After establishing themselves with a string of wondrous delights these last few months, fast-rising outfit The Open Flames are now looking to cement their dynamic legacy to date with the release of their hotly-tipped debut album 'Same Time Next Year'.
Featuring the previously shared gems 'Drop A Coin', 'Falling Up' and 'Eat Alone', this new seven-track collection makes for an incredibly rich and riveting listen. With its rich and shimmering textures, captivating atmosphere, and infectious hooks layered throughout, 'Same Time Next Year' makes for a vibrant introduction to their sound so far.
So with the new album available to stream now, we sat down with drummer Evan Sult to find out more about his origins and what has been inspiring him most recently.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
When we were in high school, DC decided that he wanted to be in a band, so he looked at our little group of friends and basically assigned us each instrument: I was one of the guitarists. My dad is a guitarist and a banjo player, so I had some experience with guitar, but DC was talking about electric guitar, which was new to me. But I took a guitar class and pretty quickly fell in love with everything about the electric guitar. I didn’t actually start playing drums until college, when I lived in a house in Seattle with a drum set and a roommate who was willing to show me the most basic elements. Then I was hooked.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Of course there was always The Beatles in my home, but I was mostly a child of the radio, so I remember a lot of music washing over me like weather: The Cars, Phil Collins, Scorpions, White Lion, Cutting Crew, whatever was on the radio. Not a genre but an era. I remember loving “Rock Me Amadeus” and “Sledgehammer” and “U Got the Look” and Cinderella ‘Somebody Save Me” — which I realized much later meant that I was really responding to inventive production as much as anything. That was valuable to me the more I got into actually making music myself. It wasn’t until I heard Pavement, though, that it occurred to me that music could actually pertain to my inner person. Before that I heard it as something made by stars who lived on the Sunset Strip or whatever, nothing that had anything to do with some kid in the Pacific Northwest.
What was the first album you remember owning?
Ha! My first cassettes were Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night” (I think I was responding as much to his shiny purple jacket on the cover as anything) and the “Ghostbusters” soundtrack. My sister’s first cassette, purchased the same day, was Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” so you can tell which of us had the better musical taste. I do also remember a little plastic record player with Elvis Presley’s albums and a dramatisation of the movie “The Black Hole”… which I never actually saw, just heard on record.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
The drum part I’m probably most envious of is Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” It’s not super noticeable or super hard to play, but as you listen to that beat and its relationship to the shaker and the other instruments, it’s just absolutely perfect, like a perpetual motion machine. It’s my dream to write a pattern that is perfect, that a band could hang a whole song on.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Personally, I like to write for a while, then smoke a bit of weed and keep writing. Not to party, but as a way to open the mind to possibilities and ways of hearing patterns, ways of arranging the pieces. Both the sober mind and (moderately) high mind are often needed to complete the process. I should mention that this is for the writing process; playing shows, there’s no weed involved. Beer, sure, but playing a show is chaotic enough without adding weed.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
I am smitten with Lambrini Girls from Brighton. I was blown away by their first single, “God’s Country,” and while that’s still my favorite, the new album is a banger from first to last. It’s tough and funny and sincerely pissed off and frankly political all at once. So cool. There’s also a virtually unknown band in St. Louis called (unfortunately) Sexdad. I think I’ve listened to them more than literally anyone else on Earth besides the band members. Great lyrics, great attitude, a real range of styles… I don’t even know if they’re still a band, but I think they’re so damn good.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Hmm, that’s a tough one. I tend not to think in terms of giant venues because I don’t actually enjoy attending shows at those sorts of places… but I have to admit that they’re really fun places to play. And honestly, after a long time of doing this from basically all of the positions — major label band, tiny indie band, touring band, local band, etc — opening a single show for a favorite band doesn’t actually do all that much. But if I tweak the question to talk about a band I’d like to open for on a tour leg? I think Death Cab For Cutie would be a great one. The Pixies. Pavement. The Dismemberment Plan. Spoon.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
The thing about being anything other than a fabulously successful celebrated band is: you have to find the whole process rewarding. You have to enjoy writing songs, playing shows, visiting other cities to play music there, and meeting other music people. You have to find it fun right now, rather than fantasise about a time when it’ll all be worth it. For most musicians, the process has to be worth it. If it’s not — either figure out a way to find it rewarding (like, don’t tour if you hate sleeping away from home) or quit playing. It’s too demanding if you’re not actually having fun. For me, I love all of those parts, so it continues to be fun and rewarding.
And what is the most frustrating part?
It really bums me out that music has no inherent financial value: almost no one pays for music or even thinks of music as being something that is worth paying money to listen to. Music costs a lot of money to create, but the paths to making that money back are almost gone. Happily, there’s a core of true music fans who understand that paying musicians for their music — through Bandcamp or at merch tables or band sites, whatever — and they are a huge buoy. Also, I’ve found that not depending on music for money makes this dumb problem less galling. If I treat it as a creative act that doesn’t require remuneration, and find my remuneration another way, I’m way less frustrated.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Jim Eno from Spoon once told me, as we watched the drummer at a Creeper Lagoon set, “Whoa, check out his left foot!” That one conversation made me drum differently.
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The Open Flames' debut album 'Same Time Next Year' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.