Flipper Madness
Flipper, San Fransiscan punk band borne in 1979, cannot be stopped. Ever touring, they are in the midst of wowing Aussie audiences as we speak. Type. Whatever. The Dwarf had a brief chat with Ted Falconi, guitarist, on all things Flipper.
How have you guys seen punk evolve over the years? How does one compare the punk of the 1970s to that of today?
There is no comparison. The original punk movement had a reason and a purpose for existing. Now it's just trendy. In the late 70s no band sounded like any other band. The point was to be original and unique to yourself. Soon after that the idea became to sound like every other band in the scene. You had to look a certain way and sound a certain way in order to be a punk. That's not how it should be.
What has kept the band together for all these years?
I guess it's the excitement of playing live shows and writing great songs and making great albums. It's a great outlet for being creative.
Tell us about the latest record [Love].
The latest record took a while to do. Mostly because there was a thousand miles between where we all live. So we had to plan for writing and recording sessions. We would call them Band Camp sessions. We would get together for Band Camp for a week or ten days at a time. We would work on writing and recording songs as we got together. We would work in live shows as well. We ended up recording some of those live shows as well and ended up with a studio and a live album. Love and Fight.
How does it feel to have had such a profound influence on people, especially other notable musicians?
That is pretty cool. To have had an influence on some of the greatest bands in the world, is a pretty great accomplishment. We've also touched a lot of our fans lives in positive ways. That is a great thing as well. A lot of people have told us that our songs have gotten them through some tuff times.
What do you want Aussie fans to get out of your live shows?
We want them to get drunk and laid.
Desert Island Discs...say, top five?
Generic Flipper
Gone Fishin'
Public Flipper Limited
Sex Bomb Baby!
Love / Fight
Nice. What is the future for Flipper?
More shows, more albums, more tours, more Flipper Madness!
Flipper still have a few shows left in Oz, don't miss out!
11 Jun- The Step Inn- Brisbane
12 Jun- Australian National University Bar- Canberra
13 Jun- Manning Bar- Sydney University
14 Jun- Cambridge Hotel- Newcastle
http://www.myspace.com/flipper
