Guitar World January 2002
Background Check: Hometown heroes from the Dallas club curcuit, Flickerstick landed a spot on VH1's reality TV series Bands On The Run, where they beat out three other bands to win $150,000 in cash and gear and a record deal with Epic. Although few bands get to live out their rock and roll dreams, even fewer get to have that lifestyle exsposed to millions of viewers on TV. "That's kind of the funny thing about the show," says guitarist Cory Kreig. "It wasn't like we were watching it and going, 'Oh yeah!' We were watching it a lot of times going, like, 'Wait, I did that?' "
The Players: Kreig met lead singer Brandin lea at the University of North Texas in 1997; shortly afterward, guitarist Rex Ewing was recruited, freeing up Lea to concentrate on his vocal duties. In 1999 the band released its independent debut, Welcoming Home the Astronauts. Epic will soon issue a remastered version of the album.
The Sound: Somewhere between F-stick's trippy, swirling jam excursions and beefy power chords lie concise pop arrangements. Their first single, "Beautiful," seems to hint at eighties new wave, though Ewing doesn't know where that influence comes from. "It's so hard for me to describe what our sound is, because I can barely describe what other bands sound like," he says. "It's so getting so varied now-someone's still got to explain to me what emo rock is or math rock is, because I'm confused."
Notable Quote: "We're not trying to win any awards for being virtuosos on our instruments," says Kreig. "We don't care if it's ever like, 'Dude, Cory's the most awesome guitar player in the world,''cause, you know, that's never gonna happen. I dont want it to happen. I hope people say Flickerstick write really good songs."
Article written by Paul Riaro