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COVER FEATURE:by Tom Lounges
That’s just a nice way of saying
Flathead Fillups have been kicking MAJOR ass all over Chicagoland lately. To culminate what has been a
bittersweet year –– they have enjoyed a steady climb in popularity, while
having to endure the loss of two members and a restructuring process ––
Flathead Fillups have just released a second CD of original music aptly titled, Pound.
The half dozen songs are resoundingly heavy, yet retain a melodic
commercial appeal. Formed four years ago as a rough
and tumble club band kicking out Seattle grunge covers, Flathead Fillups, almost
immediately began to push those boundaries. “We never wanted or planned for
this to be a cover band,” explained guitarist Rob Tustin. “But we knew that to get gigs we had to do cover
songs, because most South Side clubs won’t hire original bands.
So we learned a bunch of covers that we could have fun with and tighten
up as a band with, but I was already writing songs when this band first came
together. In fact, we slipped three
or four originals into the set of our first show and most people didn’t even
realize that those songs they were up dancing to were our own.” Tustin found the perfect creative
soul mate in lyricist/vocalist Pat
Halloran and soon the group began to incorporate it’s own songs alongside
those of Soundgarden, Godsmack, Alice In Chains and others. Halloran, a carpenter by trade, christened the band
with its odd name. “I
always liked the conflicting notion behind names like Led Zeppelin,” said
Halloran. “One day I was looking
at my screwdrivers and the idea just hit me.”
Originally called Flathead-Phillips, the spelling of Phillips was soon
altered to accommodate the catch “FF” logo the band now uses. By the time North Side bassist Matt Koca joined their ranks in September of 1999, songwriting had become a top priority within the group. Koca just so happened to be a stellar song crafter in his own right. “Matt
has been a big part of the growth process of this band,” reflected Tustin.
“He fit right in with what we were doing and by moving down here [to
the South Side], he showed us that he was as dedicated to this band as Pat and I
were.” “In my first month with the band
I had to learn 40 cover songs,” sighed Koca, who for his first six months
drove more than an hour each way to and from practices. Soon the band took their wares on
the road to other Midwestern markets like Detroit and St.Louis, making ever
wider sweeps so as to get their music heard and to continue recruiting fans to
their camp. By the conclusion of Y2K, Flathead Fillups had released a six song CD of their own material called, Word Of Mouth, and their original songs began to vastly outnumber covers in a typical live set. But by that point, club
owners did not care, for the Flathead fan base had swelled to the kind of
mammoth proportions rarely seen on the regional rock scene. It was not the cover
songs that these loyal fans were paying their money to hear, but rather the
Flathead originals. Proof was
offered up nightly as fans loudly sang the words to their songs along with
Halloran. But it was not just local friends
and family from the South burbs who were swarming to clubs to see the band.
Their shows became events, drawing an average of 800-1,000 people to places like
Ground Zero and Oasis One-Sixty. Word
of mouth spread fast and furiously on Word Of Mouth and on the
band, via various music web sites where they had uploaded sound bytes. Two of the songs from that CD
–– “Above” and “Quest To Be A Victor” –– were voted into the top two slots
of the Hard Rock category by music fans from all across the globe on the once popular unsigned band music site:
www.garageband.com “That’s
out of 22,000 songs in that category,” stressed Halloran. “Out of that many songs, people voted two of our songs into
the number one and number two spots on their ‘Hard Rock’ chart.
And we held those spots until the site was shut down about two months
ago.” Ranking high on that site
generated orders for CDs from heavy music fans all over the world.
“We had a lot of orders from Canada, but we also got them in from
Australia, Norway, Japan and all over the place,” said Koca.
“That album was already two years old and it was still getting us a lot
of attention. That’s why we’re
so optimistic about Pound. We think it’s a much better album and we are anxious to get
the music out there.” “All the songs on Pound were
written since that first album came out,” said Tustin.
