense of what black metal is.

DODSFERD:
Motivated by desolation,
despair, hate, irony, death,
loss, betrayal, etc

PYGMYLUSH:
Between the delicacy of
gorgeous acoustics & the
ugliness of noise rock.

TRACTOR SEX FATALITY:
The most active defunct garage band in Seattle answers our questions.

MERCILESS DEATH:
Thrash metal revivalists  
speak out against false metal

JONAH JENKINS:
The man behind the voice of some of the most underrated underground American bands. 

THE PAX CECILIA:
Giving their music away for free. And it's damn good too.  

WORLD COLLAPSE:
Hardcore has always been about self-expression and
that's exactly what we do. 

U.S. CHRISTMAS:
North Carolina psychedelic hard-rockers acquire
'band to watch' status..

INTRONAUT:
The best self-indulgent odd metered prog metal band around.   

GENTLE VEINCUT:
German angular punk rock/post-hardcore for lack of a better term. 

THE INTELLECTUALS:
Italian garage rock you must know. 

NACHTMYSTIUM:
Spearheading a new wave of  extreme American music.  

BARONESS:
Men of a few words. 

MOTHER TONGUE:
On their beginnings, their first record and their first demise. 

FLATTBUSH:
Extreme world music via San  Francisco.

TOTIMOSHI:
Six drummers & four records later the band unleashes its finest.

HOLY HEART FAILURE:
Shitty emo puss-pop bands & a short tale of Wild Turkey.

THE JONBENET:
Bar recordings and a meaningless moniker.

NOVEMBER COMING FIRE:
Cheese sandwiches and 
progression in hardcore.

MORE INTERVIEWS

Everything is fair game. There are no rules. Play what you feel like and if you stick to your guns you’ll eventually end up getting at least a little recognition. Appearing on Deaf Sparrow may not be much, but we pride ourselves in recognizing underground talent, therefore this Flattbush interview and this bit of recognition.  Like your metal crazy?  Check their latest Seize the Time and tell us it isn’t crazy. Crazy good that is.  For your information and underground musical knowledge we got in touch with guitarist Bradley and vocalist Riko and this is what they had to say.  Let us introduce you to Flattbush.

: Tell us a little bit about the beginning of the band. How did you guys get together?

Bradley: Flattbush started out as a Faith No More cover band in high school. We eventually started writing our own material, and were considered one of the stranger, oddball bands around, being labeled titles such as Disco Death, and avante-garde grind core. At that time, I was not yet in the band, but I was a huge fan as well as a good friend of all the members. My band at the time (Section 8) actually played with Flattbush on a regular basis. Several months before recording our first album on Kool Arrow (Smash The Octopus) I was asked to try out for the band, as the previous guitar player (Eric Long) had decided to leave. I learned all the songs in two weeks, and helped write a few more before entering the studio with Bill Gould to record Smash the Octopus.
 
: Through the music one can hear a lot of Mr Bungle, but we can also hear a lot of other stuff. How conscious or organic was the arrival to this sound?

Bradley: Well, Mr. Bungle, and Faith No More are definitely huge influences on us. We never sat down and consciously decided that we wanted to necessarily sound like that. Our sound is just really natural for us. It's how we write music.

: Besides the obvious influences, which artists would you cite as influential to the band in one way or the other?  
 
Bradley: Well, we listen to a lot of Prince and Tom Jones on tour.  Bands like Brujeria, Primus, and Napalm Death are also big influences on us, and I'm sure you might be able to gather that from giving our albums a listen. Between the four of us there's probably a lot going on.  Everything from Frank Zappa, to Frank Sinatra is fair game in our school of rock.
 
Enriko: I listen to a lot of super robot soundtracks from Japan. Singers like Ichiro Mizuki, Masaaki Eendoh, Jam Project, etc. Movie soundtrack as well.
 
: Enriko you have quite the many voices. You can sing and growl and you do a lot of interesting changes with your voice. How do you prepare yourself for this?

Enriko: It takes a lot of practice, jogging, eating good, plenty of water and sleep. I still struggle.

: Much is said about the band’s Filipino roots. There is certain oriental side to the music, especially the vocals, where every once in a while Enriko sounds like a cartoon character. How much do you think that the member’s Filipino past plays into the band’s music?

Enriko: To be politically correct most people would say "World" music instead of "Oriental". Sometimes the voice changes are just textural, but the different languages used may be interpreted as "cartoony" just because they're not English. Using Tagalog and Kapampangan (Filipino dialects) aside from English is one of the points Flattbush wants to get across to its audience - to respect other cultures and accept their uniqueness. That's why we really like Kool Arrow records; they aim to challenge listeners and create music without borders. The members' Filipino past plays into the band's music both in form and content. Immigrating to the US and experiencing culture shock led to the band's ‘pissed-off’ sound that shocks the mainstream culture in return. Content: the languages used and the topics tackled in our lyrics are influenced not just by our Filipino ‘past’ but our present situation as Filipinos in America, and, you could say, our Filipino future too.   By the way, we also tackle international issues in our lyrics as well. Not a lot of people notice that.
 
