Last week, I had the opportunity to interview one of my absolute favorite local bands, The Dune Flowers. Unfortunately, the band's drummer, Jeff, was unable to make it, but Oscar, George, and Tyler are genuinely some of the funniest and nicest guys I've ever gotten the chance to meet. They are going to blow the fuck UP! like, no fucking joke, so I HIGHLY suggest checking them out immediately!!!!
Would you guys mind introducing yourselves?
Oscar:
Well, I’m Oscar
Tyler:
Yeah just Oscar, that’s all you need to know
George:
I’m George
Tyler:
Hey I’m Tyler. Jeff’s not here.
I think I saw his band actually, Stranger
Tyler:
Yeah that was when I played bass with them!
George:
We’ll pretend like he’s here
How did you all meet and start playing music together?
George:
Tyler and I have been friends outside of music since middle school. We met a friend in junior or senior year of high school who played the guitar, so I gave Tyler a guitar and I got some drums and then the three of us started jamming. Oscar had his own thing going on.
Oscar:
Yeah, a really shitty band called Every Other Weekend and then we played together with their group, Red Couch. The first show we played together was at Chase Fest. Every Other Weekend didn’t last for very long, and then everybody left for school and we were the leftovers of Westminster
Tyler:
Yeah, I did a solo project and someone asked me to play somewhere, I had no one to play with and Oscar was here. I knew him kind of, I didn’t really know him that well, he weirded me out for like half a year. And George obviously was a close friend so that started and then
Oscar:
COLIN
Tyler:
Yeah Colin, he used to play drums for us. He goes to Maryland (university) now, so Jeff’s playing drums
Where did the name The Dune Flowers come from?
Tyler:
We don’t have a very good story
George:
It was a group message just throwing band names out and then Tyler threw The Dune Flowers out
Oscar:
Flowers sounded nice
George:
Yeah, flowers are cool
Oscar:
It’s like the worst story ever
Tyler:
Yeah I wish we had something cooler for you
I’ve heard a lot worse, it’s a really cool name
Tyler:
We like flowers so we thought it would be a cool thing
George:
We like sunshine, dunes get a lot of sun, you know
How would you describe your music in three words?
Tyler:
Jangly
George:
Jangly, zippy, rock
Oscar:
Diddy bop!
George:
I like jangly and diddy tunes
Oscar:
They sound like characters in a kid’s book or something
Tyler:
Definitely jangly, definitely diddly
Oscar:
I don’t even think diddly is a real word
George:
I don’t think we’re diddy boppy though, diddy bop reminds me of The Wiggles
Oscar:
I think of the song Her Majesty as a diddy. I think we’re diddy, not diddy bop
George:
How about throwing foot tapping in there. Foot tappin jangles
Tyler:
Jangly, diddy, foot tapping
Oscar:
What about foot tappin diddlejang
George:
I like foot tappin as the first word
Tyler:
I think we got it
George:
The Dune Flowers, they’re jangly doo da foot tapping!
Oscar:
Foot tappin first definitely sets a nice..
George:
Foot tapping jangly jams, how about that. What do you have?
Definitely jangly, definitely foot tapping, third one is kind of debatable, you know
Tyler:
I don’t wanna give an adjective, I don’t wanna give jams because all music is a jam
George:
We don’t jam at all, we play songs
Oscar:
Yeah I definitely agree with that. Like, for most groups you can have people who can fill in, if someone’s great at guitar they can fill in, but we have songs where we write each part, you know what I mean?
George:
Foot tapping, jangly tunes
Tyler:
No, not tunes man... Jangly, foot tapping diddys
George and Oscar: That’s it!
Oscar:
That sounds smooth on my tongue
Has your local music scene or any music scene in general influenced your music in any way?
George:
I don’t think anybody that we know tries to make the kind of music that we make
Oscar: I think that everything that you listen to is inspiration because if I listen to Toby Keith, I know what not to make. He’s a country guy. I think that if we were the first group to ever be from here, it’d be a lot harder because we wouldn’t really know venues to play or a venue not to play. It’s like, how other people can have success or fail and we kind of learn from that, that kind of inspiration but musically, I don’t think so
George:
We don’t pull a sound from anybody around here. We’re trying to be very unique in that aspect. We’re lucky that no one else we know around here is doing what we’re doing
Tyler:
I think the only scene that’s going on now that we would pull from is that garage rock
George: We’re the only band that’s worried about harmonies, you know
Oscar: Those are hard man
Tyler: Yeah, people around here are really into the synth-pop wave kind of stuff, which is cool, I like that music, but I feel like most people around here are like that
George:
And the jam bands
Oscar:
I don’t really know what the other groups are like, but like, George doesn’t go to school, I’m not going to school, Tyler’s going to school soon, but I don’t have a plan B. I’m playing music for fun, but I wanna play music forever. I’m not trying to half-ass it.
George:
We can apply ourselves to more of a respectable scene, you know. We could fit into a grunge scene just for our personalities, but musically we play more of an appropriate kind of sound.
Oscar:
Appropriate meaning, if a mom heard it, they wouldn't be like.....
George:
We have a more appealing sound to all audiences. We’re a general kind of sound.
What can we expect from your upcoming album, Lookin Fine?
Oscar:
Nine songs, maybe eight and a half
Tyler: What everyone can expect are songs that we’ve been playing for awhile, it’s almost our whole set that people have been hearing, minus a couple songs. It’s all the songs we’ve played all through this past half a year
George:
Let’s not leave it at something that people can associate with a memory like, exciting, new-age, old time pop sounds
Tyler:
It’s just a rock and roll album with some surf rock and garage rock influence
Oscar:
There’s nothing crazy, you’ve got a rhythm guitar strumming, a lead guitar doing a melody, maybe some harmonies, but there’s a vocal part, bass part, drum part
George:
There’s still a lot of blood, sweat, and tears though
Oscar:
Yeah, it’s just super straight forward
What’s your favorite part about playing shows?
Oscar:
All the people, I love it so much
Tyler:
It feels really good when people compliment your music, playing for people and playing for people that enjoy what you’re doing is my favorite part. I don’t even have to play for that many people, I could play for 10 people and if all 10 people were digging it, that would be the best thing ever.
Oscar:
I love making people happy. I love when people are pumped, I like seeing people excited. Whenever I see people bummed out, it bums me out and I don’t like being bummed out. So if people are hyped, that means I’m hyped.
Are there any venues or cities that have been your #1?
Oscar:
FOR SURE Richmond, that was the best show ever, the Idiot Box
Tyler:
It was us, Blake Ruby, and the Ledgesleepers, it was super fun. Shoutout to Ben Chase who set that show up, and to the Ledgesleepers and Blake for being super fucking awesome
Who are some of your favorite local artists?
Tyler:
Modern Nomad, Dwellingville,
George:
Duskwhales
Oscar:
Hatch are awesome. I listen to a ton of The Beetles, but I’ve never played with a group that I listen to as much as I listen to The Beetles, but Makeup Girl and Hatch are two bands that I listen to on the daily. I’ve never had an experience where I’ve played with a group and listen to the on the daily.
George:
Del Sur
Tyler:
Jeff’s new stuff is sick, Jeff Draco, cool thing he’s doing. I feel like most of the bands who have been consistent around here are pretty good. I feel like everyone’s doing their own kind of thing.
George:
Shoutout to the true locals, the most fun band to listen to, Foggy May. They’re incredible.
I want to thank The Dune Flowers for letting me interview them, truly truly truly some of the coolest guys I've met. Check out their social medias and music and what not!
pictures and words by eva
