FLOWN at Frieze

FLOWN @ Naama Tsabar's "Without" / Frieze Projects / curated by Mindy Abovitz / Tom Tom Magazine

Randall's Island

May 2014

Mother's Day

This coming Sunday is Mother's Day. It is a day that marks exactly one year since my mother suffered the hemorrhagic stroke that was the beginning of the end of her life, although we didn't know that then.

This time last May my band FLOWN was working hard on the release of our self-titled 7", a beautiful document of a project that has been wrought out of our collective experience with loss, pain, love, and the need for catharsis and transformation through songcraft, ritual and HEAVY FUCKING METAL. 

We chose Hecate, the triple goddess of the crossroads and the liminal spaces between life and death, as the face we turned to the world on the cover of our record. 

Hecate stood watch this year as I sat by my mother's side in the hospital, communed with her spirit in the kitchen, wept and sang for her with my feet in the mud of a North Carolina summer. Hecate stood watch as my bandmates sang for my mother at her funeral, and Hecate stood watch as my partner's mother left this world just a month after my mother died.

Hecate also stands watch as my guitar player, muse and dear friend Margot carries and prepares to birth her first child, who is due to arrive in this world sometime next week. Hecate stands watch as my drummer, birthday twin, muse and best friend Kate carries and prepares to birth her first child, who is due to meet this world this fall. 

This Mother's Day, FLOWN will be performing as a part of Naama Tsabar's piece Without at the Frieze Art Fair on Randall's Island, an architectural intervention turned music festival curated by Mindy Abovitz and Tom Tom Magazine. Tsabar has removed the floor from a booth inside the fair and used it to create an outdoor stage that will feature a mini-music festival comprised of underground bands with female percussionists, thus activating the space outside the confines of the fair tent and leaving an empty space inside. 

FLOWN offers our performance on this stage as a testament to the presence of the goddess at these intersecting crossroads of birth and death, presence and absence, joy and sorrow, grief and love. AKA my mom died a year ago and Margot might go into labor on stage. 

I am so grateful that I get to spend this day playing music outdoors with my favorite people. I mourn for my mother and I celebrate my bandmates' transition into motherhood in one great swell of the heart. Its gonna be loud. 

You are cordially invited to come and bear witness. 

Admission to the music festival is free and open to the public. The art fair requires admission fees. FLOWN takes the stage on Sunday May 11th at 1pm. 

Click here for directions.

Click here for a complete line-up and list of set times.

Click here for information about Frieze Art Fair and admission fees.

Click here to read some recent press about FLOWN.

Click here to listen to our record.

Brooklyn, NY
September 2013

Bloom / FLOWN / Portrait of my Gemini twin in the forest of sound

Kate Ryan / Percussion 

Dixon Place, NYC

September 2013

Bloom. She is descending.

created by Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith, 
music by Caroline Yes 
with help from FLOWN and La Guadalupe

From moving human into rooted plant, one woman's journey to manifest physically. The night before I was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, I dreamed of a goddess made entirely of flowers and plants who told me I had to learn to physically manifest differently. As I slow down, my body in flux, I am allying myself more and more with plants and learning how to become the woman and flower I have always wanted to be. People ask me how it feels. This is my answer.

PuppetBlok! at Dixon Place
September 5th, 2013

Chain & the Gang, FLOWN, Mindtroll @ Bowery Electric

NYC
July 30, 2013

The Joy of Violent Movement Q&A with Margot Bianca of FLOWN

May 2013

At the end of last year, FLOWN went to the studio to write and record the material that became the band’s debut, Eye of God/Yearlong Eclipse 7" and it’s probably one of the hardest, heaviest album I’ve heard this year — both songs have moments of plaintive beauty but much like a force of a nature, at it’s heart it has an underlying primal immediacy and power.  

 

In this Q&A, I had a chance to chat with FLOWN’s Margot Bianca about the new 7” which you can pick up now in limited edition vinyl with special artwork (you can read more about that and see some of the actual artwork below); the band’s songwriting process; her advice on artists trying to make a name for themselves; and of course, more. 

How did you get into music? And when did you know that it was the only thing you wanted to do? 

I’m fairly certain that we were all sung and played to in the womb, so love of music was pretty ingrained in our psyches. It’s not the only thing we do by any means, but an important one.

How did each of the members of FLOWN meet? 

Caroline and I met in college and toured together across the country with my old band, The Assault. She was our tour manager. Caroline and Kate met working together at a coffee shop and realized they were Gemini twins (born on the same day!) and started playing together. Frankie Rose recruited all of us to be her backing band in 2009, and the three of us have all been playing together since then.

