by alex grainger
photo courtesy of flycatcher
From the exhilarating opening guitar riff of “Games” to the hanging abrupt inhale of “Quitter,” Flycatcher’s EP Stunt takes us through a pandemic led internal journey of the bands frontman Gregory Pease. Hiding was no longer an option and Pease used the engulfing isolation to slow down, get out of his own way, and truly understand the aim of his songwriting process.
Stunt’s exploration of tones and sounds elicits a compelling combination of their individual music tastes inspired by the early 2000s indie pop punk scene. The EP is a thrilling representation of their control and range as a band, through their truest sound showcased as the “push and pull between quiet and loud,” notably the loud being the newly explored heavy sound of “Rust.”
Stunt at its core is a project focused on the “joy of the unknown, and the fun that comes with it.” From Flycatcher’s memorable studio sessions to all of us listeners experiencing the EP for the first, second, or hundredth time, Stunt has brought us into this unknown story and left us all in its electric wake. Read more about Stunt and Flycatcher below!
Stunt shares your story, Gregory, of a difficult time in your life when you decided to lean into solitude and listen to your inner instincts. Can you tell us a little more about your story? What prompted you to look inward and start the entire process of learning to trust yourself? Is it at all nerve-racking to share such a deep personal story with the world? What has given you the confidence to share this journey? Are you still on this journey? Have you learned anything new about yourself since the finishing of the EP? Do you think it’s release, and playing the songs live will teach you anything new?
Flycatcher: “Unfortunately, the answer to this one is pretty typical at this point, but the isolation due to the pandemic sort of catalyzed this entire process and created the conditions that would allow me to take a step back and think about what I wantedfrom the songwriting process.
It’s honestly much less nerve-racking now just because I’m fully invested and in touch with the lyrics that I’m writing. I think it was just a matter of getting out of my own way and allowing the songs to be what they needed to be.
I think I’ll be on this journey as long as I’m making music. As far as learning things about myself, I’m not entirely sure. I think I was able to process a lot of things that were holding me back through the writing of these songs but that’s something I’ve always done with our releases. I’ll be interested to see how these songs feel to play one year from now.”
How did you all decide on the EP title Stunt? What is the story behind the name?
Flycatcher: “The title is from a line in the chorus our song ‘Sodas in the Freezer’ where I say, ‘I’ll be your greatest stunt when I’m done.’ We had some back-and-forth discussion about the title but none of the ideas really stuck out to any of us. I wanted to avoid naming the EP after one of the song titles we already had because we felt that no single song should be the focal point of this project, it’s five songs of equal importance to us. With that being said, I’ve always been a big fan of pulling an obscure word from a song that holds more meaning than you realize.”
As a band you explored various tones and sounds throughout Stunt. Can you take us through the creative process? How do you feel the overall sound of Stunt supports its narrative?
Flycatcher: “The creative process for the writing of these songs wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for the band. I typically write the skeleton and structure of a song and then I bring it to the rest of the band. That’s exactly what we did for every song on this EP. Once the song was in the hands of everybody else, we just continued tweaking and rewriting parts until we got into the studio to record. Then the studio was the last place where we made final adjustments to parts and arrangements. I think we all like having a very strong idea going into the studio, but still leaving some parts open ended allows us to create some pretty unique and special sounds.”
Further, how do you feel the exploration of tones and sounds throughout Stunt represents your sound as a band?
Flycatcher: “I think the tones and sounds that we chose on this project are much more reflective of our own tastes in the music that we listen to on a daily basis. I knew we didn’t just want to do blaring electric guitars the entire time, so it was nice to layer acoustic guitars/piano and just overall clean instrumentation in a bunch of the songs. Obviously, we still lean heavily on loud distorted guitars, but I think the push and pull between quiet and loud is much more representative of our sound.”
The EP opens with “Games.” Why is it important to lead the EP off with this track’s message and sound?
Flycatcher: “‘Games’ was the first song we wrote and recorded for this project. It just felt weird to start it off with anything different. The entire EP is essentially in the order which we recorded the songs, so it just felt the most natural to all of us.”
The last track of the EP “Quitter” finishes with an “abrupt inhale.” Why was this the last note of the EP? How does the inhale complete the story you sonically tell through Stunt?
Flycatcher: “The inhale was a sort of “in the moment” thing. Connor Hanson, our producer, mentioned he heard it at the end of the song, so I just recorded it really quickly while we were doing vocals. I’m not sure if it necessarily completes the story though. If anything it was a way to leave the EP open ended since it certainly won’t be the last thing we do as a band.”
Stunt shares the darker emotions of finding yourself. As a result, was there any track that was the most challenging to create? Is there a song you are most proud of? Specifically, can you walk us through the creation of “Rust,” as this track reveals the physicality of you four as a band
Flycatcher: “‘Rust’ was definitely the most challenging to create. That track just requires a lot of focus and physicality to actually play it. On top of that, we’ve never veered into territory that heavy before, so it was a whole new challenge just learning how to arrange a song like that.
‘Rust’ started with a completely different riff that didn’t even make it into the final song. We had the old version until we went into the studio, and it became clear that the version we had was a little too crowded for what we wanted. Our producer Connor helped us strip it down and we ended up with a song I think we’re all immensely proud of.”
Stunt largely follows the story of Gregory’s personal growth, but how have you grown as a band through the making of such a vulnerable EP?
Flycatcher: “I think we’ve all learned to trust our instincts and to continue working as a group. These last few releases have all solidified our confidence in the direction we’re taking, and I think we’re all feeling inspired by the reception our new music has been getting.”
Stunt “celebrates the joy of the unknown and the fun that comes with it.” What were some of the most memorable moments from the making of the EP?
Flycatcher: “The days we spent in the studio with Connor Hanson were always memorable. I think we spent a total of six days of studio time through the entire process. Each of those days were extremely exciting, it was so cool to witness these songs that only existed as iPhone demos of us playing in basements take shape into a record that’s going to be pressed to vinyl.
I specifically remember when I was tracking vocals for ‘Rust,’ I actually hadn’t fully sung the chorus since writing it and I was extremely nervous to go for it. Eventually I just went for it and I think I got it in only two takes. But it’s moments like that that are always super exciting just because you never truly know how the songs are going to turn out until you’re tracking them.”
Where do you see yourselves on the one-year anniversary of Stunt?
Flycatcher: “I think in one year we’d love to be on the road full time just touring in as many cities as we can. Along with that, we hope to have another project ready to be released by this time next year.”