IMR Podcast – Live show review & interview with Flanna from Ocean versus Daughter

On February 8th, we headed to The Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta, GA to see some of Atlanta’s best new indie talent and a European touring group called Ocean versus Daughter.  Lily and The Tigers started the night with a very laid-back folk alternative sound and then Abby Wren & What It Is finished the night strong with some FUNK & Abby’s ear-slicing soulful voice.  Towards the end of Abby Wren’s set, we were able to get a chance to interview Flanna Sheridan of Ocean versus Daughter for IMR Magazine’s third podcast.  (sorry we had to miss some of your show Abby Wren!.  We loved what we heard!)  Listen to the full IMR Magazine podcast on iTunes or at the bottom of this article.

After arriving a few minutes late to The Drunken Unicorn, we came in to hear Lily and The Tigers in the middle of their set playing a ragtime gypsy/jazz song with some slightly howly (yet very pleasant) vocals.  The song ended with band member Ryan Gregory picking an amazing gypsy Django Reinhardt-like guitar solo. The band, consisting of Casey Hodd on guitar & vocals, Adam Mincey on the upright bass, Mikhail Ally on the clarinet, Jared Pepper on the resophonic guitar, and Ryan Gregory on the violin, can range in sounds from the “standard” folk, to middle-Eastern, country, jazz, rag-time, and even “gothic” (as said on their facebook page).  Sound engineer, Danillo, of The Drunken Unicorn had Adam Mincey’s upright bass thumping and the crowd swaying during their entire show while a dozen or so dedicated fans sang along to almost every song.  To finish off their set, they played a slower country two-step (and somewhat bluesy) song called “No Whiskey in my Coffee” in which the whole crowd was singing “No whiskey in my coffee since my blues have gone away.  No whiskey in my coffee since you went away.”  Our thoughts?  Keep doing what you guys do; The band is very tight, yet still has a laid back sound….almost tool laid back.  Listeners and readers, mark our words; you will see great things come from Lily and The Tigers  in 2012.  Catch a show by visiting their facebook page and viewing their calendar.

Up next, was the headlining “Prague-Rock” band Ocean versus Daughter.  Surprisingly, it only consisted of the lovely Flanna Sheridan on piano & vocals along with Atlanta-native Scott Bryan on drums for a few songs.  Having only heard a few clips on the band’s bandcamp page, we didn’t know what to expect.  Flanna started playing by herself to a 6/8-timed song with her pure, yet sometimes eerie & beautiful vocals.  Her first two songs magically blended into each other which further captivated the audience into her unique indie-rock piano style of music.

A few songs into the set, and as a special treat to us, Flanna introduced herself and told the crowd she will be debuting a new piece called “On Drowning” about a wave that comes and drowns her.  Silence immediately followed the comment, which made us wonder if she really captivated the audience.  But, after saying in a re-assuring tone, “I always wake up!“, the entire crowd laughed and she started the song; She obviously had the crowd hooked!  ”On Drowning” was an indie-classical(is that even a genre?) ballad in which Flanna dividing the song into two movements; The first movement being somewhat harsh due to Flanna’s unique style of piano-playing in which she essentially beat the keyboard to mimic waves crashing and an intense ocean.  The song carried on to end up at a bouncy & choppy section where she sang and spoke “I had it.  I gave it away” repeatedly.  In the same movement, we heard what seemed to be a whale-like creature coming from her voice singing, “Ooooooh.  Oooooh.” Then, suddenly, just like in everyone’s dreams, we were magically shifted to new world where the mood & music was lighter and life seemed to move a bit slower.  She sang:

“Treading ivy.  Trapped in twine.  Treading ivy…”

It was that part of Ocean versus Daughter’s show where Flanna’s vision through words and music magically brought her songs to life.  There are artists who can emulate emotion during their live show, but none like Ocean versus Daughter.  Flanna’s voice and unique piano playing style lifts the listener into new worlds and forces the listener to create an imaginative and surreal picture of what each song is about.  In continuing “On Drowning,” she shifted back to the first movement in which we heard the music simulating her death, waves crashing & pounding against the beach, the struggle for air, and her heart slowly coming to a halt as she floats and drowns in the vast ocean.  Yes, it was a very unique experience and we were gracious to have experienced it all.

Slightly Parted by Ocean versus Daughter

The show continued with Flanna inviting Scott Bryan (also the drummer of Abby Wren and What It Is) to play for the last few songs.  In continuing the nautical theme, she played “Lorelei” from the band’s current album Slightly Parted which is Flanna’s take on the German folk tale “Lorelei.”  It started out with a bouncy waltz-like 12/8 feel and then we heard what seemed to be a dolphin appearing in her voice singing for the first few minutes of the song:

“Ahhh ah ah ahhheeeah.  Ah uh ah eee ahhh ah ah.”
“Ahhh ah ah ahhheeeah.  Ah uh ah eee ahhh ah ah.”

Then suddenly, tribal-rock drums come in for only about thirty seconds while Flanna sings on top of the now indie-rock groove.  And again, back to the dolphin like sounds of her voice singing about each wave and “Lorelei” in a very unique and weirdly-structured song.

Flanna ended the night with the indie-rock, tongue-in-cheek-seeming song “Don’t Try.”   She described the last song being about “the sh*tty little voice in your head that tells you not to start projects” to which the crowd laughed and applauded as she started to play.  After abruptly ending the song (as it does), the crowd cheered and applauded to end a great performance by Ocean versus Daughter in Atlanta.

The final group of the night was Abby Wren and What It Is which is a five-piece funk/blues/soul powerhouse with a front woman that can melt your ears off and a saxophone player that squeals!

Abby’s raspy and soulful voice can transform from a sultry Grace Slick to a Susan Tedeschi-like voice within each song.  Very nice!  We only caught a few songs, but high point of what we heard was one of the best covers of “Come Together” that we’ve heard. We’re very glad to have caught you guys and look forward to more Abby Wren shows in the future.

After catching a few songs, we headed outside to finish the night with an interview from Flanna of Ocean versus Daughter in which she explains where her inspiration comes from and her recording process which took place all over the world.  Thank you to all bands of the night, as it was a great show and couldn’t have asked for more on a Wednesday night in Atlanta.

Listen to the full interview and podcast below.

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