: Kool Arrow is owned by Billy Gould. He is really interested in ‘world music’. How did the signing to his label come about?

Bradley: Arman sent him an e-mail asking if we could send him a demo.  He replied ‘send the fucker!’ The only problem is that we didn't even have a current demo that represented our material. The demo that was sent was recorded on a 4 track portastudio, and the rest is history.

Enriko: We had two weeks to write songs. Most of those songs are in Smash the Octopus.

: Billy Gould produced Seize the Time. What can you tell us about the recording process?

Bradley: Well, between conflicting schedules the album took almost a year to finish. We started tracking at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, and finished some of the tracks in San Diego, and Bill’s basement in San Francisco. Bill actually plays bass on the hidden track of Seize the  Time, as well as keyboards on a couple tracks.

 
Enriko: I was losing my voice during that time because I had a runny nose. So Bill and I bought a green tea at Starbucks if it's going to help but it didn't. Maybe unconsciously my body doesn't accept corporate tea.

: How happy are you with the record? Is it what you had in mind before recording it?

Bradley: I'm not sure if it ended up being the exact vision of what we all had in mind for the album, but then again is it ever? I know that I'm happy with how it came out, and that it definitely reflects the band at that particular time of our lives.
 
Enriko: I like it. You cannot put everything you have in mind in an album. You cannot please everyone. That's why there's a third album.   

: I just saw the video for “Question Authority”.  Man, what a song! Where did you guys film it? Tell us a bit about that.

Bradley: That video was filmed at a place known as The Sunken City in San Pedro, CA. It's actually a portion of the original Pacific Coast highway that fell into the Ocean during the 60's. There was also large military gun towers, and batteries placed there during world war II, out of fear from an attack from Japan. The original idea was to do it in a bank or a theatre, but I went to this place, and knew it was the spot as soon as I saw it. Also, if you ever watch a movie called The Big Lebowski, it's the exact spot that they released Steve Buscemi's character Donni's ashes into the sea. The video was directed by Tim Schlegal, and we basically just spent the entire day taking video footage, most of which never ended up getting used. There was actually a cliff that we had to climb down off of. Getting all of the video equipment, and the drum set was not an easy task. I think that's when our drummer Ray decided he didn't want to be in a band anymore. Our new drummer Joe is actually an extra in that video too!

 
: When you compare the material from Seize  the Time with Smash the Octopuss what do you see as the main difference? Do you see progress? A better band? Better songs? 
 
Bradley: I think it's definitely a progression, and each album represents the band at different periods of time, as well as representing society and what's going on in the world at the particular time each album was put out. I don't see Flattbush as ever staying in one area with any genres so to speak. We definitely plan on covering a lot of ground sonically. Politically we'll always be the voice of the oppressed and voiceless.
 

Enriko: You cannot compare your two kids. They are both unique and have their own personality. Smash is very dark.  Seize is very colorful.

: What can you tell us about White Trash Firecracker?

Bradley: White Trash Firecracker is just one of my side projects that I get around to when ever Flattbush has down time. It's all improv, so it doesn't require any practicing, but it's a fun outlet for me to actually get a chance to play my saxophone, as well as playing keyboards, guitar, and making a bunch of noise. We recently got to be on a DVD documentary on the Sounds Are Active record label. The movie is called 40 bands in 80 minutes... White Trash Firecracker is actually on the DVD segment called 10 bands in 20 minutes. It's self indulgent music that I consider to be a really pure form of art.

: How is and what is your relationship with Death Angel?

Bradley: Our relationship is quite good. We're all huge fans, and I understand from Arman and Riko, that they were a big driving force of the reason Flattbush even formed. It was a huge honor to get to open for them at Slims in San Francisco.

: I believe you guys are about to embark on a tour. Please tell us a bit about that. Who are you going out with? Etc.
 
Bradley: We're heading out March 2nd, and will be on the road the entire month. It's a coast to coast US tour, and we'll be on our own for the majority of the tour. We will be playing with our friends in COMMANDANTS in other cities and also with Lye By Misyake in St. Louis and Eskapo in San Francisco. Keep your eyes peeled on the dates as they get confirmed!!!

: Say bye.
 
Brad: All power to the people god damn it! I can't wait to see you all on tour!
 
Enriko: Buy the album. Spread the word. Support the cause.

Check out the Seize the Time review

WHITE TRASH FIRECRACKER My Space Page

FLATTBUSH Official Site.