Isaac Dunbar Takes Our Pop Quiz
office gave Isaac an impromptu pop quiz where there are no wrong answers... except, of course, the wrong ones.
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office gave Isaac an impromptu pop quiz where there are no wrong answers... except, of course, the wrong ones.
We all know that choosing what makes the final cut for an album can be a challenging process. Tracks like "Sorry Instead" were close to making the final cut. Why didn't some tracks make it onto the original, and how did you decide which ones to include in the deluxe edition?
Caleb Harper— I can’t really remember what our final reasoning was. You spend so much time with the songs over the 18+ months of making the record and I get in my head about them. I think, fundamentally it just comes down to what feels right at the time - the songs we released on the LP just felt like they fit together best and that was that.
The new tracks seem to add a whole new layer to the album. Can you tell us how you think they supplement the rest of the album and what inspired you to create them?
Both of those songs are set very specifically in a house that I lived in between 2020 and 2021. For me they add a strong set of memories to the record and personalise it in a way that isn’t as prevalent across the rest of record.
It's been quite some time since you initially released the album, and yet, you've come back to release a deluxe version. How have you grown as an artist, and where do you see yourself heading?
That’s a good question and not something I’ve not thought much about. Here Comes Everybody marked a lot of firsts for us, we were full-time employed musicians and covid was more of a memory than a reality. We signed co-management in the US and all of a sudden we felt like we knew less than we needed to in regards to being a band allllll around the world. I think we got a little comfortable in Australia and the last 12 months have been both exciting and daunting as we try to establish ourselves in places away from home. We just want to keep learning and we want to make music that resonates with people, we want to take on the world and have lots of fun.
Your music has a way of capturing intense emotions, yet you present them in a uniquely refreshing way. Why don't you work with slower, melancholic melodies?
It seems counterintuitive but that pairing is what makes the most sense in my head. I think it started with our origin being in live music and the club circuit. Higher tempos and sing alongs fit into that scene so well and that’s what I was writing for. At the same time, when it comes to writing lyrics it’s only ever made sense to write about melancholy or traumatic things. I’m not exactly sure why that’s the case but I think it’s something to do with how those feelings always seem so large and accessible. They seem to be the first thing find you when you do a little digging around your brain.
In the "Lots of Nothing" rework, you collaborated with Benee. What was that like?
Stella was really amazing to work with. I gave her one page of poorly connected ideas about the song and lyrics and she came back with 90% of what you hear on the final record. We’re all big fans of her music and know she’s talented but even still I was blown away by how well she captured the spirit of the song on the first pass. It almost didn’t happen actually, there were some scheduling conflicts and we’d asked for a pretty quick turn around. Just when I thought it was a no go, I woke up to a demo in my inbox — it was a very nice day.
Why did you choose this live performance of "Hardlight" to be a part of the deluxe edition. What made it stand out?
I wish I could say that we had dozens of takes to pick from to capture the right mood but honestly that song is really hard to sing and the RAC version felt like it was just the best overall performance… Coincidentally that show was a home town gig and our first ever headline arena show so it was a really special night for us.
The album art for both the original and deluxe editions seems to be from the same shoot. Could you share what your thought process was behind the cover art?
I remember noodling around with heaps of ideas for this. Originally I wanted like 1000 people all the way up a sand dune, lit up by a flood light and fading into black. It was an image I had that I think captured the idea of “here come’s everybody” albeit a little on the nose. It turned out to be a little unrealistic (believe it or not) so we went with a different interpretation of the album title — something like the power of relationships and unity in the face of overwhelming *whatever* like a big fucken sand dune. I’ve talked before about what the album title means but it’s a bit of long story.
As a band, you’ve hit some major milestones — now selling out the UK leg of your tour and playing at Lollapalooza. How does it all feel?
For our music to connect with people and have an impact on them is the truly the greatest part of being in this gig. It’s something that you know so intimately as music listener and lover but I don’t think we started out with this idea of reaching out to people and having them reach back being on our radar. It’s something we’re still getting used to but I the pivot has already taken place. It’s gone from something we do for ourselves to something we do with and for other people. That’s not to say that songwriting isn’t deeply personal or that we don’t fundamentally love being in this band, because it is and we do. We’ve had a hard-to-explain and intrinsic obsession with this band since we started it and realising that we’re only half of the equation is way more inspiring than it is daunting and that really keeps us going.
