| The Flowers of Hell | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | London & Toronto |
| Genres | Experimental, drone, Psychedelic, space rock, post rock, alternative rock |
| Years active | 2002 - Present |
| Labels | Optical Sounds Unfamiliar Benbecula Fat Ghost Saved By Vinyl Awkward Silence Starmole Japan Earworm Records Shifty Disco |
The Flowers of Hell is a trans-Atlantic space rock orchestra made up of a revolving line-up of 16 or so experimental, independent musicians based in London and Toronto. Their all instrumental sound builds bridges between classical music and post rock, shoegaze, space rock, and drone music, often resulting in their being described as an orchestral extension of the work of The Velvet Underground or Spacemen 3.[1][2]
Contents |
The Flowers of Hell moniker comes from an old blues concept of transformation whereby the misery and toil of the musician results in the pleasure of the listener. The name was first used by the group’s founder Greg Jarvis on tracks included on various UK covermount CDs in 2002 and 2003, of which just under two million units were distributed. Jarvis expanded the project into a London based live act in 2005 with the original six piece line up consisting of himself as the principal guitarist, Guri Hummelsund on drums, Abi Fry on viola, Owen James on trumpet, Ruth Barlow as the accompanying guitarist, and Steve Head on Hammond organ. During 2006 and 2007 the group underwent numerous small line up changes. In early 2008, following a move back to his native Toronto after a decade spent abroad in London and Eastern Europe, Jarvis debuted a North American branch of the group as an opening act for Spectrum (one of the post-Spacemen 3 projects of Pete ‘Sonic Boom’ Kember). The Flowers of Hell now operate on both continents simultaneously with Jarvis going back and forth for concerts and all members contributing to recordings.
In the fall of 2008, at the request of Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine, the Flowers Of Hell opened for MBV on one of the eight North American dates of the MBV reunion tour. Shields had seen the group perform a number of times in London at popular nugaze nights such as Sonic Cathedral.[3] For the finale of their MBV opening performance, the Flowers Of Hell were joined onstage by guest violinist Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire, Final Fantasy).[4] In addition to My Bloody Valentine and Spectrum, The Flowers of Hell have opened for Dean & Britta (Luna, Galaxie 500), The Black Angels, The Clientele, The Telescopes, Slipstream, Asteroid 4, and Asobi Seksu, amongst others.
Throughout the band’s evolution, Jarvis has remained as its main composer and producer while also carrying out all band management duties. Jarvis is a synaesthetic and his compositions and productions are largely based upon his timbre-to-shape synaesthetic visions. Present in an estimated 3% of the population, synaesthesia is a neurological phenomena where two senses are intermingled. With the timbre-to-shape variant, differing timbres give rise to a visual language of sound.
The group's line-up and their album guest lists encompass musicians who’ve played in many well established acts from the experimental side of the indie rock genre.[1] Yet The Flowers of Hell regularly emphasize that it’s mainly side players that they work with and refute any notions of being a super group. Some of those side players are full time members of larger acts, while a few are people who’ve been brought in by larger acts on a casual basis. Amongst the musicians who’ve played with them on their recordings and/or during their live shows are Pete 'Sonic Boom' Kember (Spacemen 3, Spectrum, E.A.R.), Will Carruthers (Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Brian Jonestown Massacre), Ray Dickaty (Spiritualized), Ivan Kral (Patti Smith Group, Iggy Pop's band, Blondie, John Cale’s band), Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire, Final Fantasy, Hidden Cameras), Tim Holmes (Death in Vegas), Julie Penner (Broken Social Scene, Do Make Say Think), Abi Fry (British Sea Power, Bat for Lashes), Mel Draisey (The Clientele, Le Volume Courbe, Primal Scream), Jon McCann (Guided by Voices), John Mark Lapham (The Earlies), Tom Knott (The Earlies), Jan Muchow (Ecstasy of Saint Theresa), Amy Laing (Hidden Cameras, Toronto Symphony Orchestra), Tom Hodges (Tindersticks), Hypnotique (Dawn of the Replicants, Zorch), and Ronnie Morris (controller.controller, Lioness).[5][6]
The Flowers of Hell
Produced with Tim Holmes of Death in Vegas at the Contino Rooms in London, their self-titled debut album was praised in the British music press for building classical tangents from the sound of The Velvet Underground and Spacemen 3/Spiritualized. Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3/Spectrum/E.A.R. collaborated with the group on ‘Through The F Hole’ and mentored the band during the recording of the album. The album was originally released on the now defunct Earworm Records label (Spacemen 3, Yo La Tengo, The Earlies, Bright Eyes, The Apples in Stereo).[1]
Come Hell Or High Water
The album was recorded in over 40 sessions with 30 musicians in London, Prague, Toronto, Detroit, & Texas. It was conceived of as a celebration of synaesthesia, and Jarvis based the composing, recording, arranging, and preliminary mixing on his synaesthetic visions. Resultantly it was a labor intensive record that took a year to complete due to the time that had to be spent listening/watching the works as they came together, and the time required for experimenting with tweaking sounds in order to create the desired changes in the visual images.
O
Released on a double sided CD/DVD with a stereo mix and a 5.1 surround sound mix, O is a 45 minute track that combines improvisations with-in a fixed song structure. Derived from the concept of 'absolute music', Greg Jarvis and The Earlies' Tom Knott co-mixed the record based on their synaesthetic visions (both synaesthetes, Jarvis sees sounds as shapes while Knott sees them as colours). "O" was engineered by Jon Drew. The DVD also includes Live At The Music Gallery, an hour-long concert film for which the audio was recorded by Peter Moore & Perren Baker with the same sole mic that the two had famously produced the Cowboy Junkies 'Trinity Session album with.[7]
Albums
EPs
Singles
Compilations