Flowers for the Dead Talks New Music Ahead of Their Single Release Show

By Olivia Mezzullo

Flowers for the Dead is a DC-based alternative rock band comprised of Jessie Szegö (lead vocals/guitar), Ella Buskirk (bass/vocals), and Ricky Martinez/Ten Bears (drums). Fresh off an impressive run of shows – opening for Snail Mail, Horse Jumper of Love, and Feeble Little Horse within the past six months – Flowers is ready to show the world what makes them one of the most promising acts coming out of DC.

Ahead of their headlining show at Songbyrd this Thursday, which is both a release show and a tour kickoff, Flowers sat down to discuss their first record with the current band lineup, their creative process as a group, and what to expect from their upcoming run of shows.

Q: How are all of you feeling leading up to the show and release of the single?

Jessie: Very excited, it feels surreal. Like we've been planning this for so long. And it's like one of those things where it's finally happening. And it's been in the works for months.

Q: I saw you all were just in the Washington Post, how did that happen?

Ella: I just opened my phone and went on Instagram. And I was like, Oh, I’m mentioned by name in that. That's cool.

Jessie: Full government name in the Washington Post is crazy.

Ricky: Our friend sent it to us over text. And then yeah, we were there. Someone just wrote about us.

Jessie: And we've been trying to find the actual paper all day. But apparently, I don't know how newspapers work… they change them out every day. So we can't find yesterday's paper, but we’re trying to find more.

Q: What can we expect from the release show this Thursday?

Jessie: The CD with a special track on it.

Ells: We're playing a lot of songs off the new album actually. So if people want to hear unreleased stuff.

Jessie: I guess we’re debuting our dresses.

Ella: We got these like, vintage 1950s party dresses that are kind of like matching, yeah. And that's going to be like our new uniform.

Jessie:  Yeah, they're really itchy and uncomfortable. But we're only going to wear them for a little bit. But, they're super pretty and we're going to take them on the tour. So we don't have to pack show outfits for every single show, because we're just gonna be wearing the same dress the whole time.

Q: Are there any particular albums or artists that you all were listening to that influenced the new project?

Jessie:  I'm always inspired by The Breeders, I don't think that'll ever go away. So definitely The Breeders. I was also listening to a lot of PJ Harvey when I was making some of the songs on the album.

Ricky: Yeah, same for me, definitely The Breeders. Feeble Little Horse was definitely something we always had playing in the car. Snail Mail [as well], Ray’s drumming has a huge influence on me.

Ella: I'm blanking on specifics, but I like a lot of folk music and things with interesting harmonies and strings. And so I feel like I've kind of brought that to Flowers.

Q: How have you been working to establish the band’s artistic vision outside of the music? Do you have any plans for music videos or anything like that?

Ella: Yeah, just using a couple of local artists that we're friends with. Those will come along with the singles probably, within the same timeframe.

Jessie: Videos are definitely something we want to dive into. I feel like we all have so much going on in our heads that we're picturing when we're writing and playing. And it just sucks that we can't get it out of there. I think it'll be cool to finally have some solid visuals to represent our music.

Q: How has the band’s creative and recording process evolved with the new lineup?

Jessie: It's like the biggest difference ever. I feel like Ella was the missing piece. And Ricky, honestly, too, but Ricky joined a little bit earlier. I've been here for a while, but the recording process completely changed. Before, it was it's always been mainly just me writing the songs promoting them – the whole art direction was just put on to me, and I just had some random people playing the instruments, but it was never fully what I wanted. And I was always craving that type of collaboration that I just couldn't find with the people I was playing with at the time. I'm still really proud of the stuff that we have out, but it doesn't feel as special because I wasn't good friends with any of them. The recording process of our new album was the complete opposite. It was very hands-on; Ella was very involved, same with Ricky.

Ricky: Even when I joined the band, I would only help every now and then. But I think it's different now that there's another woman in the band. It's like, I couldn't connect with Jessie in that mind. You know what I mean? We're both big creatives, but it's just a whole different energy. I think Jessie and Ella just instantly, connected in a way that I can't. Not because I don't want to, it's just different.

Ella:  I think it's just kind of magic. I happened to come into this with a very unique skill set. I've been playing the cello since I was in elementary school. And I've been singing and writing harmonies since I was a kid. So it just felt like “Oh, I am totally prepared to do this.” That's so crazy. That is exactly what this band needs right now. And I'm just qualified and I happen to be here. Yeah, it just feels really exciting.

Q: How did Ella join the band?

Jessie: I made a public post about looking for a bassist. And a couple people hit me up. And I was picking and choosing who I wanted. And then we landed on Ella. I remember her telling me something about not wanting flowers to die.

Ella: I was in a place where I didn't have any internet. And the one hour I had internet my friend Guin called me and she was like, “You need to join Flowers for the Dead today. You need to go on Instagram and respond to their story or else Flowers is going to die.” It was one of my favorite bands – I was like “Let me hop in because I need this to keep going.”

Jessie: And not only did it keep going but it got better.

Ricky: Yeah honestly, it blossomed into a whole different thing, I think the band is renewed.

Q: What makes Flowers special to you all?

Jessie: I feel like for me, it's just the people that are in it. That's what's so cool about playing in different bands: playing with different people and seeing musically how you connect and how you play with certain people. But I think Flowers is special because it's us. And each of us are different people and our minds are coming together to make this cool thing. And I never know what's going to happen next with Flowers, like musically. I'm very open to growing and writing different stuff. You can't recreate it, because it's us, you know, we're each special in our own way. And we come together to make something even more unique.

Ricky: Yeah, I feel the same way. This is like a huge passion project. And I can tell we're fully linked together and this is a big thing that we all equally put our like hearts into. It's definitely something different than just any other band I've been in. There's so much more that I can see for the band and us as people. I'm so excited to see what big thing is waiting for us.

Ella: To me, Flowers is a symbol of resilience. As a woman, I'm always getting these messages: you need to be smaller, you need to be quieter, you can't do this. And I feel like ours is like, actually, fuck you. Yes, I can. And I can build this and it's mine. And there's no man telling me this is how you do this. It's like we're just forging our own path. And that's very empowering. With the music in this next album, there's a lot of really empowering messages and it's just cool to feel like we're making something that can be healing for people, that could make a difference in someone's life. To have this song that's like: “Oh, I had an experience like this too.” And it's cool that someone's talking about it.

Jessie: Yeah, for sure. And I think as much as it's empowering for other people, the process was empowering for all of us. It's not only just we're playing music because it's fun. It helps us grow as people.

Ella: I also think that music is such a great way to process trauma. It becomes fluid and not stuck in your brain, it becomes real and outside of you. It becomes something bigger than yourself.

See Flowers for the Dead at their single release show this Thursday at Songbyrd in DC. You can purchase tickets here.