For the people who want to get to know you outside of your own music, who are some musicians they should check out?
It’s always hard to get this list right for some reason so I’ll miss some notable names that I’ll no doubt remember after this is published! Recently I watched Zella Day open for a band in LA. I’d never heard of her before the show and I think I was late to the game but her 2022 album Sunday in Heaven is really great. She said that her backing vocalists had to pull out last minute so it was just her and a guitar but she owned the stage like there were 10 people up there. Such amazing presence and great songwriting. Another current favourite is a band called Hovvdy out of Texas who are just soooo good. I’ve listened to them non-stop for nearly two years now, amazing songwriting and production — it always makes me feel so deeply. In the vein of more formative influences for me, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and Wilco are probably the top three but there are plenty more. I don’t have any succinct reason for my love of those bands it’s just what made me feel really fucking awesome when I was getting into music. I was a little guitar kid writing sad rock songs at 16 and they helped me believe in myself.
The festival started on a high note and ended on an even higher one. It’s common for festivals to calm down as each day goes by as people get tired – Movement did just the opposite. The energy picked up, outfits got cuter and the weather got hotter. And the nights didn’t end with the festival; people went straight to the afterparties and partied until the sun came up every single day.
Over 115 performers played over the three days at Movement at five different stages. Although Hart Plaza isn’t the biggest venue, people always found room to shuffle along the concrete amongst the thousands of people in their ravecore.
Detroit DJ Whodat had an around-the-clock weekend. She recently came from her European tour and right back to her hometown to spin on Day 3. Right after her Movement set, she went straight to MotorCity Wine to DJ an afterparty in addition to all of the pre-parties and afterparties she spun at.
“It (the crowd) was a little sparse at first,” says Whodat. “But then as I kept playing, it started to fill up. They were really enjoying the set. I’ve been spinning for 17 years and making music for 15 years.” Despite her hectic life as a DJ, Whodat says she is ready to slow down, travel less and DJ only when it feels right.
UNIIQU3, however, is looking forward to traveling more to explore various music cultures. The New Jersey DJ, also known as the Jersey Club Queen, came to Detroit for the first time and felt the love. Her Day 1 set at the Waterfront Stage left people fangirling over her mid-set. There wasn’t one person standing still…even some cannabis astronauts hit the dancefloor.
“I’m looking forward to hearing some good house music, especially from people from Detroit and Chicago because I’m in y’all hood,” UNIIQU3 says. “I’m from North New Jersey which is also an infamous city known for their house music. It went from Detroit, to Chicago and now it’s making its way to the north. I’m here for all of this. It’s very native to me.”
UNIIQU3 emphasizes the importance of Movement and festivals alike to educate music lovers on the birth of house, techno and electronic music. Last year, she spun at the Boiler Room in New York and Primavera Sound Chile; similar festivals to Movement.
“Not only do they shed light on what’s hot right now or what’s to come, but they’re trying to educate you through the lineup,” UNIIQU3 says. “They have tons of legends on this lineup who you don’t get to see often. Or it could be people you do see all the time that just deserve the platform.”
Speaking of artist appreciation, many festival goers, especially those from Detroit, share a particular sentiment when it comes to techno.
Nathan Sherman, a 24-year-old based in Southwest Detroit, says he has a strong love for Kevin Saunderson because he is one of the techno originators and all of his sets are Detroit history.
“Movement is important to me because I love Detroit and I love techno,” Sherman says. “To see both being honored and appreciated on this scale is something I look forward to every year and needs to be preserved. Shoutout to the creators, Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins (Cybotron) and all of the rest who have made this music a part of life for all of us who grew up here.”
So let's get started. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in London. Well, I was in born southwest. Then I lived in south for quite a bit. Ater that, I lived in Essex for quite a while and now I'm back in London. So I'd say I spent most of my childhood in London and it was great because I got to be around lots of different types of people and food, while remaining close to my culture.
Are there any early influences that continue to shape your music and your personal style?
I think all of my early influences. The feeling that I draw from is always nostalgia. So I'm always thinking about how I felt when I first listened to music. When I'm creating I want to recreate that feeling because I feel like music is a massive healer, music has so much power to make you feel good.
Lovely. So you write a lot of music with your brother. How did that first begin and how does he fit into your creative process now?
