LIVE SESSION: Flycatcher on The Basement Show
Follow WHIP Twitter Facebook Instagram
WRITTEN BY: Sidra Droese
PHOTOS & VIDEO BY: Santo Donia
Third line: New Jersey based indie rock band stopped in the studios to play a stripped-down acoustic set on the Basement Show.
“The hole in your guitar is for storing grapes,” Stephen Verdi, one of the guitarists and vocalists of Flycatcher, writes on his band’s Twitter. He, Greg Pease, guitar and vocals, Yianno Tsamutalis, bass, and Connor Camelengo, drums, keep light-hearted spirits on social media and stages alike, saying they’re “just trying to spread [their] weirdness around.”
After a busy August playing local house shows and releasing their first album, Other Things, the four drove down from New Brunswick, NJ., to play a stripped down version of their “intricate blend of hard rock, funk, and emo” live on air on The Basement Show at the WHIP studio this Sunday, September 23.
The pop-punk influences were clear in their first song of the set, “Miles,” and later in “Distances pt. 2”. Both songs enjoyed Camelengo’s quick, sporadic snare cracks thrown in over intricate riffs, refreshing pauses and tempo changes, all steadied by Tsamutalis’ impassive bass. “Miles” could fit right in with the works of the late 2000s idols, with a catchy chorus and belted verses about the pain of long-distance relationships, and the tendency to hold onto what once was.
“It’s been said that time goes way too fast / I guess we’re living in the past,” Pease cries out, attacking each syllable with the raw desperation of someone trying to cling to fleeting memories.
They proved their versatility throughout their set with “Calamine,” breaking down the energetic tempo to build back up into a funky ride out, showing off a sharp guitar and mellow bass similar to their dirty ska tune, “Drawing Room.”
Flycatcher formed in November 2016, originally called “Brunsquick,” in honor of the iconic New Brunswick bus which not even the locals know the route of. Despite their fans’ support of the name, the guys turned to a picture dictionary to find something a little less region-specific. Eventually, Pease landed on an image of a cool little bird called a flycatcher, and it stuck.
The four piece have recently made a name for themselves frequently playing at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, even opening for All Time Low and Dashboard Confessional this summer. While they have yet to play a real show in Philadelphia, Kyle Pulley of Thin Lips helped them record Other Things at the Headroom recording studios right in Kensington.
Flycatcher can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, and Spotify, and just about every other social media as @flycatchernj.
Setlist:
- Miles
- Sidewalk
- Drawing Room
- Distances pt. 2
- Calamine
- Death Trap
