Laughing Our Asses Off With Flaural | Denver Bred Musicians & Amateur Comedians

Flaural, the psych-pop, new-wave Denver bred five piece has been playing official shows for exactly one year. 2015 UMS saw their first ever official set and they’ve since toured across the nation and released a second EP, Over Imaginary Cigarettes. Their new single “Nonnie” is a stunning track, breaking off with Tame Impala-esque synth and dipping into ethereal, ambient riffs and shoegazey restlessness. Their 2015 EP Thin King was celebrated by Westword as “colorful, bright, urgent yet expansive melodies that feel breezy and headlong but never anxious.” Flaural has built an impressive following for a band that is just about to turn one this weekend and have since played with Wild Nothing and at Treefort Fest in Boise Idaho.

They’ve been on our radar since we saw them open for Gardens and Villa back in early October and on our list of UMS bands to see since the lineup was released. Check them out at Mainstage this Saturday at 3:30pm.

We were able to catch up with five piece during one of their band practices and delved into everything about hair, harmonies and most of all, the UMS weekend which awaits.  

Team members: Noah Pfaff, Collin Johnson, Nick Berlin, Connor Birch, Scott Storch

(U5280) What bands are you looking forward to see at UMS this year? 

(NP) Personally I really want to see Methyl Ethel, and the Allah-Las, too, really badly.  Thick Business is a band from Boise who’s really cool. Sunflower Bean is playing again, Couches from Oakland, Marshal Poole from Boise, and then all of the locals of course, but I don’t want to name a band and have a friend be like, “Why didn’t you say our name?” you know. 

(U5280) You’ve been out touring nationwide for awhile. Which state treated you best?

(NP) California probably. Well, South Dakota treated us very really well. I wouldn’t be on the phone with you right now were it not for Boise, Idaho, Eric Gilbert and Megan Stoll [founder of Treefort Music Festival] and everyone else from Boise. They’ve all been so nice to us. 

(U5280) You recently released two EPs. Anything brewing in the recording studio?

(NP) We’re waiting for a time frame during which we could put out a full length album and we’ll hit the road with that. We also really want to re-release the two EP’s as an LP.

(U5280) What was your experience like last year at UMS? 

(NP) That was our first official show, which is crazy, because looking back, it’s been a long year with a lot of music, and travel. We’ve played over sixty shows this year. We wanted to do a less stressful UMS and just take it easy. Enjoy the shows. We always love playing the Hi-dive, though. Kurt and all of those dudes are super nice. I may or may not being going there tonight. 

(U5280) What can we expect to hear- new stuff, old stuff, any covers? 

(NP) Strictly covers. Scott was playing Smoke on the Water just a second ago (laughs). Last UMS we only had one EP released, so this year we’ll have a little more to draw from. We’re actually a five piece band now; our friend Scott just joined in, so you can expect some more harmonies and hair. Lots of hair. Yeah, this year we’ve got a lot more hair. Plus, August will be a good month for shows, we’ve got a lot of things planned. August is when we’ll be grindin’. 

(U5280) Who’s the most likely to be catching Pokemon between shows?

(NP) Nick, and that’s only because I can’t afford the mother fucking data. Nick will be playing Pokemon Go and I’ll be playing Gameboy. 

(U5280) Which band member is most likely to bring out the short shorts to beat the heat? 

(NP) Nick, Nick too. I’m the band member most likely to be wearing tight black pants in the heat. All of us. We actually only play with people who wear tight black pants. Except Scott, he’s wearing blue pants. They’re still tight, though. 

(U5280) Any advice for this year’s UMS goers? 

(List ensues). 

Ignore your hangover. 
Carry a flask because it gets expensive. 
Go to Piehole for a dollar beer. 
Don’t be a jerk. 
Take it too the limit. 
Do not bum cigarettes from the Hi-dive basement.

(NP) Well, my favorite part of the UMS weekend is really just hanging out with people for the same reason. It’s going to be a good time. 

Catch Flaural at Mainstage on Saturday at 3:30 during UMS. 