So it was his idea; he started producing music just for himself. Everyone knew I could sing as I was always singing, in school plays and stuff like that. So he suggested we make a song. The first one I made was a rap song – mostly out of boredom because I didn’t have that many friends at the time and we hung out a lot. He was like any of my other friends. Then I backed out and decided I didn’t want to make music because I just didn’t feel confident at the time. Fast forward and a couple of years later, which is around 2021, that's when I started becoming a little bit more confident and thought, “no, I do want to make music, you know.” And at the start, when I first made songs, it was mainly him writing and doing the production stuff. But as I grew my confidence, in my identity and in my sound, it's become a lot more me.
Yeah. Yeah. I'd love to hear that rap song you put together. Have you listened to it recently?
I have not listened to it recently. I think I'm gonna wait so I can forget about it and then hear it in a couple of years and be like, “oh my God.” I'm thinking I might do something like that for my Grammy speech or something. Just get my phone and play the demo. Just something silly, because why not?
How does it feel to grow up now, especially as a musician, navigating the public sphere? What's it like being in the public eye, being a musician in these formative years?
It can be a bit tricky sometimes because when you're a teenager, you go through lots of different types of hormones and so much comes with that, such as growing up and thinking, 'Oh, what do people think about me?' Teenage years are the peak time when you're really discovering yourself, and if that's happening in the public eye, there’s a lot of responsibility. It was just for fun a while back. But now it's like an actual job and it feels like so.
It's crazy because it's almost like the job is you.
The job is my life. Sometimes its hard to separate yourself from the job, which is why I think it's good to have a different name. This is flowerovlove and then this is Joyce and she's living her life. It makes it easier to separate work and life, although I am doing both.
Yeah. Yeah. Trying to find some boundaries and separation. I feel like that's so important. How do you maintain belief in yourself and faith in your path?
That's a really good question. I think if I’m ever in doubt, I just go and listen to my music and recognize how good it is. It truly hypes me up. Like I said, music heals everything, and especially mine. I'm literally my biggest fan. I listen to alot of my own songs.
Okay, so some more of the themes in your music are gratitude, reflection, meditation, self-improvement. What part do these rituals play in your own musical creation?
These are things that exist in my personal life so its quite easy to write about those things because I'm living them. They are my hobbies, and my self care, which is what I spend a lot of time doing. I write about those things. Recently I have started writing in other perspectives because I noticed that I started using the same words a lot and it was becoming too similar and I'm not about that life.
Oh, cool. So taking maybe a little bit more of a conceptual route with some newer stuff.
Yeah. Writing about other people, even if I don't know them. There was this one guy who was in the same building and I decided to write a song about what I thought of him.
You've started to do more live performances and are playing several festivals this summer in Spain and the UK. Do you look forward to traveling and performing in front of different audiences? How does that feel?
I'm really excited, actually, but I've done shows in Spain – Barcelona – so I’m very interested in seeing what the festival crowd is like. I know what the festival crowd is like in the UK, but haven't been to one abroad, and I'm not the biggest festival girl. I just know it's going to be hot, but I'm also doing a festival in Belgium which should be fun.
You've done a whole bunch of runway appearances, campaigns with Gucci and Maison Kitsune. Is there a favorite? Someone you’d love to work with in your career?
Oh, my number one is probably Miu Miu. I definitely see that happening. That's it. That's like my one where I'm like… Yeah. Miu Miu.
How do your interests in music and fashion converge? Do you keep those worlds separate?
Oh, yes. I think there's a definite similarity. I'm not sure if I look how I sound, but I dress as my inner child, so I dress in what six year old me would want to see someone wearing and think, “Oh, wow, that's really cool.” That's how I dress now, because it makes me feel very fulfilled and at peace. And I'm also not always comfortable when I dress. I used to be, but now it's more just like, I'm dressing and whatever the weather does, the weather does. I'm not dressing for the weather, so I'm usually cold most of the time. But I write my music from a similar place.
Last question, which song of yours should newcomers listen to first to get the most representative flowerovlove experience?
Oh, I think if you want to get a glimpse of me, my personality, I'd say listen to “Hannah Montana”. That song is lots of fun. Very cute. And I still love it to this day. It's not one of my old songs, where I'm like ahhh I kind of want to unrelease this. But if you just want to hear new flowerovlove then you should listen to “Love You”.