Interview with Flourishing guitarist and vocalist Garett Bussanick

If it is quality grindcore you are looking for then your search stops here. Recently Garett Bussanick, the guitarist and vocalist for the New York City band Flourishing spoke with me about the bands newest release, A Momentary Sense of the Immediate World. This is a heavy, unrelentingly brutal offering that is sure to please fans of this extreme genre.

Since this is your first interview for PureGrainAudio, can you give our readers a brief introduction to the band? How it all got started, that sort of thing.
Garett: The Flourishing drummer, Brian and I have been playing in bands together since early ’95. The project that would eventually become Flourishing started in 2001, after one of our previous bands, Cardiovascular Sub-Hypothermia, dissolved. The base idea for Flourishing is to play dissonant, dark, grindcore-inspired music that touches on melodic, layered and cinematic elements.

The name of the band Flourishing is interesting to say the least and sounds as if there is a story behind it. Where did the name come from and what is the story?
Garett: The name does not have too much in the way of specific significance, although I had thought that it was contradictory to the often dark, uneasy feeling that we put out.

Every band has its musical influences. What are some of the other bands and artists that have greatly influenced you guys and your music?
Garett: A large influence to us is old grindcore. Some bands that have been influential to us over the years are Righteous Pigs, Immolation, Dim Mak, Godflesh, The Police, Killing Joke, and Sonic Youth.

Now that your brand new EP, A Momentary Sense of the Immediate World is complete how do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the outcome?
Garett: I think we are happy with how it’s finally been finished. It was recorded digitally and sounds quite unpolished and natural, which I like. We mixed it ourselves periodically over the course of many months and wanted to make sure it came across very real sounding. I do not like the cookie cutter approach to recording heavy music that is so prevalent these days. In my experience, if you were to compare most releases from the bigger metal labels, the production qualities would be almost indistinguishable from one and other. I want to avoid that scenario with what I do at all costs, and will always put having a recording with some kind of vibe or character above having something sound “perfect.”

What was the writing process like for this CD? Did you guys all write together? How long did it take?
Garett: These songs were realized together. Songwriting is very important to us and we always strive for purposeful songs that go somewhere. I often think that riffs and genre are less important to this band, and that creating meaningful songs takes precedence over fitting into some kind of predetermined direction. Ideas and inspiration almost become the main influence, and when an idea starts flowing, the song will often end up writing itself. It is almost as if you have to keep up and keep track of the ideas as they present themselves. It’s pretty rare and random, but definitely feels great when writing happens like that.

When you began recording this EP did you have a preconceived idea of what you wanted the record to sound like and what you wanted it to achieve, or did that come about naturally?
Garett: The EP was quite preconceived as we knew exactly what we were going to be laying down. There was no experimentation while recording and everything was 100% written before going into the studio. So we very much knew what we were going for and had a good sense of the vibe that would be presented.

Your lyrics are infused with heavy detail and raw emotion. What is it that normally gives you inspiration when writing lyrics and was there a theme behind the writing of this record?
Garett: There is no common theme running through the lyrics. For the most part, the lyrics are based my own personal quirks and issues. Inspiration is often derived from attempting to erase my societal programming, therefore allowing different types of perspectives to come to the fore.

Do you have any touring plans for the immediate future?
Garett: There are no touring plans as of now. At this time we’re just doing NYC shows and maybe some out of town shows eventually or perhaps even a weekend around the northeast.

Do you prefer the studio or the live setting?
Garett: I do enjoy playing live, but recording is probably more exciting to me. Whenever recording for a release, I think of it as becoming the definitive version of a group of songs. I love getting creative with a song when preparing to record it, after it is already written. You can embellish what you have already done. In addition, I am very interested in using the studio as a medium with which to create music that cannot be done live. With all of that said, I do find pleasure in spitting on, via screaming at, people for 30 minutes.

Any closing words?
Garett: A Momentary Sense of the Immediate World is in stores on March 30th, courtesy of The Path Less Traveled Records.  [ END ]