W:Jonny Hayes. I: Samantha Corcoran
“We are trying to make a little bit of a disturbance in what people see as mainstream music.” - Phia
Is a pizza technically an open sandwich? Is a banana split technically a fruit salad? Are Flowers of Evil technically electro pop?
Like wild tigers of fusion Flowers of Evil defy classification, cleverly clawing in more hooky hooks than some silly hook derived metaphor. Flowers of Evil are a queer collaborative pop project from Manchester. My elevator pitch would be this: If the Gorillaz married a Sega Megadrive and got their hairy businesses together to some groovy art pop, nine months later the resulting child would be Flowers of Evil. When I put this to the band there’s excited nods of agreement. “That makes us very happy” says Phia (vocals, synths). “That’s what we’d say” agrees Ted (bass). Flowers of Evil’s music blends a wide range of influences making it difficult to pigeonhole. Like if you put together all your favourite tinned foods and peeled the labels off, you can crack open any can and you’re going to be pleasantly surprised by the contents. It could be electro with 8-bit crunch or funk with a twist of musical theatre. “The thing that's kind of weird about us is that we all listen to completely different music and it all blends together in a pretty interesting way.” Says Ted “If you looked at all of our personal Spotify playlists, you would be like ‘how are these people in a band together?!’”
“There’s musical theatre, game soundtracks, noise rock… it's good, it's fun and it's a lovely little melting pot. It's delightful!” - Ted
Flowers of Evil sprouted from the Manchester scene when Barcelona born frontman Oskar Puente relocated and found fertile soil jamming with synth sensation Phia Sky and bass man Ted Booth. “Flowers of Evil started as a duo with another friend of mine who left to join a more established band” says Oskar. When this initial iteration came to an end Oskar was keen to play his solo tunes live but to do this he needed a band. Putting out the feelers via social media he had the good fortune to meet Phia and Ted and after the initial jam it was clear that the Flowers of Evil were now a group effort. The new band would be built around the spirit of collaboration.
“We are just making funny silly pop music with our queer mates” says Phia. A playful sense of fun and freedom is always front and centre with Flowers of Evil and they don’t take themselves too seriously. If they enjoy a meme ironically or sincerely it may just pop up in a tune. In the middle of the live version of their comfy single Cherry Aid (a collaboration with Nikki of Nikki and the Waves), Flowers of Evil crack open a fizzy can of “No god, please No. Nooooooooo!” Oskar is a self confessed super fan of the US Office and almost a walking box set. “We were at the studio when we first met and I was just like we should put a bit of Michael Scott in there” says Oskar. Ted explains, “I think the reason why we do that is because it’s just fun, it’s just funny, people just enjoy the shows more and we’re just trying to have a good time.” While it’s certainly crowd pleasing and the song does have a sweet bouncy instrumental that gets listeners bopping along, there’s maybe more to it than Ted’s letting on here. As any seasoned meme enjoyers are aware, memes can convey hard to describe and sometimes difficult emotions. With Cherry Aid the honesty in the lyrics is heartfelt, capturing that feeling of simultaneously being an unstoppable force and an immovable object. The feeling where you know that there’s more out there within reach but you’re numbed by a comfortable pit of despair. It’s a funny meme but there’s depth there too. It could be that I’m reading too much into it but that’s why Flowers of Evil are special. They infuse their music with authenticity and personality that just connects with listeners – especially live!
Another good place to start diving into Flowers of Evil’s output is with their single ‘Out Of Bed (feat. The Strangerz)’ kicking off with a chant that may well be the best alarm clock ever followed by a chipper synth melody, the tune is a battle cry against the sandbags on the eyelids first thing in the morning. Jump out of bed and embrace the day with drive! Phia reveals the motivation behind this call to action in the face of unwelcome alarm clocks. “It’s an idea of a future in which we are Olympic gold medallists in the sport of getting out of bed, which is a struggle every day! So we thought we would make a song for everyone who struggles with that too. It's with our friends The Strangerz - we wanted a sort of punky chant on it, so we got them involved.”
In a world where getting out of bed can sometimes require Olympic efforts the Flower’s of Evil’s sporty aesthetic seems fitting. On stage in custom track and field outfits ‘Team Flowers’ are constantly moving and motivating their audience. The band’s energetic performances have endeared them amongst gig goers. Oskar’s degree in dramatic arts and musical theatre meant that the theatrics were perhaps inevitable “I have tried very hard to bring bits of musical theatre into the set...all the memes and all the dance routines” says Oskar. “Me and Ted are by no means dancers” adds Phia but there’s no shortage of enthusiasm from the trio as a whole when it comes to shaking a leg.
“We try and work with as many queer people as we possibly can so we have that kind of communal aspect to it…” Though there’s not always a collaborator to hand and when the inspiration strikes, Flowers of Evil’s tasty collaborations have got a catnip-like quality. ‘Out of Bed’ comes bundled with the b-side ‘Cool down’ one of my favourite tracks with effected vocals and an addicting chorus hook. However the collaboration on this track comes from an unlikely party. The first thing listeners hear on the tune are the guest vocals of featured feline Pizza the cat. Phia explains “…We couldn’t find anyone to collab with on Cooldown and Pizza was just meowing in the background, so we just sampled her meowing and history was made.” They cut the tune with Phia’s cat Pizza.
What’s next to come out of the Flowers of Evil’s lab really could be anything. Like musical mad scientists with a funky Frankenstein, they have colourful liquids in conical flasks, smoke pouring out and are mixing up some tuneful brews. In place of white lab coats Flowers of Evil rock sports attire and bring a heavy sprinkling of fun.
