Interview + EP Feature | Flesh Cherub
On being miserable, the lightness of performing and weaving humour with darkness
Noah speaks with Flesh Cherub (AKA Liam McVay - they/them) about being inspired by everything, the importance of music and writing, and how the latest EP was made.
Hello Liam, you have just dropped your new EP, Drowning in the Expanse of Looking Up which is a brooding mix of personal and reflective anguish delivered with a cool blend of punk, folk and country. How does it feel to have it out in the world?
Pride and relief. It’s been in the process of coming out for a while so I’m just glad the weight has been lifted. It’s a strange feeling when you let go of something that is so weighted for you and then it is received in lightness.
I am keen to hear how Flesh Cherub began and how you have developed your sound?
So, I’ve been making music under different pseudonyms for God knows long, and then this iteration arose from being in a 6-piece psychedelic neo soul group called Flesh Cherubs, then everyone moved out of state, and I was a singular Flesh Cherub. I was in the process of reworking the soul songs from that group into something I could do live, alone and then ending up scrapping most of it and making the songs on Doom Groove. Then I just kept on being miserable and writing my miserable songs.
You write about some really heavy themes around inner turmoil, suicidal impulses, substance abuse and insomnia. Do you do this to help your own mental health in a cathartic way? Or is it something else?
Without music, without writing I probably wouldn’t be around. it’s bizarre,
I feel so light when I perform, it’s the closest thing I have to religion, but the heavily laden words seem to lose their heaviness once they’re written down, so yes, I suppose it is Cathartic.
Who are your main influences with your songwriting and creativity?
This body of work was heavily influenced by Skullcrusher and Música Popular Brasileira artists Jorge Ben Jor and Rosinha Da Valença. McKenzie Wark’s Reverse Cowgirl also directed/informed a lot of the lyricism.
As cliche as it sounds, I am constantly inspired by everything around me, and I’m often writing down notes on my phone of things people say out in the world I find funny. I’m forever trying to weave humour into a subject matter which can be quite dark.
The EP was recorded and mixed by Andrew Huhtanen McEwan (Wet Kiss, Tongue Dissolver, RVG), who also plays bass and drums on it with the only other contributor being Pierce Morton (Cool Sounds) on pedal steel. Can you tell us about working with Andrew and how they have complemented what you do?
Andy (they/them) is amazing. I initially asked them to just play drums on the EP, and when I told them about the vibe I was going for, they were so quickly in my corner and said we had to rebuild everything from the bottom up.
They are a constant source of inspiration and insight and will transform my lazily laid out plans into something truly special. I could have not foreseen how the EP would have turned out, they really brought it into another world.
Pierce is an angel who walks among us, and his playing is so magical and brings a character into the EP that is so instrumental to the work that it would be empty without it.
Do you have plans to launch Drowning in the Expanse of Looking Up at this stage?
Very very loose plans, but don’t worry I will shout it from the rooftops once it’s organised.
Finally, who are your favourite local Melbourne bands at the moment and who would you like to see interviewed for Tempo?
Sascha Müller, Who Cares? Hudson Macushla and Fionnuala Keith.