Rose Brown on Flooding, Lana del Rey, and the new EP

Flooding. // photo credit Fabian Rosales

Noise rock group Flooding got their start in Lawrence back in 2021 with the release of their self-titled, slowcore LP, mixed at home by band members Rose Brown, Cole Billings and Zach Cunningham. Four years later, they’re pushing the boundaries of what genres even mean, moving from quiet whispers to intense screamo/post-hardcore, to now concocting hooky pop anthems.

We sat down with vocalist/guitarist Rose Brown to speak all things Flooding before the release of that pop anthem venture, object 1, set to be released July 11.

The Pitch: What made you interested in music in the first place and how did that transition into starting a band?

Rose Brown: I think I started to play music because my older sister started taking guitar lessons when she was 10 or 11. She just had guitars available and she got super into playing shows when she was in high school. I thought it would be fun. I never really thought about having a band or playing live until I started writing the music for Flooding.

I started writing music as my solo project, called Window Seat, when I was 18 or 19. Then a couple years later, I started writing what became Flooding’s first album. It was originally supposed to be for my solo project, but I thought it would be cool as a band, as a rock band. That’s how that started.

Who are some artists or musicians that you admire? Do you find inspiration in a space like that or do you get it from elsewhere?

I think from all over. When I first started writing music, I was extremely inspired by Midwest emo, but it has evolved significantly and draws from a wide range of influences. I’m really into Lana Del Rey, I really like pop music, I really like jazz…but also those very niche genres, like slowcore. Duster is a huge influence on our first album.

What is your process for writing lyrics? Do you sit down and set aside time or do you just have moments of inspiration throughout the day? And what are you trying to explore creatively?

I like to come up with the concept of what I’m trying to talk about, which is based on whatever I’m inspired or moved by recently. My inspiration for lyrics, and what I’m talking about, depends on which project you’re listening to. It changes. The first Flooding album was definitely a mix of different things. There’s some romantic stuff on there, but there’s definitely dark elements mixed in with that. Our second album ultimately became extremely personal, emotional, and cathartic.

With this upcoming EP, I wanted to mix it up and talk about the same concepts but from other people’s perspectives. I’m still talking about things like abusive relationships and living in a patriarchal society, but from the male perspective. That’s also cathartic in a different way, too, pretending like you’re someone else.

How did the change in sound come about after your self-titled LP? You’re definitely more post-hardcore, sludge-metal-based on Silhouette Machine.

I wanted to write music that would be fun to perform. That’s how we got to where we were with the heavier elements and screaming [on that album]. Now we’re moving even more forward with that with the EP, which is super inspired by pop and is super hooky.

I heard you say you find your first LP boring now. Are you just not interested in that sound anymore?

No, I love the album! That’s the first album I’ve ever written, so you can definitely tell that it’s a little bit juvenile and unpolished, but I really like that about it. I just think it is what it is and I don’t look back on it thinking we should’ve changed things because it’s nice to listen to and remember those times.

Object 1 Ep Cover. Crochet Lingerie by Sarah Ellington

What was different about the recording process for object 1? What did you take from all of the experience you gained from your first two albums?

It’s definitely been a learning process, recording-wise, because we record everything ourselves. It’s getting easier and easier as we keep on recording more stuff. Recording object 1 definitely felt like a very smooth process because of that.

The new EP feels like you’re finally embracing your poppier side, with actual choruses. Is this a direction you are bent on heading towards or is it just an experiment for an EP?

The way that you structure a pop song is so that it hits you hard and gives you a visceral reaction to the song. I really like that about it and I think that it makes a lot of sense with the kind of music that I want to create, which is supposed to be very cathartic and emotional. The lyrical content kind of mirrors the instrumentation in the song structure, as well, in a kind of ironic way. The lyrics are very much sarcastic and from the point of view of narcissistic rock stars, and all of that.

Some of it feels more drum-based. Was that a discussion?

I definitely was encouraging Zach Cunningham to do some crazy stuff on drums. I really wanted to mix it up. I really like drums and I feel like our past music has been very guitar-based – I could just play those songs on guitar all the way through by myself. Obviously it wouldn’t be the same, but they are guitar songs. But I love drums, and I love moments that are just drums.

Do you think Flooding is continuously trying to explore a different sound? It’s been that way so far, so is that something you’re going to keep doing?

I think it for sure turns out that way. I think because of the fact that we don’t necessarily belong in a certain genre – it’s not very obvious what genre we are – we are able to be shapeshifters and move throughout genres. Maybe we focus on one genre rather than another from album to album and EP to EP.

We need to discuss this album art, because it’s something. Would you like to speak on it?

I don’t think that everything has a meaning necessarily. I don’t want to say that the art represents a certain thing. I think that people can just take from it what they will.

I read that you want to make something that meshes Lana Del Rey and Fugazi. What do you love about those sounds in combination with each other?

Music doesn’t have to be autobiographical all the time, which is really fun. I feel like people forget that. It’s just fun to write music from someone else’s perspective and she does that a lot. I love her vocal style and how she can shift from one genre to another. Her first album was super trip-hop, and then her second album was sort of indie rock, and now she’s making jazzy music.

But then I also love Fugazi as a punk band. I love their instrumentation and the way that they use guitars. I feel like the guitar is highlighting certain moments as opposed to being the center of the song. Those are kind of the two things I’m really into right now.

Are you guys back on the road later this year?

We’re going to be on tour with Slow Crush and Faetooth on the East Coast in September, and then we’re going on a little run with the band Teeth in Texas in October. There are a few other shows interspersed throughout. We are playing at recordBar on August 30.

I always end my interviews by asking an artist what the best thing they’ve listened to lately is. It can be something that just came out or something that came out in the ‘60s.

I’m obsessed with Astrud Gilberto right now. She’s a bossa nova artist. Something new I’ve been listening to? There’s a band called terraplana that is a shoegaze band from Brazil. They’re really, really cool. I like their new album.

Flooding is set to release object 1 on Friday, July 11, before heading on tour this fall, starting with a date at recordBar on August 30 with The Casket Lottery and The Appleseed Cast. Details on that show here.