ROGUEPR (VIMH): Hi guys, congrats on your new album ‘It Began as a Mistake’.
Flush: Thank you very much!
ROGUEPR (VIMH): What is the significance of naming an album after a famous Bukowski quote?
Flush: Some of us in the band are big Charles Bukowski fans and we feel that his stories are good matches with our music, so using this famous opening line from his book was an easy choice. We had other title ideas too but this one stood out.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): What do the lyrics talk about? Which are your major lyrics’ influences?
Flush: We mostly write about real things, real event and real emotions. The songs are about what we see, feel and experience. There is some stuff in there about anxieties and substances, but also about our surroundings, our friends and families, and society as a whole. While musically we can be mapped to many bands and artists, lyrically I don’t think there are clear connections. The two lyricists that I have listened to and read the most are Craig Finn from The Hold Steady and the late Scott Hutchison from Frightened Rabbit. Both are/were amazing storytellers with an ability to convey emotions and events in simple language.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): Which are those elements that separate your new album from your previous albums?
Flush: This is our debut album so we cannot really compare. But what was different between this album and any previous demo/EP recordings, in addition to the length, was that we simply put in more effort into all steps of the process. We did two rounds of pre-production to tighten up the songs and had one of Finland’s most esteemed rock and metal producers, Hiili Hiilesmaa, engineering, mixing and mastering the album.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): How would you characterize ‘It Began as a Mistake’ and what are your expectations from the new album?
Flush: The album is a mix of songs that best characterize us as a band. It’s the 13 best songs we had in our catalog at the moment of recording and we wanted to publish them as a statement of what and who we are. Our main driver was artistic. We wanted to capture the songs in the best way possible and ensure we can be proud of our work. That expectation was definitely achieved. Commercially we did not really know what to expect and obviously 2020 was not the best year for promoting an album by playing live – or vice versa – so we basically just focus on doing what we can to promote ourselves digitally and not expect too much at this point.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): How did the cooperation with Concorde Music occur? How’s working with Hiili Hiilesmaa and how much has he/she helped you on the whole?
Flush: The album is self-funded and Concorde Music is our distributor, but we are not signed to a regular record deal. We hold all rights to our music and intend to keep it that way. Hiili was an all-around professional and super nice guy to work with. He obviously knows his stuff, having worked with bands like HIM and Amorphis, and had a nice way of knowing when to push us harder and when to go gentler to get the best out of us.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): How’s the fans’ reactions been to the new songs on your live shows so far?
Flush: We have only been able to do one live show since the album was released and that was for a limited audience too, so, as said, 2020 was not the ideal year to release and promote an album. In general, the response from listeners has been overwhelmingly positive and we seem to have reached audiences in places like Central and Latin America, which we have no previous connections to. People also seem to like very different songs on the album, which nicely validates that we did right in making it a mix of our best work, instead of trying to squeeze everything into one specific category of music. Some critics find it hard to review our music because we don’t fall directly into any standard music category. We are not punk enough for some, not alternative enough for some, and not metal enough for some. It’s their loss, obviously.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): Do you prefer to be on the road or on the studio writing and recording?
Flush: They are two very different things, and both are essential part of being in a band, and we like both. However, without live music and the stage I don’t think we would play music, so that tops everything.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): How did you come up with the name Flush initially?
Flush: It’s too long ago to fully remember, but we do remember liking the fact that it was short and still ambiguous. The silly association with toilets obviously helped too.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): How would you describe your music style to someone that hasn’t heard of you before?
Flush: We find this very hard to do. Essentially, we can be labelled under alternative rock, punk rock, or hard rock. Some would say we sound like fast and melodic skate punk, while others would find various darker sounding rock or metal references on the alternative side of music.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): Which do you consider to be the best male & female vocalist in metal history?
Flush: Oh crap. Tough one. Just the other day I was talking about how Dee Snider is a totally under-appreciated singer and there are so many… But let’s go with some of the “founding fathers and mothers”: Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) and Ann Wilson (Heart). I don’t usually like to think of the vocalist separate from the band. It’s all one entity, really. Sometimes a technically mediocre performance can be just perfect as part of an overall band performance. It’s all about dynamics and finding your place in the band. I’m also much more into guitarists than singers.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): Which is the record you wish you had written and why?
Flush: Oh man, the tough questions continue! I have never thought about this… Quickly thinking, let’s go with Bad Religion’s ‘No Control’. Not a dull moment, great speed and aggression, meaningful lyrics, and superb riffs.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): Were you obliged to give just one album to extraterrestrials that would represent the whole human music, which album would it be and from which band/artist?
Flush: My own personal desert island albums include Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled debut and Bad Religion’s five-album streak between 88 and 93. But for space aliens I think we should use Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’. It is simply amazing and has stood the test of time.
ROGUEPR (VIMH): If you had the chance to travel in time… where would you choose to go? To the past or the future and why?
Flush: I don’t generally like to think in these ways, because the present is all we have, and we should make the best of it. That said, since this is a music related interview, I wish our band had been around in the late 80s and early 90s when fast, melodic punk rock started to make its big comeback. I think we would have had some fun times doing shows then.
Flush is Lasse (songs, vocals, guitars, this interview), Janne (guitars), Eero (bass) and Börje (drums). Flush is from Helsinki, Finland.
Website: https://flush.rocks (includes album links for all digital platforms)
Facebook: https://facebook.com/flushmusic
Email: flushrock@gmail.com