On this installment, I was joined in the studio by an exciting new band out of Minneapolis called Florina, whose members have been active in the Twin Cities underground music community and beyond for well over a decade through various projects and group efforts like Brute Heart, Weakwick, Magic Castles, IE and many more. While initially forming in Los Angeles a few years ago, a recent relocation back to Minneapolis has reconnected these previous musical collaborators and admirers and solidified the current quartet line-up of the band with Jackie Beckey on viola and vocals, Paul Borman on bass and vocals, Adam Patterson on drums, and Michael Gallope on keyboards. In their short time together as a band, they have crafted a highly unique and powerful group sound that draws from a variety of influences such as art rock, psychedelia, folk, post-punk, Afrobeat, and the avant garde. 

For this episode, Florina made the trek down from Minneapolis to join me in the remote KMSU studio at the Arts Center of St. Peter. We discussed the formation of the band, how the current line-up came together, and the recent recordings that they just finished up. We played some of those recordings, along with some other artists and album selections that each member of the band picked out. Since it was rather hot in the cramped studio space, you’ll have to pardon the slight background hum that our tiny fan created during the interview segments. More importantly, though, Florina set up and played a blistering live set in the lower gallery area of the Arts Center for a small audience that we were able to record and you’ll get to hear that too. Hope you enjoy! Feel free to get in touch if you have any comments or questions. As always, thanks for looking and listening.

• ~Introductory Music: Altamira “II” (excerpt) S/T (Dove Cove)
• Brute Heart “Blindfolded” Lonely Hunter (Soft Abuse)
• Magic Castles “Ode to the Wind” Sun Reign (A Records)
• Weakwick “Rubbernecking” Whistle Along (Rotted Tooth Recordings)
• IE “An Empty Vessel Makes Much Noise” Pome (Moon Glyph)
• ***Florina live performance at the Arts Center of St. Peter***
• ~Interview segment with Florina~
• Florina “My Best Friend” from forthcoming album
• Florina “Untitled” from forthcoming album
• ~Interview segment with Florina~
• Aksak Maboul “Bo Diddley” Un Peu De L’Âme Des Bandits (Atem / Crammed Discs / Recommended Records)
• American Cream Band “Leather Report ‘88” Plastic Flame (self-released)
• Yuasa-Exide “Paint Lick” Positively Sunless (Ape Sanctuary Records)
• ~Interview segment with Florina~
• The Sweet Talks ‘Eyi Su Ngaangaa” The Kusum Beat (Philips-West African-Records / Re: Soundway)
• Young Marble Giants “The Taxi” Colossal Youth (Rough Trade / Re: Domino)
• ~Interview segment with Florina~
• The Electric Chairs “So Many Ways” So Many Ways (Safari Records / Re: Mental Experience)
• Tuxedomoon “Jinx” Desire (Ralph Records)
• Jon Hammer Group “Hyperspace” Melodies (Nemperor Records)
• Antena “Camino Del Sol” Camino Del Sol (Les Disques Du Crépuscule / Re: Numero Group)
• Erkin Koray “Cemalim” Erkin Koray (Doğan)

——————————————————————————————————

If you appreciate what we are doing here on Free Form Freakout, please consider making a small donation via Ko-fi. All donations received go towards paying our guest contributors and covering our website hosting fees.