Next up in our pursuit to introduce you to bands that may have slipped under your radar are a band that up until a few weeks ago had done the same to us. Blackened sludge trio Flood Peak self-released their debut album back in February but it wasn’t until scouring Bandcamp late one evening recently that Plagued By Sufferers grabbed our full attention. Here, Peter, with help from Pierre, tells us a bit about Flood Peak, the band’s influences, and being kind to venue staff…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We all live in the city of Portland, OR, but we’ve come from different locations: Yakima, Washington; San Jose, California; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
How did you meet?
We met through our previous (and in Dylan’s case, current) band, Sól.
How long have you been playing as a band?
It’s been very sporadic for us. We began making music together for this project back in 2016, but we all had many other things in our lives taking place, so this wasn’t actually worked on until the beginning of 2017.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
A flood peak to me signifies the level in which a catastrophic event occurred but are able to move beyond and heal from. The water recedes but it acts like a hidden scar on a specific place.
What are your influences?
Other music, art, and creativity we come across. The things that impact my writing (musically and lyrically) the most are sometimes just daily events that we all have to go through.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Every band would like to think of themselves as unique, we just play the music we like and that suits us. I personally like to describe it as hopeless filth. It’s sludge metal, but it feels more ugly than traditional sludge. There are a few things that set us apart from other bands playing the type of music we do, but I would say the one that stands out the most is that we’re a three-piece.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Our recording, Plagued By Sufferers, ranges from personal trials to faith(less) tribulations. I’ve had a lot of friends die by suicide and we’ve all seen the ugly side of blind faith.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
By the time this is posted, we will have only played two shows. Our first show was a bit rushed, but it was with a great band from Denmark called Hexis.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We may be too old for a wild thing, so we’ve got no answer. Sorry!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
I (Peter, guitar) use a Fender Jaguar Special HH with Seymour Duncan Black Winter pickups. It was modified by Dan Bjorke at Li’l Trees Guitars here in Portland, OR. I also played through an early 1970’s Ampeg V4 (modified by Bryan Sours [Soursound / drummer for Graves at Sea] to use KT88’s) and an early 1990’s Sovtek MIG100h; they run through an Orange 4×12 and an Orange 4×10 cab. My distortion comes from a Lone Wolf Audio Plague Rat and I just received The Demon from Fuzzrocious, so I’m excited to give that a try.
Pierre (bass) plays a Fender P-Bass through one of the best amps I’ve ever heard, a Mesa Boogie D-180 built in the early 1980’s. His bass sounds amazing through it, but it’s also a killer guitar amp. He plays through a Sunn 2×15 cab and uses an assortment of pedals, including a Strymon Big Sky Reverb and a Lone Wolf Audio Left Hand Wrath.
Dylan plays a Mapex kit and uses some great sounding Meinl cymbals.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We’re really just focused on our music right now and booking shows. We self-released Plagued By Sufferers because we were extremely happy with how it turned out and we wanted to share our music with friends. Ultimately, it wasn’t the best decision. We should have shopped it around to see if anyone else thought it was worth listening to, so we want to release our upcoming material the proper way.
What are your plans for the rest of 2018?
We’re hoping to head back into the studio before the end of the year to record several songs that we may try to use for a split. After we record but before we release, our goal is to start booking a US tour. Our next goal is to make our way to Europe before the end of 2019.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you?
Peter: That’s tough. I would personally want friends. Lament Cityscape is my best friend’s band from Oakland, California. We’ve known each other since I was 16. To make matters even better, they’re a really unique and incredibly good band. Some of my favourite bands are Celeste, Amenra, Abandon (RIP), Walk Through Fire, The Secret, Plebeian Grandstand, etc. Pretty much anything that Throatruiner or Church of Ra is a part of. I would love to play with any of those bands.
Pierre: This is always a hard answer. I’d say Sól (Portland, OR; former band and good friends) and Múcaro (Dominican Republic; the guitarist is a friend from teenage years who I have a lot of respect for [Josue Garcia] – we played on multiple projects growing up).
From previous Band of the Day, cleopatrick: what is the one thing you wish every venue had?
Clean restrooms. We’re really lucky here in Portland that every place I’ve played has extremely friendly staff. That makes the experience of playing a show even better. Those are the folks making things happen for everyone. I’ve toured throughout North America, Australia, and Japan with other projects and I’ve been fortunate enough to have so few negative venue experiences that I can count them on one hand. Be good to your venue staff, sound people, security, etc. They’re just as important a part of the lifeblood of underground music as the musicians are.
From Remark, a past Band of the Day: if you met your President, what question would you ask them?
Peter: I would ask him to resign immediately.
Pierre: The current president, Trump, is human garbage. He’s proven he’s not capable of answering questions, so why waste your time?
Plagued By Sufferers is out now
