Flintwick on His ‘Lurching’ EP: “These Tunes Have Moments of Controlled Chaos”

Flintwick dives into his humble beginnings, working with Yongi, upcoming sets, feline adventures, and more!

Up-and-coming artist Flintwick is bringing new musical elements to the forefront that set him apart from most artists. He isn’t afraid of a little challenge when exploring the less traveled path. Fans can always expect him to tease new boundaries with his creations, and the results provide outside-the-box glitch-hop sounds that feel like they have been transplanted from the future.

It’s important to have artists who aren’t afraid of transformation in a forever-evolving scene. After nearly three years since his Squandered EP, Flintwick is back to show how much growth he has experienced in the interim. His latest work on the Lurching EP supplies many firsts for his career, including a drum and bass track, a vocalist collaboration, and stretching his all-familiar sound to new potential.

This project as a whole feels the closest I’ve come to achieving my initial idea of what I wanted Flintwick to always sound like, so it’s quite a meaningful step in my journey to finally release these.
Flintwick

With so many new avenues explored within Flintwick’s Lurching EP, it felt like the perfect time to pick his brain apart, and it was refreshing to see his passion pour out when we spoke with him. Check out his latest release on your favorite platform, and read on to learn more about this eccentric, cool cat named Flintwick and his humble beginnings, upcoming sets, dream feline adventure, and more!

Stream Flintwick – Lurching EP on Spotify:

Hey Flintwick, thanks for taking the time to chat with us! Many may not know your extensive musical background, but you are known to be quite the one-man band, which is impressive. What sparked your instrumental curiosity that led you on this musical journey?

Music and art have been my primary interests for as long as I can remember, despite not having musicians on either side of my family. I attempted a few instruments like guitar and piano as a child and saxophone in the school band, but nothing clicked in my efforts to play and understand music. -Then randomly in 7th grade (2010, I think?) I heard some good electronic music and immediately googled how to make it. I pirated FL Studio and NI Massive and taught myself sound design/ how to produce, yet I still did not understand the instrumental and theory side. I learned a lot and made some cohesive tunes, but I lost interest and put it down after a year or so.

Then, as a teen, I fell in love with bluegrass, funk/ jam music, and improvisation in general, and I decided to learn an instrument once and for all. This is really what I consider the start of my journey. The mandolin clicked the most, and for the next few years, I studied music theory extensively through it, played in small projects, and helped teach jazz band and theory classes. The understanding I gathered of how music works inevitably led me to my obsessive collecting and learning of as many instruments as possible.

I eventually got back into electronic music, but I remembered my understanding of DAWs and how music production works, so I got Ableton. That kicked me off into producing things that made more sense musically. From that point, I had an outlet for my electronic music side (Flintwick), and for my instrumental side, I started my prog/ funk/ jam band, Deep Sequence, and my project with LuSiD – Acid Katz.

Touching base on your recently released Lurching EP, you mentioned that it provides a “chunkier, main stage twist” to your signature sound. Can you explain what elements you added that make the EP feel this way?

What I mean by “chunky” is how these heavier grooves are anchored to one main focal point at a time, rather than my usual style of switching up grooves measure after measure/ layering multiple elements to focus on simultaneously. These tunes certainly have moments of controlled chaos, but I tried riding out the grooves more and puzzle-piecing the elements beside each other- rather than on top of each other. That, along with the heavier style of drums I don’t typically showcase, have these primed and ready to shmack on a huge sound system. `

This EP has many firsts for you, including your first drum and bass track, “MUCK.” I love DnB and think you nailed this one. Can we expect more Flintwick-inspired 170 BPMs in the future?

Most definitely. I’ve never really been into producing the more aggressive/neuro-DnB tunes, but I dig the pocket I found in this one with the more minimal style. However, my absolute favorite to make and will likely get more releases is liquid DnB. It’s just super therapeutic to make, and I get the same joy from it as making pretty downtempo tunes. That being said, I do wanna shoot for this heavier style more often and get an EP going.

You teamed up with Yongi for your more bass-focused track, “Facade.” Since this is your first track to release with a vocalist, what made you decide Yongi was the perfect fit?

I’ve wanted to work with an experienced vocalist from the moment I started producing, and the stars just never aligned for all these years until Yongi moved to my town a few years ago. We immediately became best friends and haven’t stopped making tunes together ever since. Out of the 10 tracks we’ve made, somehow, this is the only one we’ve fully finished.

I felt this best represented us, so I kept returning to it. Also, Yongi is excellent to work with because she can sing any style or genre and is a super-talented producer. So, she not only has a good ear for the production side but can navigate Ableton and record her vocals quickly, which makes for such a smooth collaboration.

Photo Credit: Rei Photography

You also have a side-project with LuSiD called Acid Katz. Regarding your duo project, do you become an alter ego, or do you feel that both of you join forces and are represented in the tracks?

The idea behind Acid Katz is indeed an alter-ego-inspired project, so to speak. Our album/story is based on an alternate dimension, and we definitely put ourselves in a collective headspace when we are creating together and on stage. That being said, however, you can inevitably hear some distinct styles and decisions in the music that certainly have a LuSiD or Flintwick “flare” to them.

What does this year have in store for Flintwick? Are there any bookings on your radar that your fans need to mark on their calendars?

I have a handful of festival dates scattered throughout the year that I’m super excited about, and a few venue shows in new places. Rekinection, Rejuvenation, OHM on the Range, Sound Haven, and my absolute favorite- Astronox. I’m unable to mention new places like Myrtle Beach or a few more, but you can keep up with all that on socials or flintwick.net!

You are a feline spirit at heart, so if you had the chance to embody any cat for a day, which would you choose, and what kind of cat-inspired activities would your day consist of?

Oh, I’m so glad you asked. I would probably want to embody the cute Siamese cat in my neighborhood and link up with my cat, French Fry. Then we could go outside on some exhilarating adventure, perhaps to a nice sushi dumpster nearby. But also I want to know what it feels like to use a cat scratcher, that looks sooo fckn good.

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