Louisville natives will certainly remember when FLAW was just an upcoming band with a bright future ahead of them. In the nineties there was much musical talent getting the recognition they deserved in this city, but everyone knew FLAW and from what I remember everyone wanted them to make it big. While they found more success that most bands ever achieve they suffered a break up somewhere around the eight year mark. This was the beginning of a very difficult period for the band that would drag out for another eight years. Coming back together for brief periods and bringing with them various different lineups these inconsistences continued until late 2013 when the original Through The Eyes members reformed. While the struggles weren’t entirely over it’s clear the band had started to regain some footing. After going separate ways from Lance Arny and Chris Ballinger and bringing a new drummer Corey Sturgill it appears as though FLAW has again found a winning formula.
In April of 2015 the band released “Bleed Red” and their fans are eagerly awaiting the next album. Playing Louder Than Life for the second year in a row, we took the opportunity to catch up with Jason Daunt and get his insight into the band and their new record.
UG: Hey Jason nice to meet you, we’re The Unpaid Gamers.
Jason: Which is perfect for me I’m the band gamer.
UG: Awesome, What’s your favorite game?
Jason: I’m a medieval role playing…
UG: Elder scrolls?
Jason: It would be right now except for the touring, but It’s difficult since its only online. Dragon Age right now for the PS4 as far as a non-PC type of game. Just because you don’t have to be online to play. Elder scrolls its just….unfortunately you can’t play unless you’re online, even story mode isn’t available.
UG: Yeah we certainly understand that. Let’s talk about you guys. Congratulations on getting one of the original lineups back together. Currently you have three of the founding members, how are things different this time around as opposed to when you first started the band?
Jason: Starting out we were kids. We were sleeping in cars in random spots, especially Chris and myself. We didn’t really appreciate anything more than playing music and not seeing the further horizon. We didn’t look at it as any type of career or anything long term. Without social media being so big then….I think in ways we didn’t get firsthand experience as to what it really meant to people, so we made big mistakes. Getting back together we decided if we are going to do it, we do it right this time. Very few people get second chances and its a privilege this time just to be able to truly appreciate how lucky we are to able to do this. Very few people can do it and very few people can do it for any period of time and really have that sort of band connection that we get and it’s an honor and a privilege.
UG: It’s no doubt that you guys have a rough few years? How did the reunion come about?
Jason: Chris and I got together and initially just started talking. We have been best friends since we were kids, so to me the issues between him and I were as bad as the band not being together. If it was going to happen it had to be both. Had to be him and I becoming that team we were and deciding to do it right. So we started talking and then started talking with Brian our bass player. We decided that we wanted to right the wrong turn we made in the middle of a career for us.
UG: This year you released “Bleed Red” which is an awesome track by the way. It’s one of my favorites.
Jason: Thank You
UG: What has the fan reaction been like for the song?
Jason: It’s been great and it’s actually in the live set. We will do it today I think, actually I know! But it’s been really good. The new album has been written now for some time and honestly about two albums worth of material have been written. The business side has been the slow thing. As anxious as people are to have it out, we’re more anxious. Obviously going to shows you can’t do a lot of new material if you don’t have it out yet. People want to hear what they know and we try to cater as much as we can to that. It’s expensive to go to shows now and everyone should walk away feeling good. Feeling like they made the right decision when they came to see whoever it is…Be it us or anyone. I think the band has a responsibility to the fans to do that, so we were happy to release “Bleed Red” first. I wouldn’t say truly release, just for a test to get something out there. We tracked a couple like that and honestly “Bleed Red” was sort of a flip of the coin as far as which one we were going to release. There honestly wasn’t a… it wasn’t just marketing. We were kind of torn and wanted to see what people thought about it. I’d say its indicative on where we came from and sort of give an idea on where we’re probably going with this album. It sounds like FLAW but obviously times change and it has to change to some extent. I think this album will show that, it will be heavy! People won’t be disappointed with that; It will be a heavier album. It will still have the melody people will want to hear, it will still have the hooks, but we are going to keep it intense.
UG: That song is awesome…
Jason: That’s the ballad so…
UG: You’re still shopping around label support for the new album correct?
Jason: Yeah. I can’t go too far into it and where we are in the process, but we are talking more specifically to one label more than the others and this time its… This time we do want the label to happy with us, but more importantly we need to be happy and feel like the label is going to put us in the position where we are going to have a career. Unfortunately it’s a tough industry and if you make the wrong decision…..A lot of good bands sink on one wrong decision when they’re choosing where to go.
UG: We are Louisville natives, and I remember you guys playing Tek World all the time back in the day. You have definitely come a long way since then with playing Louder Than Life, and really doing well despite the rough patches. How does it feel to have come such a long way?
Jason: It feels great to be able to do it again. Chris and myself kind of look at this as a rebirth. There were some issues when we went out with portions of the band and this and that. We are looking this as.. Well our fan base is still there, but to start over. We want to regroup and prove that we belong here doing this. Part of that is just reconnecting with our fans and touring our asses off.
UG: One thing that I think flaw is known for is bringing so much energy and excitement to each performance. What’s a preshow like for you guys? Do you have any sort of ritual or do you do anything to get pumped up?
Jason: Yeah, everyone has their own kind of preshow ritual I guess. For me at least I’m sort of by myself and just sort of pacing and getting in that frame of mind. Trying to connect with what I’m about to indulge the crowd in. You know…I’d say it’s different for all of us, but in the end it’s just to get hyped and to go out there and give people what they deserve. Tear it up!
Regardless of whatever difficulties FLAW has had in the past it seems that they are serious about making a comeback and taking full advantage of their second chance. From our meeting with Jason we could tell he is genuinely humbled by the band’s previous successes and failures. Eager to not let their career slip through their fingers, there is no doubt FLAW is hitting the rock scene with more intensity than we have ever seen in the past.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to catch the band live lately, the only glimpse into the future you have is the release “Bleed Red” and by the judge of that track they look to once again be taking the rock scene by storm.
You can currently catch FLAW on tour through the end of October and hosting their second annual FLAW-B-QUE on November 1st.
For more information on these events or the band visit their Official Facebook or The Official Site.
