INTERVIEW: F.G.S.

ODWALLA88/1221 ALUM FLANNERY SILVA’S SINGULAR NEW PROJECT

For my money, Odwalla88/1221 were the most important underground band of the past decade. They combined minimal electronics, sound collage, poetry and punk in a way that I don’t think anyone ever figured out how to articulate. The duo of Chloe Maratta and Flannery Silva played at noise warehouses and fashion shows and art galleries, a style that was common at one point in the 2000s and is maybe becoming more common again. But in the 2010s era of earnest indie rock and pounding techno, Odwalla kept the singular art band alive.

Singular is a word that I’ve already used more than once here. I used it in the “dek” and you know what? I might even use it a fourth time pretty soon. Here’s why: Silva has a new project called F.G.S. that trades in music that most would scan as Americana or country pop or singer-songwriter. It’s quite different from Odwalla, but it’s just as… Singular. 

F.G.S. only has one song out. It’s called “Passions” and it would’ve been a song of the year contender for me if I was the type of person who made lists. It’s rare for an artist to have a fully formed aesthetic and conceptual vision and catchy hooks, but that’s F.G.S.: the project is an extension of multiple art practices, but it’s also just really great music to play in your car as you make a gas station run to pick up a bottle of Flamin' Hot Mountain Dew. Stick it in a gallery or on a playlist next to Ethel Cain: either way, it hits. 

Flannery worked on the song with the Rhode Island musician Chase Ceglie. It’s a fertile collaboration, and I’ve gotten word that there’s more F.G.S. music coming down the pipeline shortly. 

Were you singing a lot growing up? 

I was in a "theatre group" of sorts when I was like 13. It was this group of really hot, cool older hippie kids and somehow I slipped in. I did a couple musicals with them–Working–where I played a secretary, a housewife, and a newsboy. We did Godspell too. I originally had to audition to get cast and I sang "Everything's Alright" from Jesus Christ Superstar–the song Mary Magdalen sings to Jesus when he's super stressed out. Years later I would sing it to the babies I nannied as a lullaby. 

What kind of music did you listen to as a kid? As a teenager? When did "noise music" come into the equation? 

I grew up on Bob Dylan… For better or for worse. That was my dad's contribution. My mom gave me Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Bjork. My brother gave me Everclear, The Offspring, Nirvana. I think the first CD I ever bought myself was Bright Eyes Fevers and Mirrors. First concert was Britney Spears. "Noise music" def. came into the equation living in Baltimore, becoming bff’s with Chloe, and starting Odwalla. 

At what point did you know you wanted to make a sort of, for lack of better words, "singer-songwriter" record? 

I loved the process of making my 2015 Losing My Mind covers album with my friends Chase Ceglie, Filip Olszewski and Max Eisenberg. I wanted to make another record with collaborative compositions and my attempt at singing–but make it "originals." I had just moved to Rhode Island for an 8 month stay at an off-season beachfront rental with my boyfriend and it felt like a good time to begin. I started foraging from a long piece of writing I did in 2013 called My Monologue, and I got a lot of influence from works like the Oz series, Anne Sexton poetry and Mary Maclane's I Await The Devil's Coming.

It seems like I Await The Devil's Coming inspired the lyrics for “Passions.”

Not no. 

Were you reading that book when you were working on the record?

I read the book a while ago, while Chloe and I were on a U.S. tour–even passing through a snow storm in Butte, Montana where the book takes place. When I moved to Rhode Island, it was one of the books I brought with me. It was a good companion and felt on par with the isolated, harsh, romantic winter I was experiencing. I love the angsty and dramatic way MacLane writes about her existence, and it fed into an older text of mine I was extracting from for the album that touched on themes of girlhood sexuality in the country, god, the devil, the elements.

Is there crossover between the kind of images you are constructing in your visual art and your lyrical choices?

My new sculptures are def. reflections of the themes and lyrics in the album. I just finished sculpting an oversized beer stein that has bas relief imagery with moments from the new songs–a tornado, a Lola Bunny-type character straddling a log, a big rig driving through dust clouds. The sculptures feel like props within the full narrative of the album. 

Is there anything you took from your time in Odwalla and applied to this project?

Odwalla is forever in my blood–so yes, obvi! There are a couple spoken word moments in my new songs that kind of break the fourth wall, those feel very Odwalla in their cadence. 

You got any favorite recent country songs?

"Heart Like A Truck" by Lainey Wilson is on repeat. I love that she's in the new season of Yellowstone too–dream cameo. "You Proof" by Morgan Wallen, "Apartment #9" by Tammy Wynette. 

Speaking of songs: you mentioned that your collaborator Chase gave you a bit of a "crash course" in pop songwriting. You took to it fast.

Chase is a star teacher. I really trust his intuition and a lot of our references overlap so sharing ideas feels very kindred and safe. He really helped unlock something–the songs came quickly after his lessons. 

What was that process like?

When Chase and I started working on the album, he asked me to send visual references, which was a very intuitive way for us to start our collaboration. I sent him stills from movies like Badlands, Natural Born Killers, Wanda–illustrations from books like Outside Over There by Sendak, and glamour shots of my favorite actresses like Carroll Baker wearing a cowboy hat and thigh high leather boots. It was a helpful mood setter, and a good database for us to return to. I made a reference playlist too–we’d always be like, “How do we make the vocals sound as present as Dolly in ‘Hard Candy Christmas,’” or “make it more Arthur Russell in ‘What It’s Like.’”

F.G.S. on Instagram