Hi Benjó and welcome to College Radio Charts! Thank you for taking some time out of your day to spend with us. How has your summer been so far?
Amazing. Everyone’s been complaining of a heatwave but I’m like…where? If this is a heatwave can we have it all year round? I’m terrified of September.
We’ve reviewed several Flowers For Juno releases over the past few years, and Kairos feels somewhat like the closing chapter of your first creative era. Looking back at this collection, is there anything you hear now that perhaps you didn’t hear when these songs were originally released?
I think in general I appreciate them a lot more when I hear them together. Kind of bizarre that the same guy who wrote “You’re So Beautiful It Makes Me Sad” also did “Buckcherry Wrote a Song About Girls Like You”.
You described Kairos as the setlist you imagined for a Flowers For Juno concert. Was there a particular moment when you realized these songs belonged together as one cohesive listening experience rather than simply a collection of singles and EP tracks?
I wanted to do a compilation to round off an era and make it easier for new listeners as FFJ gain more exposure, but rather than make it chronological I thought the sequencing should resemble the order of what I’d play live.
The title Kairos represents the idea of the “right moment,” and is it true you assembled this compilation just as you left your day job to pursue music full-time? How much did that personal leap of faith influence the way you viewed this album?
I did, yeah. I planned the compilation and was in need of a title and then I was like…Kairos. And a family member I saw that weekend told me that’s the name of a charity they’re involved in…it all made perfect sense.
“Lipstick and Furs” stands out to me as one of the strongest tracks on the compilation. Its lush wall of guitars and dreamy atmosphere evoke classic shoegaze while still sounding unmistakably like Flowers For Juno. What was the creative process behind building that sound?
I’m glad you’ve said that as Lipstick and Furs was a flop when it came out…My Bloody Kisses and Message to Lana were the biggest tracks I’d done in terms of streams within the first month and Lipstick didn’t measure up so I guess it’s been a bit of a sleeper hit. I wrote it on my guitar and it sounded like a cross between Type O Negative and the 90s shoegaze band Lush, so I just double down on both aspects, whilst introducing my own electronic and industrial production, along with harps, harpsichords, pizzicato strongs to give it that symphonic push. It was me doing the ‘doomgaze’ sound I’d established, but on a more epic, almost symphonic level.
Your music comfortably crosses shoegaze, gothic rock, industrial, grunge, darkwave, and synth-pop without feeling scattered. Do you consciously blend genres while writing, or do you simply follow wherever the song wants to go?
It’s more that I don’t consciously try to conform to any particular genre…which is why it might have the romanticism of goth, the atmosphere of shoegaze, the weight of industrial, the melody of synth-pop…and all produced with a raw, grungey aesthetic. Ultimately this is my project, this is my world, this my life…I can make or break whichever rules I wish.
You’ve often referenced artists from alternative music’s golden age, but Flowers For Juno never feels like a nostalgia project. Which bands or records have had the biggest influence on your songwriting?
Ultimately I’m really just a pop songwriter…I just filter these tracks I might write on an acoustic guitar through more abrasive or underground influences.
One of the things that stands out throughout Kairos is the production. As both producer and songwriter, do you typically build songs from a melody first, or from the atmosphere you want the listener to experience?
It honestly varies track to track. Tracks like My Bloody Kisses or Electro Hippies are really about inviting the listener into a particular sonic universe…other tracks like Message to Lana or Dolpin Girl are all about the melody and the groove.
How much of your lyric writing comes directly from personal experience versus creating fictional characters and narratives?
Very much informed by personal experience. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
You’ve recorded much of this material in home studios around North East England. Do you think working outside of traditional commercial studios has become part of the Flowers For Juno identity?
Absolutely. I doubt I’ll ever walk into a commercial studio. It would be a waste of time and money when I can just as easily translate my vision to a recording at my home studio. Proper studio recordings sound so sterile and air conditioned…I like records that have a bit of a dirt under their fingernails, so to speak.
Your cover of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey” fits so naturally alongside your original material that it almost feels like it was written for this project. What drew you to that song, and what did you want to bring to it that hadn’t been heard before?
Honestly, I wanted a song by one of my favourite bands that would be straightforward. I originally intended to play it as straight as possible, but it ended up sounding bigger, heavier, and with a pronounced 80s synth-pop influence.
Flowers For Juno has been remarkably prolific over the past few years, releasing singles, EPs, and now this compilation. Do you ever feel the pressure to slow down, or is creating music simply something you need to keep doing?
I love writing and recording, which is the primary reason I do this. My best tracks are yet to come.
As Flowers For Juno starts performing more live, how do you envision translating these dense, layered studio recordings onto the stage?
Ideally reinventing them with a full band. The songs are strong enough; I don’t need to try and make them sound like they do on record.
For someone discovering Flowers For Juno for the very first time through Kairos, what song would you point them toward as the best introduction to your artistic vision, and why?
Message to Lana. It’s weird, ethereal yet somehow heavy and unapologetically catchy.
Where do you see Flowers For Juno heading next? Should fans expect the next chapter to build on this sound, or are you planning to surprise everyone with something entirely different?
You’ll have to wait and see.
Thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to spend with us! Where can people go to find out more about your music?
Go follow Flowers for Juno on Spotify and Instagram. New music coming soon.
