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LA newcomers FLAMANGO BAY are gearing up to release a new EP – with their new title-track ‘Mascara’ out now, read our latest Hype playlist cover feature.
Words: Sam Taylor.
LA newcomers Flamango Bay are gearing up to release a new EP via Moshi Moshi. A celebration of self-discovery and an immensely fun rebellion against societal expectations, it’s teased by title-track ‘Mascara’, a hugely personal song for Ikaika Gunderson that was inspired by their relationship with make-up and gender identity. Ikaika, along with bandmates Dash Goss Post (he/they) and Georgia Manou (she/her), explains more.
Hello, you lot. How’s it going? What are you up to today, anything fun?
We are not up to much today. We just got back to LA from the holiday break, so we’re just setting back into a routine.
How are you finding your recent move from San Francisco to LA, is it everything you hoped it would be?
We are adjusting well! At first, we did not love LA because we moved here during a very isolated part of the pandemic, and we had such unrealistic expectations for this city. But as we meet more people, get more involved with the community, and overall develop a more real perspective of LA, the more we love it!
You formed the band in high school, right? What inspired you to start playing music together?
Yes! We actually formed in 8th grade and met in theatre class. We had these shared interests of knowing instruments and liking all these emo and boy bands. It only made sense to start a band.
What’s been the highlight of your time with the band so far?
It has probably been the tour we just went on this past summer! It was very DIY; we booked this little nine-show West Coast tour with our friend Charlie Havenick and took two Subarus out on the road for two weeks. We got to meet a lot of new people, play to new crowds, and see lots of beautiful landscapes. It made us really excited to keep doing more tours in the future.
Can you remember the first song you wrote? How does your early material compare to what you’re doing now?
Yes, the first song we wrote is called ‘Us And The World’. There are lots of embarrassing songs we wrote in the past, but we still look at this one fondly. It is about the impermanence of first love (kind of deep for 13-year-olds, haha), and our songs still convey conflicting, complex emotions. It is very honest and very human, which our songs still are!
What do you most enjoy writing about, generally?
Our songs are usually about complex, conflicting emotions that we can only express musically. Right now, a lot of our songs are about gender dysphoria and the trans experience, performance, and overall, just anything we are thinking about. It’s not a completely enjoyable process, but it’s a cathartic, healing, and satisfying experience for sure.
Tell us about your new EP; how long have you been working on it? What does it mean to you?
This EP was written and worked on between early 2021 and early 2023. It is a lot more emotionally raw, honest, and open than our last EP and draws more inspiration from indie rock, punk, and 90s alternative music. This EP feels like a time capsule of our late teens and early 20s, capturing all of the messiness, confusion, and change of that period. This EP has themes of gender, performance, expression, and discovering our own identities.
“We used to make TikToks playing sad indie girl (Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers) songs in the styles of boy bands (5SOS, One Direction) and vice versa”
How does your single ‘Mascara’ fit into the EP? How did it earn its place as the title-track?
We thought ‘Mascara’ would be the perfect title for this EP because the single touches on all the themes the EP explores. It is a loud, raw, expressive song about gender dysphoria and performance and the search for identity. ‘Mascara’ is symbolically a super feminine thing, but it also has “masc” in it like masculine, and also mascara in Spanish means mask. It just encapsulates the whole EP perfectly.
What’s the most unexpected place or situation where inspiration for a song on your EP struck?
‘Mascara’ was written after Ikaika was having a gender dysphoria bathroom breakdown, which is not too unexpected. However, then they started thinking about how they started wearing mascara in 6th grade to make them stop crying and rubbing their eyes (because they were a very sensitive kid) and how symbolic that was. We also used to make TikToks playing sad indie girl (Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers) songs in the styles of boy bands (5SOS, One Direction) and vice versa, and this song musically kind of sounds like the mix of sad indie girl and boy band.
What else are you working on at the moment?
We are working on booking shows for the release of this EP, meeting new people, collaborating with others, and supporting the local indie scene here in LA as well as in the Bay Area! We are also working on new music!
What does being a successful musician look like to you?
Being a successful musician to us looks like putting out music that we feel both represents us and also adds something to the world in a meaningful way. It also means utilising your voice and platform to cultivate community. Also, doing a Tiny Desk concert, haha. ■
Flamango Bay’s EP ‘Mascara’ is out 22nd March. Follow Dork’s Hype Spotify playlist here.
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