Music | Plume Varia Music Video Release "Slumber/Altar"

Plume Varia are on a mission. It's normal for bands to release new music in some sort of consistent manner, but this lovely ambient duo from Denver are working hard to release new music in creative, artistic ways instead of the good ol' SoundCloud or iTunes link. This month they bring to us two songs, "Slumber" and "Altar", being released together in an incredibly unique music video that was filmed and recorded live, all in one take. Vocalist Cherie Cobbs took the time to answer some questions for us about this unique new experiment, so go ahead, turn on the video, jam out, and read along into to depths of this one-of-a-kind experiment. 

for this interview, questions from Ultra5280 will be labeled with "MC" for editor Maddie Casey, and answers will be noted with "PV" for Cherie Cobbs of Plume Varia.

 MC: Not many bands chose to do live music videos, yet yours seems to capture your songs beautifully. Do you feel like your choice to use live audio with your video was worth the difficulty of mixing and working with it? 
PV: We have long wanted to make a video but struggled to identify an approach that would result in something authentic and honest. This year we are focused on quarterly 2-song releases and thought that for our Spring release - if we found the right director/visual artist we could create a live performance video that answered both the need to present an artistic view of a snapshot in time, while our music was being offered up exactly as it would be at a live show. This project presented a unique challenge in that we had to solve for the difficulties you encounter when attempting to capture live audio. Once those logistics were worked through, we were able to meet with our director and got the recording done within a couple of hours. The concept of recording both songs straight through in a single take is also a challenge of course, in that if you make a mistake, you have to start all over. In the end the process was definitely worth the effort because we believe the video is great representation of what we do.

MC: You have been releasing a lot of concept work recently, which we love. What made you choose to pair these particular two songs together for this project? Is there any kind of artistic statement/significance behind the duality of this video compared to the songs being performed? 
PV: We are obsessed with finding balance in duality.  On a surface level this release represents one of our oldest songs (Altar) paired with our newest song (Slumber).  On a deeper level the messaging and theme of both songs is very similar.  These are songs that explore the conclusion of romantic relationships.  With Slumber, you have brief, concise phrases while the message of Altar is drowned in a lot of superfluous language... The concept of duality was present in this music video as well.  Our director worked tirelessly to weave the straight-forward performance footage with the alternate, darker concept footage. 
The balance between the surreal footage and the straight-forward footage could be easily be considered symbolic; on some level there is a distinction between what one see's and what one feels.  There is a lot of movement in this video even though we were standing in the same spot for 10 minutes.  One could argue that where your feet are need not indicate where your thoughts are, and in this way the video speaks to the dizzied effect of love, conflict and change.  The overall effect conveys peace, duress, calm and chaos.

MC: For someone who's never seen Plume Varia but who watches this video, what would you want to say about your live show compared to this live video? 
PV: In our live performances we strive to represent a broad range of emotions through sound variations and instrumentation... This video is a great introduction to what we do but in each performance we try to stretch, we try to engage, we try to make an audience stop and consider.  Our hope is that we make even one connection where a listener finds themselves in a moment that sounds beautiful, that feels like the truth and that makes them want to hear more.

MC: How did you come to find and work with your director Lisa Kingsbury?
PV: We had the good fortune to meet and work with Lisa for a previous project where she created original visual artistry to be used for projections at one of our shows last year.  When we decided to attempt a live music video, we reached out again to explain the idea. We met Lisa and her partner, Alex Clem in early February to record the video.  Lisa and Alex are thoughtful, intelligent artists who shared their ideas, inspiration (drawings) as well as the technical prowess with cameras, lighting, design and a very unique editing approach to deliver on our hope.  In the end, we are thrilled with the result and admire and respect Lisa greatly and look forward to partnering again soon.

MC: What can we expect next from Plume Varia?
PV: Our goal for 2015 is to continue to release new music.  We hope to have a summer release available late June/early July. We've met so many talented local musicians that it seems likely we may solicit some to join us on a future release. We would also like to branch out regionally a bit, as well as plan out some mini-tours before years end.  
In the immediate sense however, we are looking forward to Friday, March 20th when we will join some of our local favorites - Snake Rattle Rattle Snake and Pale Sun at Hi-Dive in Denver.