Interview: Time Capsules & Touring Fun with Flipturn

Flipturn, the Floridian-based group, have been delivering a fresh take on indie-rock since 2017. Following the release of their debut album Shadow Glow, Flipturn are set to perform at House of Blues, Boston on March 29th, 2024. The last time they were in town, our staff writer Eden Unger sat down with all five band members. The group talked about what it's been like to perform new material alongside older work, what they’ve learned from touring with acts like Rainbow Kitten Surprise and which season corresponds to each of their releases (hint: Shadow Glow may offer just the kind of warmth you’re looking for amid the gloomy March weather). 

 

SO OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT SHADOW GLOW IS YOUR FIRST FULL-LENGTH ALBUM, HOW HAS IT BEEN DIFFERENT FOR YOU GUYS FROM SOME OF YOUR PREVIOUS WORK?

Madeline Jarman: I think with this record, we were able to kind of take time to dive into what I think we wanted our first full-length thing to kind of be. [We] really [leaned] into just having more time in general. I know our EPs were just kinda written as— we wrote the songs, essentially. So with this, we were kinda able to curate it more, like take away things that weren’t fitting.

Dillon Basse: Yeah definitely, I’d say, the most work we’ve put into a project. I think you covered it.

MJ: We went to California to record this instead of, like, sitting around in Florida. [We] found a producer, his name is John Gilbert. And he was really awesome and super cool to work with. He helped, I think, [in] kind of shaking off some rust, I guess from [us]not having to write in a while. It was awesome to work with him on that.

Devon VonBalson: I think writing and working on that record helped us find our collective sound. It was the first project that this lineup worked on together, and I think it really solidified what we sound like together.

 

THAT’S GREAT! DO YOU THINK WITH THE NEW PRODUCER, YOUR PROCESS HAS BEEN DIFFERENT THAN IN THE PAST?

DB: I don’t know about the process… Definitely the recording process.

DV: The recording process, yeah. He was very in-depth. [He] had everything lined up, like how he wanted to do it, and that was really cool to see.

MJ: [We] went to a couple different studios, which felt very cool.

YEAH, I BET!

MJ: We ended up having a lot of instruments at our disposal that we wouldn’t have at home.

 

THAT’S AWESOME. SO IT’S BEEN HALF A DECADE SINCE “HEAVY COLORS” AND “CITRONA.” HOW DOES IT FEEL LOOKING BACK ON THOSE ALBUMS NOW, SO FAR REMOVED?

DB: It’s been cool to see that people are still finding that project. But definitely, I don’t know, it’s kind of like a little time capsule. Those songs, when we play them live now, I feel they even have different meanings, in a way, than they originally had. Every time you play it you kinda remember—

DV: — Where you were at.

DB: Where you were at, yeah, yeah. It’s cool to look back, it’s crazy.

 

HOW DOES IT FEEL, SPECIFICALLY, PLAYING SOME OF THOSE OLDER SONGS ALONGSIDE YOUR NEWER STUFF?

DB: I think they fit, you know? Like sonically, [with] the set, everything makes sense together, ‘cause some of those songs we play a little different now, live.

MJ: It’s fun to kind of mix the old stuff with the new stuff. 

…Now, people are learning the lyrics to the new songs. It’s cool seeing that excitement grow for the new stuff, like how people reacted to “August” for a while. Like, “Oh cool, you’re hyped for Playground, too!” It makes us happy.

 

I REALLY LOVE “HALFWAY,” THAT’S MY FAVORITE FROM THE NEW ALBUM… COULD YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT THAT SONG A LITTLE BIT, JUST WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU?

DB: When we wrote it, the meaning behind it was not really from the heartbreak side, it’s from the person who did the heartbreaking. When we were writing it, it was meant to be— It almost felt like it was meant to be this conversation between two people, really. About not wanting to be in love with somebody. And wanting good things for them, but knowing that maybe you weren’t… that person. Just being, you know, almost in love with someone halfway.

 

I KNOW YOU GUYS HAVE A LOT OF REALLY COOL ELECTRONICS ON THIS ALBUM. HAS THAT BEEN HARD TO REPLICATE LIVE?

DV: No, Mitch is crushing it.

DB: Mitch is crushing it!

All: (Laughing)

MF: There’s some keyboards that we don’t have, financially.

DB and MJ: The studio keyboards.

MF: We have, like, playback for those.

OH, OK!

MF: But I try my best to replicate everything that was in the studio live as much as possible.

Yeah it’s been really fun, it’s fun doing that.

 

THAT’S GREAT! SO THIS MIGHT SOUND A LITTLE BIT CONSPIRACY THEORY-ISH, BUT ALL OF YOUR PREVIOUS RELEASES HAVE COME OUT IN THE SPRINGTIME, EXCEPT “SHADOW GLOW,” WHICH IS LATE SUMMER. BUT IRONICALLY, I FEEL LIKE A LOT OF YOUR STUFF, LIKE ESPECIALLY “CITRONA,” HAS VERY SUMMERY VIBES. IF YOU HAD TO ASSIGN A SEASON TO EACH ONE OF YOUR RELEASES, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?

MJ: That’s a good question.

TD: “Heavy Colors” is winter.

DB: I could see that.

MJ: Oh yeah, “Cold.”

DB: Especially with “Hypoxia,” “Beep,” and “Cold.” Yeah. Citrona is a spring album.

TD: Yeah, total spring album.

DB: And then I don’t know, I think Shadowglow is summer.

MJ: Summer, but I could kind of like, I could see fall a little bit too.

DV: It’s like, beginning of fall, end of summer. It’s easy to associate it with when you listen to it.

DB: We recorded, or we wrote a lot of the songs and the backbone of the album in the Phoenix area, Arizona.

TD: Right in August.

DB: Yeah, we almost released it two years exactly from when we started writing it.

REALLY? THAT’S SO COOL.

DV: I think within the day. Within a day, yeah.

.

SO, YOU GUYS HAVE TOURED WITH A LOT OF REALLY COOL ACTS — MT. JOY, RAINBOW KITTEN SURPRISE — WHAT HAS THAT BEEN LIKE FOR YOU GUYS?

All: (Overlapping) Great. So awesome.

DV: And they’re all just the sweetest people ever. So chill, and like accommodating, and down to earth. I mean, they’ve made it super easy for us, and we’re just so grateful…

DB: We get to learn from them too. It’s really cool to see, you know, [how] they’ve taken those next steps and reached the next level. Just to see what they’re doing that’s allowing them to be there. Just trying to follow in their footsteps.

MJ: We feel lucky, because their fans are super amazing and they’re open to listening to a band they may have never heard before. The crowds are always super fun to play for, so yeah, we just feel very lucky that they’re bringing us along.

 

Tickets for Flipturn's show at House of Blues on Friday, March 29th are available here.