How would you describe your sound? 

Stoner witch psych metal.

Who are your influences?

Sabbath, Earth, Sleater-Kinney, Iron Maiden, Sleep, [the] Melvins, Girlschool, Motorhead, Coven… 70s protometal and 90s sludge especially. 

Each of the members of FLOWN had been in projects whose sounds were completely different than that of FLOWN. How did you come upon the band’s current sound? Do you get a thrill out of thwarting expectations of how you’re supposed to sound?

We all really, really wanted to make heavy music again - as we had with some of our older projects. There was a real need to have an outlet for our aggression, to deliver our emotions into the music. I’m not too worried about people’s expectations because in a lot of ways this is a very personal project for all of us.

The band’s sound has a forceful, primal feel to it. What inspires that?

Beside raw emotion, we’re inspired by mythology, tarot, astronomy and the unconscious. Lyrically most of our songs touch upon those themes. Black metal is very inspiring in its pursuit of transcendence through forcefulness. In our rehearsals and live shows we sometimes start with a drone ritual to set the mood, to create an alternate space where the unconscious can come out and play, so to speak.

You just released the Eyes of God/Yearlong Eclipse single and it’s one of the hardest, darkest and loudest albums I’ve heard this year. And structurally, the songs are quite complex — for a trio there’s a lot going on, as you’ll hear songs twist and turn unexpectedly with time signature changes and the like. So how does the songwriting in the group work? When do you know when you have a fully fleshed out song?

We have a very collaborative approach to writing, which I like a lot, but isn’t easy. Usually there is a riff that one person comes up with, that then gets built upon in our studio through jamming, recording bit and pieces, and a lot of communication. It can take anywhere from a few days to a few months. We are definitely on our own schedule that way.

The first pressing of the single comes with handmade packaging and it includes a silkscreen jacket. Who came up with the artwork? 

We wanted Hecate on our album cover after a New Year’s day tarot reading we did using the Motherpeace Tarot deck, which depicts its symbols as they relate to different mythological goddesses (so amazing!). Hecate is the triple goddess — three heads carrying three items, usually a torch, a key, and a knife, or sometimes a hammer. We asked our friend Santiago Armengod, an artist based in Austin and Mexico City, to collaborate on this idea and he created this beautiful lino cut print for us. 

For whatever reason, there’s this sense of amazement whenever people come across women who kick ass and can fucking play, as though it’s some new, original concept. Have you ever received that “oh wow, you guys kick ass for women” treatment? Have you dealt with anyone who hasn’t known what to make of you or your sound?

We’ve come across this, but it’s absurd since there are so many women musicians we admire and respect who have been around for so long. I hope anyone who feels that way spends some more time delving into recent rock history. Our sound is maybe not so easy to categorize, but as of yet we haven’t run into much resistance.

What advice would you give to artists trying to make a name for themselves? 

Stay positive and be true to your vision. Making the art is more important than making a name.

Kate Ryan (FLOWN) Interview on Tom Tom TV

June 2013

FLOWN on The Chris Gethard Show #92

The Chris Gethard Show has been referred to as “an often riveting experiment in seat-of-your-pants broadcasting” by The New York Times, “a party on the public access airwaves” by New York Magazine, and once caused Conan O’Brien to say “we’re going to rip that off.”

Broadcast every Wednesday night at 11pm eastern from the Manhattan Neighborhood Network studios on the far west side of Manhattan and available both live and archived on the internet, TCGS is different each week – sometimes insane, sometimes heartfelt, sometimes sad, and hopefully always in some way funny. With no formula, no budget, and no mainstream attention, the show survives on the heart, inventiveness, and stubborn dedication of the thirty or so people that comprise the cast, crew, and support team of the show on any given week.

Black Dwarf @ 20:00 
Eyes of God 48:00

"I want to see Prince Joffery get MURDERED to that song. Somebody put this band on Game of Thrones!" - Molly Shannon

May 2013

Tour!

DCRock Live Review

This female power trio is from Brooklyn and they brought with them a severe case of the heavies. They lay out some of the thickest, heaviest metal stoner riffs this side of Black Sabbath. But they go well beyond the confines of sludge metal, with fascinating forays into psychedelic worlds. They do this with the instrumentation, but even more importantly in the vocals where all three members join in. They have twisted psyche-gothic moves that remind me some of United Bible Studies. Of course, they sing with gnarled intensity when the music heats up and the riffs start flying. They continue to vary the volume and vocal style keeping a fair amount of tension in the set. It works because they manage to keep you glued to their sound when the go from the lower depths to soaring heights, yet completely skipping the dullish middle ground. I enjoyed how they appropriated a wonderful Hawkwind riff and quickly moved it into a creative powerhouse of their own making, available on their recent single. This is powerful and fully involving with their great grasp of style. As the songwriting will likely produce more gems, this band could be a great presence on the modern extended psyche scene. Feral Grrrl Psychedelia? 

