“We make music for people who are working through trauma,” drummer Charlie DeBolt says. “It’s good music for metabolizing a major growth period in your life.”
The band’s catalog falls more on the alt-rock side of shoegaze, especially on its debut self-titled EP, but last year’s come and adore EP introduced a potent blend of their old sound with a newfound harshness that evokes raw, driving energy.
Guitarist Steven Martinez is the main creative force behind the band, with songs usually spurring off an idea members have been sitting on or emotions they’ve been working through.
“I listen to a lot of heavy music,” Martinez says. “Deftones, black metal and just a lot of music in general. I also listen to reggae.”
The EP is the first release under their current lineup, and it immediately feels more aggressive and intense than their previous two records. Martinez and DeBolt rip through “hide,” skating over bassist/vocalist Bobby Biggs’ floor-shaking basslines and melancholic singing. DeBolt shepherds the band through “need” with intentional, well-placed transitional fills while Martinez plays ascending riffs and Biggs’ voice hangs listlessly like a fog far off in the background. “heavy rain” is a nonstop downpour of bass to the face from Biggs as the band lays back and simmers in a lower register.
“We released come and adore, and it feels like the opportunities have been ever-abundant since putting that out,” DeBolt says. “That was also the first thing I got to record drums on, so that’s a good sign when the first time we’re putting something down in the studio as the new lineup is the best-received material so far.”
Flowerbed originated five years ago when Martinez decided to give in and become part of the chaos. Biggs, who’d only recently picked up bass, got happily roped in.
“I used to live in a house venue,” Martinez says. “A bunch of homies would come over and we'd just jam.”
They’ve gone through several lineup changes since then, but for the last three years have worked as a three-piece with founding members Martinez and Biggs, and DeBolt, who joined the band shortly after the pandemic.
“I do a lot of booking as well, and during the shutdown I was doing a lot of livestream benefit events,” DeBolt says. “For one of the later ones I hit up Flowerbed and they mentioned they'd just had their last drummer leave, and I had always wanted to play in a band that sounded like them. I waited a little while because I didn't wanna seem too overzealous about it, but after a couple of weeks I messaged them like, ‘Hey, I also play drums and would be very interested in helping fill that spot if it's available.’”
DeBolt brings an explosiveness that wasn’t present on the band’s earlier projects, with playing that somehow feels at once reserved and animalistic. The drums used to fall a bit flat behind the onslaught of sound, but now they’re sharper and more vibrant than ever.
Rolling With the Homies
“Since the riffs are kept pretty heavy, I love to dabble with the way that I tune the drum kit,” DeBolt says. “I love to crank the shit out of the snare and then keep the toms as low as I can without just making them completely dead. This is the one band that I'll crank my snare to [Metallica album] St. Anger-level tightness for.”Right now, Flowerbed's focus is writing new material and rocking shows. Starting on Aug. 16, they’ll play a four-day string of gigs with past collaborators Heavytrip that kicks off in their OG neck of the woods, Durant, Oklahoma, and wraps up on Aug. 19 at Club Dada in Deep Ellum with Midrift and Audiobaton. One of the stops they’re hitting in between is an underground scene on the verge of blowing up.
“We’re doing a show in Tyler, which is probably Texas’ best-kept secret right now,” DeBolt says. “There’s not a lot of bands, but the kids out there are so thirsty for any kind of live music. A show could be three touring bands and one local, and they’ll still have 100 people come out because they wanna see what those touring bands are about.”
New music is in the works, but there's no set schedule for its release. So, the best way to get lost in Flowerbed’s sea of sound is by catching them on stage.
Life on the road can be tough, but the highlights often outweigh the drudgery that goes on in between. One of the band’s biggest turnouts so far was at NOT STOCK, a sold-out 600-person show at Tulips back in January. At this point, the members in Flowerbed have been through enough to know that they need to plan ahead for long stretches of performances to avoid getting too burned out.
“We’re making sure we’re spreading them out so we should be able to come back to our own beds every night," DeBolt says. “We don’t drink too heavily, and since I play drums I do a lot of stretching.”
“I’m just looking forward to hanging out with the homies,” Martinez adds.
