{"id":28706,"date":"2025-01-14T05:30:26","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T10:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=28706"},"modified":"2025-01-21T11:39:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T16:39:24","slug":"flipturn-is-shining-light-on-a-personal-subject","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/14\/flipturn-is-shining-light-on-a-personal-subject\/","title":{"rendered":"flipturn Is Shining Light On a Personal Subject"},"content":{"rendered":"

This featured appeared previously in <\/em>SPIN<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The latest single from indie rockers flipturn has it both ways: \u201cSunlight\u201d is an alluring, catchy track that builds on the band\u2019s successful sonic character. But it\u2019s also a deeply personal song that explores issues from which many songwriters would shy away. \u201cSunlight\u201d was released November 21.<\/p>\n

The original flipturn trio of vocalist Dillon Basse, Tristan Duncan on guitar, and bassist Madeline Jarman came together in 2015 when all were high school seniors in Fernandina Beach, Florida. When it came time for college, the three remained close; both University of Florida in Gainesville and University of North Florida in Jacksonville are within a two-hour drive of their hometown. The band kept going; during their college years flipturn added Mitch Fountain on keyboards and drummer Devon VonBalson. That five-piece has remained constant ever since.<\/p>\n

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Photo credit: Amanda Laferriere @ajpgphoto<\/p><\/div>\n

The band began releasing singles in 2016; their debut album, Shadowglow<\/em> was released two years ago. 2024 has seen the release of three flipturn singles: the hypnotic and synthy \u201cRodeo Clown,\u201d \u201cJuno,\u201d and the brand-new \u201cSunlight.\u201d<\/p>\n

That latest single is built upon a very personal story. \u201cIt\u2019s very inspired by my family,\u201d Basse says, \u201cand by the past few years of stuff that\u2019s been going on.\u201d Basse\u2019s mom entered alcohol rehabilitation a year ago, and after a relapse, went back a second time. Friends of the band weren\u2019t sure how to react when they first learned the band was writing a song about Basse\u2019s family\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were like, \u2018Are you sure you want to talk about this stuff?\u2019\u201d Basse says. But he didn\u2019t see it as a major departure for the band. \u201cIt\u2019s not like this is the first time I\u2019m being vulnerable in a song,\u201d he says with a chuckle. \u201cIn a weird way, I\u2019m kind of vulnerable for a living.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSunlight\u201d addresses not only the central facts\u2014his mom\u2019s stint in rehab\u2014but the reaction by friends. \u201cEveryone\u2019s been asking me honey \/ How are you gonna handle yourself \/ Looking at the family tree \/ It might be something that you\u2019re dealt.\u201d The song is forthright and honest, but it\u2019s not a downer; as its title implies, \u201cSunlight\u201d demonstrates a clear-eyed acceptance of the challenges, shot through with rays of optimism.<\/p>\n

The song\u2019s pairing of serious lyric and bright melody is something that comes naturally to Dillon Basse. His family has long been immersed in Celtic folk. \u201cOne of the funny things about traditional Irish music is that you can hear the most upbeat song, and it\u2019ll be about a shipwreck,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

While it may not have been part of the plan when writing the song, \u201cSunlight\u201d may have\u2014in its own modest way\u2014helped make things a little better for Basse\u2019s family. \u201cMy family has grown so much from dealing with this,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve come out on the other side.\u201d Basse\u2019s mom has been sober for a year now. \u201cShe says that one thing that has kept her going through her sobriety is telling people about it,\u201d Basse says.<\/p>\n

The band has only very recently added \u201cSunlight\u201d to its live set; Basse says that the group doesn\u2019t even play it every night. And at the time of our conversation, flipturn is in the midst of a clutch of London dates, the band\u2019s first time touring in the U.K. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to play in London,\u201d says Basse. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t think we\u2019d be able to; I didn\u2019t think this many people listened to us over here!\u201d<\/p>\n

Basse says that the venues and audiences in the U.K. take him back to flipturn\u2019s early days, when the band had just started touring. \u201cWe were playing 200-300 cap[acity] venues,\u201d he says. The success of the London dates has already got Basse and his band mates thinking about a return. \u201cWe\u2019re going to try to come back next year and play some bigger venues,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

For the band\u2019s 2025 dates in the States, they\u2019ll be playing venues 10 to 20 times the size of those early gigs; that success is the culmination of a decade working to build a following and craft meaningful music. But starting small was key to the band\u2019s development, Basse says. \u201cA huge reason we were able to grow [an audience] in the U.S. was because people got to see that intimate exchange of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

That phrase applies not only to flipturn\u2019s onstage demeanor, but to its creative methods during the songwriting phase. While Basse is the group\u2019s primary lyricist, the whole group is involved in the process of creating and developing the songs.<\/p>\n

To make their upcoming second album, Burnout Days<\/em>\u2014and its advance single, \u201cSunlight,\u201d\u2014the five members of flipturn ensconced themselves in a cabin situated in the wooded mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. \u201cWe wanted this album to feel a little different from Shadowglow<\/em>,\u201d Basse says. \u201cSo we decided, \u2018Let\u2019s put ourselves in a completely different terrain from Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the backdrop for songwriting was somewhat pastoral, the songs that resulted from the writing sessions are decidedly modern. \u201cThis album has a lot more synth, more of an electronic feel,\u201d Basse says. But beyond the sound, flipturn\u2019s new music\u2014\u201cSunlight\u201d in particular\u2014emphasizes personal themes, sharing them in a way designed to resonate with listeners who can identify with the universal nature of those topics.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s right in line with Dillon Basse\u2019s approach to songwriting. \u201cI never want to be too specific,\u201d Basse says. \u201cI try to let listeners put themselves into the story.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This featured appeared previously in SPIN. The latest single from indie rockers flipturn has it both ways: \u201cSunlight\u201d is an alluring, catchy track that builds on the band\u2019s successful sonic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,41,49,51],"tags":[5585,5584],"class_list":["post-28706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indie","category-interview","category-new-release","category-pop","tag-dillon-basse","tag-flipturn","cat-39-id","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28706"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28947,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28706\/revisions\/28947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}