“Most were written within the last year, because we were going through
some internal changes and all that down time gave us plenty of opportunity to
write.” Only Tustin, Halloran and Koca
remain from the line-up that recorded Word
Of Mouth with then soon-to-be superstar producer Johnny
K. New to the band this past year has been second guitarist Zach Broderick and drummer Jeff Prange, although Prange is leaving the group at the end of this month for personal reasons. “We recorded that first CD
with Johnny right after he finished up producing Disturbed’s first album,”
recalled Halloran. “Since then
Disturbed has gone double platinum and Johnny has gone on to produce [national
CDs] for Caviar, No One and others. We would’ve loved to have done Pound with
Johnny, but he’s busy working with Disturbed on their new album and he’s so
in demand that it’s impossible to book time with him.” Timing was everything.
Just having Johnny K’s name on their first CD made record companies
look twice. The internet response
to the band’s music, combined with the huge crowds that regularly flock to the
band’s gigs, has kept Flathead Fillups on record company radar even during
their tumultuous last year. Pound was self-produced by the
band because they did not wish to sit on the sidelines any longer waiting for
Johnny K’s schedule to open up. “We
learned a LOT from working with Johnny on that first CD,” said Halloran.
“We had help on this new CD from Charlie Piper and Mark Bilecki of
Performance Studios. Those are guys that Johnny K personally recommended to us
and they really know their way around a recording studio.” “Jeff did all the drum tracks on
the new album,” stressed Koca. “We are very grateful to him, because he has
stuck it out with us, working on the CD and doing our live shows until we could
find and break in a new drummer.” “Jeff’s last show playing with us will be on May 18 at Oasis One-Sixty,” said Tustin. “It’s the Q101 Jamboree After Party and we’ll be playing with Mindshaft and a couple of other bands.” The new face that will be
staring out from behind the drum kit starting in June belongs to Brian Colby, the first Hoosier to hold membership in the FF troop.
Colby of Schererville, came out of nowhere to audition and, according to
Tustin, blew away any of the competition. “We auditioned about 30 drummers and some of them were really good, but this kid’s energy just blew us away,” said Tustin. “Brian hits really hard and he makes our songs even heavier than they are.” Although Colby is the third
drummer to sit on the Flathead Fillups’ throne in as many years, Koca and the
others feel this 22-year-old slammer is the one who will help the band finally
take the next step. “Hey,”
laughed Koca, “the third time’s a charm right?” “For one thing, he’s not
married,” joked Tustin of their newest charge. “The biggest reason why we
have had to change members like we have, is because they get married or have
kids and have to deal with family matters and personal matters. We totally respect the guys for their decisions and
wish them well. But as of right
now, we are all single bachelors who are [collectively] focused on doing
whatever it takes to make this band successful and get this band to the national
level.” “We’ve talked a lot with the
guys in Disturbed and the guys in No One and they’ve all told us that the
hardest part in having a successful band is getting the right combination of
people together and getting everyone committed to making things happen,” said
Halloran. “With Zack and Brian
now in the band, I think we’ve finally attained that.” “This
is pretty much Brian’s first real band and he’s all fired up about being
with us,” injected Tustin. “The
first thing he did was drop $3,500 on a new top level drum kit [not including
cymbals] and he’s been spending hours on his own at our practice space
learning our stuff. He’s really
working his ass off and that’s the kind of commitment we were looking for.
That’s the kind of commitment the rest of us have to this band.” Colby’s long hours and efforts will be put to the test soon enough. His first time playing live on stage with Flathead will be when they showcase for record labels at this year’s MobFest. Several record labels, big
and small, have been chatting up Flathead Fillups since the release of Word
Of Mouth and the group is hopeful that Pound will finally get
some of them to put offers on the table. “We’re really proud of the songs on this CD,” emphasized
Tustin. “I think they show a lot
of growth for us as a band and as songwriters.
I think the music is heavy but not in the kind of way that so many of the
bands are today. There are a lot of
bands jumping on band wagons and their songs all tend to sound alike.” “We haven’t reinvented the wheel here,” clarified Koca, “but we think we have enough of a fresh sound...enough of our own sound, to stand out from everything else out there right now.” While hopeful to ink a deal
with a major label, the band is open to indie labels as well.
“We know the music industry is changing and that indies are often the
best place for a band to be these days,” added the business savvy Koca.
“We’re just looking for a label that will get behind the band and
support the music, be it an indie or a major label.” For more info on the band and to hear sample clips of their new music: Log online at: www.flatheadfillups.com FLATHEAD FILLUPS perform May 18 @ Oasis One-Sixty in Chicago Heights, Illinois with Mindshaft
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