Merch 

May 2013

Self Titled 7"

 

Pitchfork Review

When Brooklyn indie pop fixture Frankie Rose first went solo in 2009, she was backed by a relatively anonymous trio called the Outs-- bassist Caroline Yes, guitarist Margot Bianca, and drummer Kate Ryan. On Frankie Rose and the Outs, the quartet toyed with harmonious, dreamlike haze and snappy sugar-coated melodies of the Spectorian persuasion. Rose has since moved on, crafting wider-screen synth pop on 2012's Interstellar-- dropping "the Outs" and recruiting a different band to flesh out the new aesthetic.

The former Outs, meanwhile, have made a complete 180, regrouping as a black-hearted power trio called FLOWN. Making self-described "witch metal", they cite an array of doom, sludge, and riot grrrl influences from Sabbath to Sleep to Sleater-Kinney, while working an occultish bent via explorations in "tarot, astronomy, and the unconscious." Their melding of thick stoner metal riffs and soaring melodies seems to share a kindred spirit with Montreal's Yamantaka // Sonic Titan. But where those Canadian art schoolers distinguish themselves with pronounced Eastern inflections, FLOWN has got dark, guttural, deathlike screams.

Impose Review

For now, perhaps the only Brooklyn band laying claim to the witch-metal title is three piece outfit FLOWN. The sonic coven of Margot Bianca, Kate Ryan, and Caroline Yes might be recognizable in a past life as the Outs to erstwhile garagester Frankie Rose.

Their debut 7" is a cymbal-crashing nod to both stoner doom and riot grrrl--an unlikely combination that satisfactorily mixes death growls and soaring arena guitars with earnest vocals. Each record is a handmade package, and includes a silkscreened jacket, vellum obi (which sounds like a magical potion ingredient), and risographed insert (has magical properties for print fetishists). Hecate, triple goddess of the crossroads and guardian of the liminal spaces between life and death (aka Brooklyn?), graces the cover in an etching by Mexico City-based artist Santiago Armengod.

First pressing is limited to 500 copies and is available here. 

Tiny Mix Tapes Review

Brooklyn power trio Flown are creeping out of the woodwork with a heavy, caustic resin of bluesy rock, sludge, metal and post-punk, presenting a music that seems to be equal parts Ut and Black Sabbath. Consisting of guitarist Margot Bianca, bassist Caroline Yes, and drummer Kate Ryan (all sharing vocals), Flown have followed up a physically out-of-print cassette (20 copies – yipes) with a strong seven-inch containing two pieces, “Eyes of God” and “Yearlong Eclipse.” All of this music is also available online, so if you miss out on objects, fret not. The single is beautifully packaged in a tricolor silkscreened folder jacket with a vellum obi strip and an attractive insert.

One can hear the flinty merger of riot grrrl punk and hard psych in the flat-out motor that begins “Eyes of God,” which quickly shifts into pounding sludge with folksy harmonies, banshee wails and bilious distorted vocals in a strange intertwine. Headbanging is pretty much the only appropriate response as the three chant and pound away before returning to a close of Slant 6-like angularity. “Yearlong Eclipse” lilts and shouts along with sinewy, contorted blues-rock moves, enchanting voices theatrically undercut by stomach-churning grit and a murderous abrasion. While certainly a band to experience in the flesh if possible, Flown’s eponymous 45 brilliantly captures their menace, beauty and coiled energy.

DOUBLE TROUBLE 7" RELEASE PARTY with FLOWN & THE NUMERATORS

 

Secret Project Robot

Brooklyn, NY

Stoner rock witchmetal trio FLOWN are teaming up with psychedelic surf rock outfit THE NUMERATORS to celebrate the simultaneous release of FLOWN'S DEBUT 7" and THE NUMERATORS NEW 7" "DEAD" (Suicide Squeeze).

Joined by the experimental rituals of Long Vera and the jangly electric country rock of Juniper Rising, this will be a night to raise hell and welcome in some long awaited summer magic!

FLOWN 7" Release Party

 

Secret Project Robot

Brooklyn, NY

May 2013