By Lisa Morgan
This band will definitely leave you flustered, in the best way. You’ll want to hear and see more of this fresh yet classically timeless, rocking original goodness. I had the opportunity to sit in on a rehearsal, and I was completely won over. The unspoken synchronicity between these players is tangible. The music they play comes from a hard earned discipline, but flows bright, warm and easy like the music it’s inspired by (the great Dick Dale, Roy Orbinson, Link Wray, Grizzly Bear, Jeff Buckley, and Richie Valens) should be. But it is not by any means cliché. The lyrical themes are honest and relatable. There is nothing “Poppy” about this band other than their destined growing popularity. These young passionate players are easy on the eyes, especially in their signature black and white, tailored suits. But more importantly, the way they maintain their authentic grasp on the classic material they’re inspired by, while delivering elements from more contemporary greats, while never losing their own very clear identity is absolutely masterful. Add in the rich, dreamy vocals of front man, Dougie VanSant and good luck finding anything not to love about this band.
“A lot of these songs have lived on repeat in my mind over the last 5 years,” shared lead vocalist, guitarist, Dougie VanSant. “It’s taken me so long to be able to conceptualize and produce a project with any group of people until now. The end result would always be a collection of five songs that belong on five different records. You could just feel that the energy didn’t live together. Our styles are very different, but we’ve developed our sound together. We just want to make a great album. All parts of that include tone, sound and aesthetic – filling open spaces tastefully and not playing on top of each other. We want to be professional about the way we create music, not just in how we perform it.”
“From every musical avenue, the support I’ve experienced here is like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” chimed in guitarist, vocalist, Danny White. That is saying a lot considering his wanderings have exposed him to music communities in Jackson, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennesse and New Orleans. “We haven’t asked to play any shows other than the very first one we played, ‘Doo Wop in the Desert’. The music community here has been really great about receiving us.”
“It’s been a big part of us believing that this could be more than just one really good album,” VanSant added. “It allows us to earn our spurs as a band as opposed to the bigger cities where you’d be hard pressed to find a receptive audience. It gives us even more inspiration to tighten it up and take it out to places like LA, Nashville, and our hometowns in Mississippi and Philadelphia. We have a lot of fun, but it’s a byproduct of doing the work and being focused. We know what we want to produce.”
The Flusters are: Dougie VanSant (Lead Vocals, Guitar), Danny White (Guitar, Vocals), Mario Estrada (Bass), and Chris O’Sullivan (Drums)
Make sure you catch them on the mobile 111 Music Festival as well as on the Festival Lawn, Main Stage at 4:15 p.m.
Follow them on their website: theflusters.com
